Former Red Bull F1 star shocked by 'absurd' Martin Brundle advice

Red Bull

Former Red Bull star shocked by 'absurd' Brundle advice

Former Red Bull F1 mechanic Calum Nicholas was not impressed by a comment made in Saudi GP qualifying

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 21 April 2025 22:56

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Former Red Bull Formula 1 mechanic Calum Nicholas has publicly expressed his dislike of comments made during qualifying at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The 36-year-old gained popularity as a familiar face in the Red Bull garage often seen on popular Netflix documentary Drive to Survive, and whilst he no longer serves as a mechanic responsible for some of the team's fastest pit stops, he remains an ambassador for Red Bull and clearly still keeps a close eye on the sport.

Saturday's all-important session in Jeddah saw the team's star driver Max Verstappen catapult his RB21 to the top of the timesheets, pulling out a mighty lap to steal pole position from McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

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Whilst the Dutchman was not able to convert that to a race victory, comments from Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle did not impress Nicholas, with the Red Bull man taking to social media platform 'X' to respond to a video from Saudi GP qualifying where Brundle stated that he would have brake tested Fernando Alonso had he been in Jack Doohan's position at one point during the session.

Brundle in hot water over brake testing claim

As the first segment of qualifying came to a close on Saturday, Alonso dipped into Doohan's slipstream as the duo both attempted to get out of Q1.

During Sky's commentary, former driver Brundle said of the moment: "I think if I was Jack there I would have brake tested him because he could have done without Fernando loitering on the turn in."

Disagreeing with Brundle's take on the interaction, Red Bull ambassador Nicholas posted: "I actually watched this and thought 'what an absurd thing for an ex-driver to say.'"

Neither Alonso nor Doohan made it into the top 10 ahead of Sunday's race, but the Spaniard progressed into Q2 following the incident, whereas Doohan's Alpine lined up P17. Neither driver scored points during Sunday's race, however.

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Red Bull Max Verstappen McLaren Oscar Piastri Fernando Alonso Martin Brundle