Fuelling Around podcast: Mark Blundell reveals which championship he believes is more competitive than F1
Ex-Formula 1 driver Mark Blundell is the first guest on a brand new series of award-winning podcast Fuelling Around.
The 60-year-old is best known for his time competing in F1 between 1991 and 1995 along with winning the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans.
He joined co-hosts Vicki Butler-Henderson and Dave Vitty at a special edition of the podcast at London Concours, to chat about his long and storied career.
Mark Blundell on starting out in sports car racing before reaching Formula 1
During the wide-ranging chat, one topic Vitty was keen to know was whether F1 would be the racing championship that Blundell would hold most dear from his career.
“I think for any racing driver, they get to F1, that’s the pinnacle,” Blundell explained.
“I say the pinnacle in respect of the machinery, because it’s the most refined racing car you could ever drive. Every input has an output. And it is what we all aim for.
“In saying, is it the best racing I’ve ever done? Actually, I would say no. I would say IndyCar racing is more competitive in terms of more understanding that when you roll down pit lanes, you’ve still got half a chance to get a result. F1’s a bit more relevant to machinery levels.
“If you don’t have the right car, then chances are you’re not going to get the result. And also sports car racing. Like (the) camaraderie, sharing a car, going through a programme like Le Mans and then succeeding, yeah that’s close to my heart.”
Blundell also went on to discuss how his mentality was perhaps different from other competitors during his time in F1.
“I came through sports car racing before I got to Formula 1, and a few of us did back then,” Blundell said.
“Michael Schumacher, (Karl) Wendlinger, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Martin Brundle. So I probably came in a little bit with that sports car mentality and I was probably a little bit too open book.
“So maybe not quite cut throat as I could’ve been. In saying that as well, I was already a father at 21 years old before I’d even got to Formula 1, so my kind of vision and responsibility and what I was doing it for had a slightly different edge to some.”
Plenty more episodes of Fuelling Around to enjoy
Series 12 is just getting started, but if you’ve only just found our podcast, you can listen to all of our old episodes.
The show has been graced by a string of celebrity guests that you can listen to for the first time – or as many times as you want thereafter.
You can also tune into Fuelling Around on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or various other platforms if you want to see what all the fuss is about.
