Brundle takes issue with race officials: 'They didn't do that for fun'

Martin Brundle has taken it out on race officials at the Australian Grand Prix. The Sky Sports-analyst stressed how difficult it is to make the right decisions in dangerous situations like the one that occurred last weekend.

Race organisers and the FIA have faced criticism following the Australian Grand Prix. The race was marked by three red flags - the largest number ever in a Formula One race - and general confusion about how the race should end. Although blame was mainly placed on the FIA and race director Niels Wittich, Brundle said that is not a fair assessment of the situation.

"I am absolutely confident no one is in there going 'hey, let's make this a little bit more fun'," Brundle assessed. "You have to walk a mile in the shoes of the people who are responsible. It is easy for us to sit on the sidelines going 'should have done this, should have done that'. when Alex Albon went off they could perhaps have just used a Safety Car and swept the gravel up and cleared the car away. A red flag perhaps seemed slightly unnecessary but towards the end of the race, we had a tyre and wheel on the track and lots of debris."

Near misses in the past

Brundle also points out that historically things can go quite wrong in this area. "Back in 2009, Felipe Massa nearly died with a piece of someone else's car coming through his cockpit. It is also a street circuit there with a lot of fans either side of the track and also marshals and medics that are down there. So, if there are pieces of debris on the track, you can't have them flying through the air at a couple hundred miles per hour."

Brundle's comments are not unjustified: a spectator at the Grand Prix was already injured by a flying debris from Magnussen's car when the Dane crashed.