Martin Brundle will not conduct the grid walk for Sky Sports F1 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend.
The Sky F1 broadcaster, who has led his famous grid walk at the first two Vegas races, is not present in Sin City this weekend, with Jenson Button instead acting as co-commentator alongside David Croft.
Brundle is contracted to work 16 of the 24 F1 races for Sky per season, with the veteran broadcaster missing Vegas this weekend. He is set to return for the final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
It is unclear whether 2009 F1 world champion Button, who blamed Lewis Hamilton for the late qualifying error which saw the Briton qualify dead-last, will lead the grid walk in Brundle’s absence. Other Sky Sports pundits such as Bernie Collins, Anthony Davidson and Rachel Brookes could also take Brundle’s place.
Lando Norris will start on pole for the Saturday night race – starting at 4am (GMT) on Sunday morning in the UK – with F1 title rivals Max Verstappen in second and Oscar Piastri in fifth.
Brundle, a former F1 driver himself, is known for his sometimes awkward encounters with drivers and celebrities on the grid before races, including a hilarious mix-up with Lewis Capaldi and his brother in Singapore last month.
The 66-year-old broadcaster, who was shunned by Usher in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, had a run-in with Kylian Mbappe’s bodyguard last year in Monaco, saying “I’m in charge here”, when trying to conduct an interview with the France and Real Madrid star.
In Brazil in November 2023, Brundle bumped into American rapper Machine Gun Kelly and an odd interview occurred, in which the American rapper fiddled with Brundle’s poppy, asked him to play the air guitar and put his thumb down to the camera at the end.
Brundle also briefly encountered Shaquille O’Neal in Las Vegas in 2023, with the NBA legend simply saying “Lewis Hamilton baby”.
Brundle also endured hilarious encounters with DJ Khaled and Pharrell Williams in Miami in 2022, as well as a slightly frosty exchange with Cara Delevingne at Silverstone two years ago, in which the model refused to talk to the broadcaster.
