MARK BLUNDELL: “I WAS PART OF A GOLDEN GENERATION OF BRITISH TALENT”
Famously, the motto The Will to Win is emblazed on Mark Blundell’s crash helmet. But there are many, many other things it would have said. His courage is unquestioned, his determination well known and his pace remarkable.
He has been on the F1 podium, claimed triumph at Le Mans in 1992 and conquered the IndyCar scene.
The checklist of teams that he has driven for in Formula 1 – including the likes of Brabham, McLaren and Tyrrell –is allied to other manufacturer programmes like Nissan, Peugeot, Bentley and MG in sportscars.
That is enough of a CV for any driver, but Blundell is still going strong. He has a highly successful sports management company which is now guiding the futures of a lot of up-and-coming talents and, for 2020, he will be stepping onto the pitwall as the boss of British Touring Car Championship team Mark Blundell Motorsport.
In between spinning the many plates that he has on the go, Blundell took time out of his schedule to tackle the MN readers’questions.
Question: “At the time, people said that Kimi Raikkonen going straight from Formula Renault to Formula 1 in 2001 was a step too far. You went from Formula Ford 2000 (via a few F3 races) to Formula 3000 – why did you make that leap?”
Dave Partington Via email
“I think I had my first test in Formula 3000 at the end of 1986. [The jump] was very much unheard of in those days. I guess it is just part of the pathway we took all along my early career. We did change the dynamics of how a young driver progressed a little bit. Back then, people only did one race a day at a Formula Ford 1600 meeting even though there were three being held on the day. We decided to do all three of them. We just wanted mileage. Then, going from FF2000 to F3000: we looked at it and we didn’t really see what the issue was. If you can drive, you can drive – and I think that is no different to Kimi Raikkonen as well. Yes, it takes time to understand the level of machinery and yes, it takes time to understand the dynamics of that car and the formula , but it doesn’t take any time to understand what a steering wheel and some pedals do or understand what is underneath your backside. Those are still the same parameters you work with whether it is a go-kart or a Formula
