If that's true just why has Auntie dropped Jonathan? Martin seems to be taking on the slippery persona that so often manifests itself in high profile F1 positions, dropping hints and innuendos one day only to deny them a day or so later.
Below I have brought together varying news items which seem to show that Brundle is trying to 'have his cake and eat it' so to speak, is he trying to convince us all he had nothing to do with the re-shuffle for fear of a backlash? There is also the interesting conjecture that Martin feels the heat of technology has passed him by and, like the rest of us older gents, has been feeling insecure in his chosen field.
In my view he is more likely to damage his credibility by having a selective memory and talking crap, what does anyone else feel?
From Crash.net, Today.
Just days after seeming to hint that his former BBC F1 co-commentator had tried his patience by bombarding him with 'gormless questions', Martin Brundle has insisted there was never any 'personality clash' or even so much as a 'cross word' with Jonathan Legard over the past two years.
“Jonathan Legard is a lovely bloke,” the former Benetton, McLaren, Ligier and Jordan ace wrote on social networking site Twitter. “We never had a 'personality clash' or a cross word. There's so much nonsense gets cut-and-pasted as fact.
Legard has been replaced in the Beeb's commentary box for the forthcoming campaign by 13-time grand prix-winner David Coulthard, with the common perception being that it was the popular Brundle – who wields quite some influence inside the corporation, it seems – who had forced the ex-Radio 5 Live man out due to a lack of chemistry between the pair.
Comments made at the pre-season Autosport International show last weekend seemed to confirm those suspicions, but now Brundle has spoken out to set the record straight – as well as offering some insight into the BBC's rejigged line-up for F1 2011.
From Crash.net, Mon, Jan 17.
In what might be interpreted as a veiled criticism of his former BBC F1 commentating partner Jonathan Legard, Martin Brundle has offered some insight into what he expects from his relationship with David Coulthard in 2011 – insisting he won't constantly plague the Scot for explanations or 'give him gormless questions'.
“'DC' has got such a knowledge of F1 and such banter to go with it, that I am confident he will have plenty to say about a race,” the Englishman assured. “I can do the shouty bits when I have to, and yes it is a different job so I will do it differently – but I won't pretend I won't know what I am talking about.
“I won't give him gormless questions like, 'oh that right rear tyre looks a bit odd, doesn't it David?' We'll discuss it among ourselves. We will agree, disagree, we will throw to the pit-lane and we will tell the story of F1.”
From Crash.net, Today.[/i]
One theory that has been mooted by our colleagues at Planet-F1 is that given that he is now the wrong side of 50 and consequently increasingly out-of-touch with modern-day technology in the top flight – something with which, for example, Radio 5 Live's Anthony Davidson is conversely perfectly au fait – Brundle orchestrated the commentary box changes to protect his own career, given that his new role is now to speak about the sport in very general terms for all to understand, leaving the technical talk to Coulthard.