Martin Brundle “off Machine Gun Kelly’s Christmas list” after Brazil GP grid exchange

Sky Sports F1 presenter Martin Brundle came across rapper Machine Gun Kelly on his Brazilian Grand Prix grid walk, leading to an excruciating exchange between them on live TV

Machine Gun Kelly didn’t react well to Martin Brundle’s refusal to play air piano (

Image: Sky Sports)

Martin Brundle endured a painful conversation with rapper Machine Gun Kelly on the Brazilian Grand Prix grid.

As usual, the Sky Sports presenter embarked on his usual grid walk before the race in Sao Paulo. And footballer Marta and Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich were more than happy to stop for a word and a pleasant conversation.

But Brundle’s chat with Kelly was painful from the get-go. He had to asked the rapper the same question – “Tell us about your career at the moment” – three times before he got any sort of response.

And when he did, it was a baffling reply. “I don’t think about my career,” he snapped back. Kelly was at least a little more compliant when Brundle asked what he thought about Formula 1.

“I think your business is great,” said the musician. “It’s loud, your life is on the line and that’s exciting. I was in a studio the other week and Lewis Hamilton was in the other studio. That was nice, yeah.”

But, bizzarrely, Kelly then asked Brundle to give him “his best air guitar”. The presenter tried to explain on many occasions that he was live on air and with a microphone in his hand, so could not comply.

But Kelly wasn’t taking no for an answer. Eventually, after also being rebuffed when he asked Brundle for an “air piano collaboration”, Kelly simply stared into the camera, put his thumb down and walked away without saying another word.

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Brundle couldn’t help but giggle as he too began moving as he carried on his grid walk. “Something tells me I won’t be on his Christmas card list,” he quipped, before stopping at George Russell’s car as Mercedes worked on the brakes.

Naturally, the exchange prompted a huge response on social media. “That might be the weirdest Martin Brundle interview yet,” wrote one fan, while another said: “Martin Brundle’s grid walks are a gift that keeps on giving.”

“I’ve seen a lot of awkward interviews but this one between Martin Brundle and Machine Gun Kelly is right up there,” a third observed. And a fourth wrote: “Martin Brundle vs Machine Gun Kelly going about as well you would have expected.”