Brundle trims 2026 schedule

Martin Brundle is not disappearing from Formula 1 television in 2026, but he is cutting back again: he said he will work 16 races this season, down from 18 in 2025, after already missing China and Japan in March. (sportbible.com) He is expected back for the Miami Grand Prix on May 1 to May 3, which is the next race on the official 2026 Formula 1 calendar after a five-week gap following Japan. (formula1.com) (express.co.uk) The reason fans notice this so quickly is that Brundle is not just another analyst on Sky Sports Formula 1 coverage; he is the voice many British viewers have heard almost every season since he joined ITV in 1997, then moved to the British Broadcasting Corporation in 2009, and then to Sky in 2012. (tvnewsroom.co.uk) (thespeakerhandbook.com) He also built a second career out of the pre-race grid walk, where he threads through mechanics, team bosses, and celebrities minutes before lights out and gets answers no studio interview can get. Sky’s own biography calls those grid walks one of the signatures of its Formula 1 coverage. (thespeakerhandbook.com) Brundle is 66 now and turns 67 on June 1, 2026, so the change looks less like a sudden exit and more like another step in a gradual handover that has already been happening for several seasons. (tvnewsroom.co.uk) (planetf1.com) The calendar matters here too: Formula 1 has 22 races scheduled for 2026, stretching from Australia on March 6 to March 8 to Abu Dhabi on December 4 to December 6, so even a reduced role still means Brundle is covering most weekends. (formula1.com) His latest absence came at the exact moment the season was starting to take shape, with Australia, China, and Japan opening the year before the long April break, which made two missed weekends feel bigger than they would in the middle of summer. (formula1.com) (gpfans.com) What changed is the workload, not the status: reports around his announcement say he still expects to be at selected major rounds, and Miami is first on that list when the championship resumes in May. (express.co.uk) (planetf1.com) So the story is not that Sky Sports has replaced Martin Brundle; it is that Formula 1’s longest-serving modern television voice is choosing fewer weekends while staying attached to the races where viewers most expect to see him. (sportbible.com) (gpfans.com)