Alex Brundle has explained why he decided to retire his Ford GT40 at Spa Six Hours after a “valiant stint” from his father, former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle.
The former Benetton driver returned to racing to compete in the historic car endurance race alongside his son and Gary Pearson, but unfortunately the GT40 lost oil pressure, forcing the trio to retire from the race.
“Unfortunately we were forced to retire at Spa Six Hours. With around 2hrs to go and a valiant stint from @MBrundleF1 to box P5 overall. Our engine lost oil pressure. And I thought stopping the car might be better than owning a nice V8-shaped coffee table. We’ll be back,” Alex wrote on social media.
He later added more context on the Brundle Motorsport Instagram story, explaining: “We have one hour to go in Spa Six Hours; unfortunately, we don’t, because the oil pressure of the car started fluctuating really badly.
“Obviously, oil lubricates everything, you can’t run the engine without any oil pressure. I was in the car when it happened, I know the engine really well and the car really well and it didn’t sound happy so I decided to stop – always a tricky decision to make. I think it looks like the right decision because the car, I’ve seen some shots now and it was smoking quite a lot on the lap before. We made the decision to retire, unfortunately, which means we’re out of the Spa Six Hours once more in 2025. We had good fun.”
After qualifying in P6 on Friday, the 66-year-old kicked off the six-hour race on Saturday, taking on the first stint for the team, completing roughly two hours of racing before Pearson jumped into the driver’s seat. Following another two-hour stint from Pearson, the 35-year-old Brundle took to the wheel before retiring.
Speaking ahead of the race, Martin explained that he “just fancied driving Alex’s GT40 with him,” before adding that even when they are both working at the same grand prix weekends, they don’t get the opportunity to spend much time together. “It’s a rare opportunity for a father and son weekend,” he said.
The Spa Six Hours is an annual event held at the home of the Belgian Grand Prix at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit. It welcomes historic touring cars and sports cars built before 1965, such as the GT40, Jaguar E-type and AC Cobra, to compete in a six-hour endurance race.
