F1 commentator Martin Brundle has revealed he suffered a heart attack during Sky’s live coverage of the Monaco Grand Prix.
The former Tyrrell, Benetton and McLaren driver, who competed in 158 grands prix, is now Sky F1’s leading pundit and co-commentator.
But it was during his work covering the glamorous race in Monte Carlo in May that he fell ill while he was reporting on the race.
After his commentary duties he ran to the podium to interview winner Lewis Hamilton along with Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez.
“I had a small heart attack running to do the podium in Monaco,” he said on Thursday at the Autosport International show.
Despite this he carried on and completed the interviews with no one any the wiser.
He later had surgery which forced him to miss the following grand prix in Montreal, Canada.
Had a medical procedure last week, went extremely well. I won't be in Montreal but my excellent @SkySportsF1 colleagues will. Every lap live
— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) June 9, 2016
The procedure saw a stent inserted into one of his arteries – something he thought would prevent him from racing at Le Mans just a fortnight after the operation.
“I ended up with a 23mm stent in my left arterial descending,” he said. “So I didn’t think I could do the race and the cardio guy said ‘yeah, you can do the race, just don’t forget your blood thinners’.
Thanks also to the Cardioligist and surgeon who fixed my serious heart issue 2 weeks ago and gave me confidence to race. I am 20 yrs younger
— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) June 18, 2016
“I went to Palmersport and did 75 laps in a car and thought ‘yeah, I can do this’,” he added.
“I had bruises coming out of my chest but I thought ‘I love Le Mans, I’m not going to miss this’. I sat at the press conference and there was a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old sitting alongside me and I thought ‘that’s not bad for an old geezer, 57’. We finished second in the race which was unfortunate, not first.”
