It comes up almost every year now. Personally… This feels so easy to fix. Just send someone out in front of Brundle to gauge everyone’s interest, or just tell him to back off a bit when he meets legitimate resistance. Why manufacturer drama like this? The sport just doesn’t need it in my opinion. He had two opportunities to not do what he did this weekend, but he pressed on.
Sure, it’s historical and all. But it just feels a little greasy to essentially force an interview on someone. Who is to say that Brundle can demand someone interview with him? Why are we owed that? I like Brundle and his way of interviewing, but I feel like he needs to be more respectful of those that aren’t there to be interviewed. We don’t own celebrities and no one is owed an interview simply because a celebrity decided to attend a race.
Thoughts?
Even in the absence of an explicit rule, I think Martin is largely on the right side of norms here.
Because of the above conditions, IMO… you know what you sign up for when you enter the grid. It’s no different than a red-carpet event or any other media/press event. If you don’t want to interact with the press, no one is forcing you to go. If you go, and then get huffy about media wanting access to you, you suck as a promotional partner and teams should not invite you back (and should have clarified this beforehand and not have invited you in the first place if that’s how you felt).
As to Martin’s sass, I’m here for it. There’s one place in the world where he’s justified in shit-talking anyone who snubs him and I’d be disappointed if he didn’t.
They’re a fair take. I’m not passionately on anyone’s side, I just don’t like the idea of forcing participation. But you make good points.