Mario Muth has made his name in the sport with a series of short interviews with F1 subjects in recent years and he has now moved on to make a feature length documentary (94 minutes) about the 1983 British Formula 3 Championship. The film is called Senna vs Brundle and it is being launched this week. It is available through Vimeo on Demand and can be watched on a variety of devices either connected to the Internet or offline.
The story is told by key people who were part of the story including Brundle himself, team bosses Eddie Jordan and Dick Bennetts, drivers Allen Berg, Davy Jones, Mario Hytten, Calvin Fish, engineer Alastair McQueen and media folk David Tremayne, Jeremy Shaw and Keith Sutton. Click on the picture below for a preview.
joeblogsf1 
A superb season in a time when there was great F3,F2,FF2000,FF1600 etc etc, without evening bringing in CART & F1. And i remain of the opinion that the only thing Brundle lacked over Senna, was self confidence….i don’t think Martin ever truly believed in his abilities, which were considerable and which should have taken him to at least one F1 title.
Amazed that Brundle could ever be considered lacking in self-confidence. His pomposity these days was one of the reasons I ditched my Sky subscription…
I cannot say that I ever think of Martin as being pompous. He’s a very good commentator.
Agree. Martin Brundle; knowledgeable? Yes; authoritative? Yes; pompous? absolutely not. A great commentator; in fact, in my opinion, the best. I used to really enjoy Sundays on BBC when he was around. I especially enjoyed the grid walks where he had to ‘compete’ with others to get those short interviews. The guy could drive as well as Muth’s film will no doubt prove. And, for the avoidance of doubt, I believe he WAS a world champion? True, not in F1 but the old group C. That still demands great respect.
He was indeed Nick W, and he was probably the quickest guy out in GpC back then. But he also had the speed and mental attitude to be an F1 Champion, he just lacked a little self confidence and he was, like Chris Amon, very rarely in a car that was up to even getting a podium place….excluding Benetton of course where he came close to being able to get a Canadian GP win.
Do you listen to his commentary then? I thought you were at the race? Or do you sit in a room and watch it on TV?
Who?
And a season whose existence apparently slipped under the radar of Asif Kapadia.
He did not have the time available to get the junior formulae into the story
They were interesting times. Hard to think that it was 33 years ago. Time flies .
Indeed, 33 years already. Being born well before that, I still remember this season vividly. I still see the amazement in the press and with the fans that somehow Ayrton Senna wasn’t outclassing Brundle as one would expect.
Even more amazing that Brundle somehow never won an F1 GP. It shows again that a great career is more than having the ability, it’s also about having the right momentum, the right sponsors, being at the right place at the right time.
Was thinking about this very F3 season the other day as I followed it intently as a young fan. Probably the most intense duel in motor racing,each race an epic episode!
Obviously meant for a select audience, mentioning Brundle in the same breath as Senna ? however, great commentator.
History is history. Watch the movie and you will understand.
Anyone who was a fan in those days will always remember Martin for his role in that huge F3 season. He ran Ayrton close on many fronts and me as a dedicated Ayrton fan – and there were not that many of us in those days as many thought him to be an arrogant and spoiled Brazilian which he was – I will always have major respect for Martin… as Ayrton did.
Was it Mario who did the program interviewing Gary Hartenstein and who was at one of your Evening with Joes in London a couple of years ago? Did anything come of his filming of that?
The Hartenstein was a hotel used by British paratroopers as their headquarters during the Battle of Arnhem. Gary Hartstein in the former F1 doctor!
yes, Mario did film one of my events. I think the fact that I lived in Paris complicated matters and so Mario made a film about Maurice Hamilton, which I suspect was easier. I have no idea if he ever intends to finish the film.
I agree with Joe: I think Martin Brundle does an excellent job on Sky. A couple of friend that were new to F1 told me that Brundle (and Croft) commentating provided insights that were the main reason they became fans.
Brundle was very capable and he would’ve had more success in F1 had he not had that smash at Monaco in ’84 and the later one (in Dallas I think it was) which injured him and lost him career momentum.
However I’m sure he was on record as saying he wasn’t as good as Ayrton or Schuey, and interestingly, Johnny Herbert….
Johnny before his accident was world class.
I always thought Herbert’s car control was as natural as that of Clark.Johnny was a great British driver who didn’t get where he should have done, for reasons mostly out of his control….i think Stephen South would also have been a top F1 driver, and Tommy Byrne could stake a claim too. There are many others, as well as many German and French drivers who really ought to have had F1 careers on merit.
Didn’t Herbert score points on his F1 debut (back when that meant a top 6 finish) far too short a time after said accident, which shattered his ankles? I seem to remember him having to be lifted out of the car at the end. Even as his career turned out, he still has a better F1 record than many other competitors.
Totally agree and I’ve always thought MB a very good judge of driving ability. I’ve often wondered what ‘Impey’ would’ve been able to achieve based on pure talent?
Assuming he still went to Benetton for 1989, and not Williams or Lotus which was equally as likely in the summer of 1988 when a few teams were battling for his services, he may well have has those B188/89’s closer to the McLaren’s Ferrari’s and Williams’s than Sandro did and the Italian was doing pretty well.
I reckon Johnny would still have lacked the application of a Schumacher or Senna but probably had comparable levels of natural speed and flair.
I think pretty much the same about Martin Donnelly – he was a very capable driver, perhaps calmer than Johnny (which stood him in good stead in F1) but very very quick. I think Martin may have gone from Lotus to Williams after a couple of seasons all things equal (just a hunch).
I have digressed completely from the topic, apologies!
Problem is Herbert arrived for his debut in 1989 in Brazil still suffering from his injuries (he hobbled to the cockpit on crutches)… despite the pain Johnny finished fourth in his debut in Brazil in a time when 30-something cars turned up to try and race. He beat fully fit Nannini in the process – imo one of the bravest drives in F1 history
Aluminium tubs. Remember those days when a prang could hurt you and the car, not like today where carbon fibre rules? How many careers – and lives – were saved by the introduction of carbon fibre I wonder? Looks like an interesting film, can’t believe its 22 years on Sunday since Imola.
I followed that season, as in, I went to the races! I was a fan of MB then but not now. As we used to say at the time “A legend in his own lunchtime”. But that is from the point of view of an outsider.
There is a Mr Dowe who occasionally frequents the comments here who probably knows more.
Two great drivers. Three world titles between them. Can’t wait for the Vettel vs Buemi documentary. Or the Schumacher vs Coulthard. Awesome epic fights.
For what it’s worth, a couple of years ago a friend invited me to a BRDC Track Day at Silverstone, lunch was provided in the BRDC Clubhouse, and to my amazement and great excitement I was placed next to Martin Brundle. I can only say he was utterly charming, very good company and genuinely interested in my motor racing activities and views, he even took off his impressive looking Richard Mille timepiece so I might examine it at my leisure ! He came across as a very genuine car enthusiast, he told a lot about his Eagle E type Jaguar road car and his hopes for having a road going Linder and Knocker Lightweight E Type built to replace it.
I’d always followed his career, but my memories of that year in F3 are now fairly hazy, but he certainly gave Senna a good run for the title, and was also finishing his engineering degree at the same time if memory serves me ? Winning the World Sports Car Championship, Le Mans and Daytona 24 Hr. races makes him somewhat more than a “Legend in his own lunchtime” in my book ?
His work with the major broadcasters has been in my view impeccable, and his current work with Sky F1 would seem hard to better .
Thank you I bought the film immediately and enjoyed watching it.