Kim Kardashian Finally Stops for Martin Brundle on the Singapore Grid

Four months. Two street circuits. One Sky Sports microphone.

Martin Brundle got his interview with Kim Kardashian on Sunday, and the first question came from her, not him. On the Marina Bay grid before the Singapore Grand Prix, she asked him “Did I not know the rules? Did we get off on the wrong foot?”

I’ll admit I laughed out loud. Of all the openers, nobody saw an apology coming.

According to SPORTbible, Brundle heard on the grid Kardashian was free for a chat and wasted no time. He told her all was fine, said he was glad to see her at another race, and asked for her take on the chaos of Formula 1. Her verdict? Amazing, fun, wild and unlike anything she had seen before.

Then the Hamilton bit. With Lewis Hamilton lining up third, she told Brundle he felt confident and she was praying for a good result.

Short. Sweet. No shoving this time.

GPFans spotted a lovely detail too. Kardashian has now given Brundle one more grid interview this season than Hamilton, who prefers to stay in his zone before a race. Make of the pecking order what you will.

What went wrong in Monaco

Rewind to 7 June. Kardashian and her sister Khloé were on the Monaco grid to support Hamilton, now driving for Ferrari, when Brundle walked over on live television. He introduced himself, a member of her group leaned in to whisper to her, and she gave him a small wave before moving on.

Somewhere in the scrum, someone shoved Brundle. “You don’t need to push me, mate!” he told them on air. Yahoo Sports noted the clip racked up views across multiple accounts within hours.

Then came the line everyone clipped. Brundle muttered “Yeah, normally people have a quick chat with us.” Mediaweek took Kardashian’s side, arguing she had no obligation to talk to the press and calling Brundle’s reaction entitled.

Plenty disagreed. Fans labelled the sisters rude and arrogant, saying they ignored the spirit of the grid walk. That was ARY News summing up the mood on social media. Others offered a simpler theory. Athlon Sports found viewers who believed she never heard the question over the noise of the grid.

And a body language expert weighed in, naturally. Darren Stanton reckoned Kardashian first walked towards Brundle, then changed course after a minder told her to stay quiet, since Brundle has a provocative streak. You’ll find his full take on GPFans’ Dutch edition.

Hamilton, for his part, had a good afternoon. He finished second behind Kimi Antonelli and said having Kardashian there to support him was amazing. Rova also caught him blowing her a kiss from the podium.

The next weekend got odd. At the Barcelona Grand Prix, Brundle was at the track and on the broadcast line-up, yet Karun Chandhok and Nico Rosberg handled the grid walk. GPFans asked Sky for comment. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Nobody owes Brundle a word

Here’s the part fans forget. Brundle has run the grid walk since 1997, and he has never pretended anyone must talk to him.

After Brad Pitt walked past him in Austin in 2022, Brundle wrote “Absolutely nobody is obliged to talk to me on the grid” and added he still has to ask, since the segment runs live and unscripted. Sports Illustrated covered the whole saga, including Pitt sending Brundle a note to explain himself.

Will Buxton raised a fair point back then. Accredited media get a list at every race showing which celebrities are open to interviews. So was Kim on the “no” list in Monaco and the “yes” list in Singapore? Pure guesswork on my part. But the theory fits.

Bodyguards are another sore spot. The so-called Brundle clause from 2021 stopped celebrities bringing bodyguards onto the grid after an earlier standoff. IBTimes pointed out the irony after Monaco, where her entourage still got physical.

Not everyone loves the tradition either. GPFans ran an analysis in September arguing the time had come to end Brundle’s grid walks. I disagree, and Sunday makes a decent case against ending the grid walk. Where else does a reality TV megastar apologise to a former Jaguar and Benetton driver on live TV?

Fans loved the redemption arc. One posted, “You don’t brush Martin Brundle off” as AOL rounded up the reaction. Others gave her full marks for putting things right, which pretty much matches how Motorsport.com framed Kardashian breaking her silence.

Austin is next on the calendar. Brundle will have his microphone. Kim knows the rules now.