Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to , and IndyCar from 1996 to 2000. In endurance racing, Blundell won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with Peugeot.
Blundell was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC. Blundell returned to the track in 2019, driving in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for the Trade Price Cars team.
Background Blundell was born in Barnet, London. He first dabbled in motor sport at the age of 14, racing motocross bikes across England. At the age of 17, he made the switch to four wheels, starting his driving career in Formula Ford. In his first season he placed second in both British Junior Formula Ford Championships. The following year, Blundell won both the Esso British and Snetterton Formula Ford 1600 crowns. The next year, he began racing in the more powerful Formula Ford 2000 category, and won the BBC Grandstand series. He returned to FF1600 to compete in the European Championship racing, taking pole, and finishing fourth overall. In 1986, he won another championship in Formula Ford 2000, this time the European title.
In 1987, Blundell moved on to racing in Formula 3000 and started a number of Formula Three races for TOM'S-Toyota. 1988 brought a switch to the works Lola team in F3000. Blundell completed the season in sixth place.
Formula One Blundell signed with the sports car team at Nissan for 1989, landing a factory seat. He also managed a test drive with Williams F1 Team. By 1990, Blundell left F3000 to concentrate on sports cars. That same year, he earned pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race driving a Nissan R90CK. Blundell became the youngest driver to achieve pole position at the Le Mans 24 Hours, with a 6.040-second margin ahead of second place.
1991 marked Blundell's transition into Formula One. His debut season saw a sixth place in Belgium with the Brabham Yamaha team while also maintaining his testing deal with Williams. However, the following season, he was not retained by Brabham, and was left without a race seat in Formula One. He declined Williams' offer to stay on as their test driver for 1992, as he had his eyes solely on a full-time race seat. He told his contemporary Damon Hill about the vacant Williams test seat, which Hill eventually took. Having failed to land a drive for 1992, Blundell eventually signed a testing deal with McLaren. Whilst being a full-time tester for McLaren, he also continued to race sports cars. That year, with the factory Peugeot outfit, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours, adding to his earlier pole.
Blundell returned to Formula One in 1993. A drive with Ligier netted him his first two podium finishes in South Africa and Germany, and tenth in the final World Championship standings. It was a one-year deal with Ligier, however, and in 1994 Blundell signed with Tyrrell. Blundell managed only one podium finish in the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix, which was the last Formula One podium finish for Tyrrell. At the end of the season, owing to lack of sponsorship, Tyrrell released Blundell as the retirement of Nigel Mansell meant a return to McLaren, this time, in a race seat. Teamed with future two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen, Blundell recorded five points finishes and once again took tenth in the final standings. 1995 also saw continued success in sports cars with a fourth place showing in Le Mans, but was Blundell's final year in Formula One, owing to the signing of David Coulthard by McLaren.
Blundell achieved three podiums, and scored a total of 32 championship points.
Blundell came close to making a return to Formula One in 2001. He had advanced negotiations with Prost Grand Prix to be the team's test and development driver but the deal was not concluded.
CART
Out of Formula One, Blundell moved to the United States and joined the CART racing team PacWest, alongside fellow former Formula One driver Maurício Gugelmin. Early in the 1996 season, Blundell crashed head-on into a concrete wall in Rio at an estimated 122 g, resulting in a fractured foot and ankle, brain haematoma, and various injuries to internal organs, forcing him to miss three races. Despite this, he was third in the rookie standings with three top-six finishes in the U.S. 500, Detroit Grand Prix, and Michigan International Speedway races.
In 1997, Blundell came within one corner of winning the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix before running out of fuel, an event he described at the time as the worst disappointment of his career. In the next race, he passed Gil de Ferran on the final straight to win the Grand Prix of Portland by 0.027 seconds. Blundell recorded further race victories in Toronto and Fontana en route to sixth in the championship. That year, he was also named British Driver of the Year by Autosport magazine.
A crash whilst testing at Gateway in early 1999 left Blundell to miss eight races in the middle of the 1999 season. He returned to PacWest for a final season in 2000. However, after finishing 21st in the championship with 18 points, he left PacWest racing by mutual agreement.
From driving to commentating
Blundell again crossed the Atlantic to focus on his sports car racing. He failed to finish Le Mans with the MG Lola team, though he and his teammates impressed. Off-track, Blundell joined ITV television in Britain as an analyst for the 2002 Formula One season. This position lasted until the end of the 2008 Formula One season when ITV lost coverage to the BBC.
Since 2001, Blundell's racing involvement has steadily declined, with only the occasional event. He did test a Dale Coyne Champ Car to help prepare Darren Manning for a one-off in the first CART race in Britain at Rockingham, and raced in the British round of the World Rally Championship. In 2003, along with Johnny Herbert and David Brabham, he finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, completing a 1–2 sweep by Bentley. In 2003, he finished third at the 12 Hours of Sebring driving for Bentley alongside Johnny Herbert and David Brabham.
From 2004, Blundell ran a management company, 2MB Sports Management, with fellow ex-F1 driver and friend Martin Brundle, until Brundle decided to devote more time to his television career. The company represent drivers including McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, British Formula 3 champion and IndyCar driver Mike Conway, Ferrari junior Callum Ilott, BMW backed racer Tom Blomqvist, IndyCar driver Jordan King, British F4 champion Kiern Jewiss and British GT driver Patrick Kibble.
Helmet Blundell's helmet is yellow with three red stripes and two yellow gaps in the middle, a blue stripe in the entire chin area and a blue circle on the top with his golden initials on it. The rear of his helmet bears the motto "The Will To Win" – a quote from his grandfather.
Personal life Blundell married his wife Deborah in 1995. Ron Dennis loaned him a McLaren F1 for the wedding, which was crashed by his best man Perry McCarthy, who played The Stig on Top Gear. They have two sons: Mark Jr. and Callum. In October 2025, Blundell was given five points on his driving licence and banned from driving for six months for excessive speeding in an incident which took place on 30 November 2024 where Blundell drove his Land Rover at 96 miles per hour in a 70 miles per hour zone.
Racing record Career summary
SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition1984Formula Ford 2000?????0?1985Formula Ford 1600?6????1stFormula Ford 2000?6?????Formula Ford Festival100?004th1986Formula Ford 2000?????1251st1987British Formula 3 ChampionshipTOM'S GB60001613thInternational Formula 3000Fleetray Racing50001515thBS Automotive400001988International Formula 3000Lola Motorsport110013186thJapanese Formula 3000Footwork Racing International100000NC1989International Formula 3000Middlebridge80001811thWorld Sportscar ChampionshipNissan Motorsports500022711th24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/ADNF1990World Sportscar ChampionshipNissan Motorsports International800031611th24 Hours of Le Mans10100N/ADNF1991Formula OneMotor Racing Developments Ltd140000118th199224 Hours of Le MansPeugeot Talbot Sport11001N/A1st1993Formula OneLigier Gitanes Blondes1600021010th1994Formula OneTyrrell160001812th1995Formula OneMarlboro McLaren Mercedes1500001310th24 Hours of Le MansGTC Gulf Racing10001N/A4th1996PPG Indy Car World SeriesPacWest Racing1300004116th1997PPG CART World SeriesPacWest Racing1730251156th1998CART FedEx Championship SeriesPacWest Racing1900003618th1999CART FedEx Championship SeriesPacWest Racing120000923rd2000CART FedEx Championship SeriesPacWest Racing2000001821st200124 Hours of Le MansMG Sport & Racing10000N/ADNF200224 Hours of Le MansMG Sport & Racing10000N/ADNFWorld Rally Championship100000NC200324 Hours of Le MansTeam Bentley10001N/A2ndAmerican Le Mans Series100011921st2010Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup100110NC†2011Rolex Sports Car SeriesUnited Autosports w/ Michael Shank Racing400009917thVolkswagen Scirocco R-Cup100000NC† 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP8 Volkswagen Motorsport10000N/ADNF2012Blancpain Endurance SeriesUnited Autosports400000NCVolkswagen Scirocco R-Cup100000NC†2013British GT ChampionshipUnited Autosports200000NC2017Mini Challenge UKUnited Autosports300000NC†2019British Touring Car ChampionshipTradePriceCars.com300000527th † As Blundell was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 1987 Fleetray Racing SIL VAL SPA PAU DON BRH BIR 14th 5 BS Automotive PER IMO BUG JAR 1988 Lola Motorsport JER VAL PAU SIL MNZ PER BRH BIR BUG ZOL DIJ 6th 18 1989 Middlebridge SIL VAL PAU JER PER BRH BIR SPA BUG DIJ 11th 8
Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results (key) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 1988 Footwork Racing International SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ SUZ NC 0
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Nissan Motorsports Julian Bailey Martin Donnelly Nissan R89C C1 5 DNF DNF Nissan Motorsports International Julian Bailey Gianfranco Brancatelli Nissan R90CK C1 142 DNF DNF Peugeot Talbot Sport Derek Warwick Yannick Dalmas Peugeot 905 Evo 1B C1 352 1st 1st GTC Gulf Racing Ray Bellm Maurizio Sandro Sala McLaren F1 GTR GT1 291 4th 3rd MG Sport & Racing Ltd. Julian Bailey Kevin McGarrity MG-Lola EX257 LMP675 92 DNF DNF MG Sport & Racing Ltd. Julian Bailey Kevin McGarrity MG-Lola EX257 LMP675 219 DNF DNF Team Bentley David Brabham Johnny Herbert Bentley Speed 8 LMGTP 375 2nd 2nd
Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Pts. Motor Racing Developments Ltd Brabham BT59Y Yamaha V12 USA BRA 18th 1 Brabham BT60Y Yamaha V12 SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS Ligier Gitanes Blondes Ligier JS39 Renault V10 RSA BRA EUR SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS 10th 10 Tyrrell Tyrrell 022 Yamaha V10 BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPN AUS 12th 8 Marlboro McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4/10 Mercedes V10 BRA ARG SMR ESP 10th 13 McLaren MP4/10B MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA PAC JPN AUS McLaren MP4/10C POR EUR
Complete CART results (key)