Mark Blundell handed six-month driving ban after A14 speeding offence
Mark Blundell, the former McLaren Formula 1 driver and long-time TV pundit, has been banned from driving for six months after being caught 26mph over the speed limit on the A14 in Northamptonshire.
The 59-year-old was recorded in his Land Rover at 96mph in a 70mph zone on November 20, 2024. He did not attend a hearing at Northampton Magistrates’ Court last week, where his barrister entered a guilty plea. The offence brought five penalty points and, crucially, triggered a six-month disqualification under the UK’s totting-up rules. Blundell was also ordered to pay a total of £1,042 in fines, costs and surcharge.
It’s an awkward headline for a driver whose career took him to some of the fastest machinery on earth. Blundell made 61 grand prix starts between 1991 and 1995, scoring three podiums while racing for Brabham, Ligier, Tyrrell and McLaren. He then crossed the Atlantic for a stint in CART, and in endurance racing he hit the high notes early: victory at the 1992 Le Mans 24 Hours with Peugeot, alongside Derek Warwick and Yannick Dalmas. He returned to the La Sarthe podium in 2003 as runner-up in Bentley’s Speed 8 with Johnny Herbert and David Brabham.
For many UK fans, Blundell was a familiar voice from ITV’s Formula 1 coverage, part of the network’s presenting and analysis team from 2003 until the rights moved at the end of 2008. By then he was already building a second career off-track. He co-founded 2MB with Martin Brundle in 2005, pivoting into driver management, and later established MB Partners, the sports marketing agency chaired by entrepreneur and former Millwall FC chief, Theo Paphitis.
Blundell briefly returned to full-time competition in 2019, taking on the British Touring Car Championship at the age of 53 in an Audi S3 Saloon. It was a hard grind at that level; he scored points twice and finished 27th in the standings with five points. Since 2020 he’s been on the BTCC pit wall as sporting director for MB Motorsport, a program that paid off handsomely last season when Jake Hill clinched the 2024 title under Blundell’s watch. Hill announced ahead of the 2025 BTCC finale that he’s stepping away from touring cars, with a move into GT racing lined up from 2026.
As for Blundell’s immediate future on the road, the six-month ban will run its course under the standard UK penalty system. It’s a reminder—if a slightly ironic one—that the stopwatch is far less forgiving on the A14 than it ever was on a qualifying lap.
