 |
Will Buxton | |
|---|---|
 Buxton in 2024 | |
| Born | William Frank Buxton 14 February 1981 Portsmouth, England [1] |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds |
| Occupation(s) | Presenter Journalist Sports commentator Author |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Employer | Liberty Media/FOM |
Will Buxton (born William Frank Buxton; [2] 14 February 1981) is a British motorsport journalist and presenter who works for Formula One.
Buxton was born in Portsmouth, but grew up in Malvern, Worcestershire. He attended King's School, Worcester where he was a chorister at Worcester Cathedral under Donald Hunt. He went on to study at Lord Wandsworth College and Sixth Form College, Farnborough in Hampshire before studying Politics at the University of Leeds. [1] [3] Whilst at university Buxton started writing for GrandPrix.com. In 2002 he joined the Official Formula 1 Magazine, and was a staff writer there until it closed in February 2004, when he went on to freelance work.
Buxton was offered the role of press officer for the inaugural GP2 Series of 2005, and was later promoted to Director of Communications. In 2008 Buxton became editor of the GPWeek virtual magazine, and in 2009 he started providing live commentary for the GP2 Series and GP2 Asia Series for Formula One Group. [4]
In 2018, Buxton announced he was engaged to Victoria Helyar, who worked in marketing for the Racing Point F1 Team. [5] They got married on 16 April 2022. [6]
In 2014, Buxton was invited to participate in the inaugural Florida Winter Series. He drove at three events, alongside future Formula One drivers Max Verstappen, Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi. [7]
In 2010, Buxton joined Speed, a motorsports channel which was owned by Fox Sports, as Formula 1 pit-lane reporter, until it lost the rights to broadcast F1 at the end of 2012. [8] In 2013, the broadcasting rights for Formula 1 went to NBC Sports, where Buxton resumed his role as pit-lane reporter, as well as later joining NBC's broadcast team for IndyCar Series races, until 2017.
In a Sky Sports F1 interview in December 2017, Buxton supported the changes Liberty Media had made whilst running Formula 1, despite these changes having lost him his job at NBC Sports. [9]
Buxton returned to Formula 1 in an official capacity in 2018, becoming Formula One Group's first Digital Presenter. [10] He hosts a number of features on F1 TV and the official F1 YouTube channel, including Weekend Warm-Up (formerly Paddock Pass), a feature he carried over from NBC.[ citation needed ]
Buxton has appeared in all six seasons of the Netflix documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive based on the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Formula 1 seasons, giving his opinions on the events covered in the series. [11]
In 2019, Buxton released his first book, titled: My Greatest Defeat: Stories of Hardship and Hope from Motor Racing's Finest Heroes, featuring illustrations from Giuseppe Camuncoli. [12] In it Buxton named three of his favourite drivers to watch as Lewis Hamilton, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace and Indy NXT driver Myles Rowe. [13] In his 2024 book, Grand Prix: An Illustrated History of Formula 1, Buxton detailed his childhood ambitions of becoming a Formula 1 driver but said he was held back by troubles operating a manual gearbox, something he continued to have difficulty with. [14]
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2024 | Formula 1: Drive to Survive | Himself | Netflix | [15] [16] |
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–2022 | Paddock Pass | Himself | F1TV | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 season. | [17] |
| Year | Title | Type | Platform | Developer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | F1 2020 | Sport | Playstation, Xbox and PC | Codemasters | [18] |
| 2021 | F1 2021 | Sport | Playstation, Xbox and PC | Codemasters and EA Sports | [19] |
| 2022 | F1 22 | Sport | PlayStation, Xbox and PC | Codemasters and EA Sports |
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