“These guys are rock stars, absolute daredevils. When you ask F1 drivers: ‘Would you go and race IndyCar?’ A lot of them say, ‘Oh, I don’t know, I think it might be a bit dangerous.’ When you have F1 guys saying ‘We’re a bit scared about IndyCar’, it shows you the level that these drivers are at.
“The fact that they can go out and race these things shows such tremendous skills, such incredible speeds and such brilliant race-craft as well. You look at the number of overtakes for position at every single IndyCar race, it’s just astonishing.”
A conversation with IndyCar race winner and commentator James Hinchcliffe at last year’s Brazilian GP first made Fox aware that Buxton could be available to front its new coverage.
When he then subsequently met Fox executives to discuss as possible link-up, did the media giant have to sell itself to Buxton, or was it the other way round?
Buxton joins former IndyCar drivers James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell in the commentary booth
IndyCar
“A little from Column A, a little from Column B,” he says. “We just had a chat about broadcasting, what I enjoyed [about it] and how I go about it as well.
“[For me] it’s always been about that on-screen relationship, making the folks at home feel a part of that. Made them feel like you’re just sitting down at the pub with your mates and having a chat about racing. I think that’s really important, that it’s there’s not this sort of ‘them and us.’
“It should be a collaborative experience. When talking to Fox, I wanted to know what their plans were, what the broadcast schedule was going to be like, and massive things like every race being in one place on network TV for the first time. That’s absolutely huge if we’re going to grow the sport to where I think it deserves to be, and where Fox believes it deserves to be. When new fans think about tuning in for the first time, they’re going to know exactly where to find it.”
Prior to his F1 TV work, Buxton has previously been involved with both Fox and NBC in covering both IndyCar and F1, giving him a good knowledge of who the right people to hire in American motor sport broadcasting.