Zak Brown swayed Will Buxton towards his IndyCar move (Image: Getty)
Will Buxton has revealed that a sweary text message from Racing CEO helped sway him towards dropping his F1 TV role for the chance to lead Fox Sports’ coverage for the upcoming 2025 campaign.
Buxton has been a fixture in the F1 paddock over the past decade as a pundit, presenter and journalist and became a celebrity due to his back-to-basics insights for ’s Drive to Survive docuseries.
However, the Brit has roots in commentary and got an early break in the paddock as lead announcer for the GP2 and GP3 series (since rebranded to Formula Two and Formula Three). Now, he is heading Stateside, replacing NBC’s Leigh Diffey as IndyCar’s play-by-play commentator at the start of the Fox Sports era.
Buxton explained his decision to leave F1 for IndyCar and named Diffey and ’s Brown as the leading figures who influenced his final verdict. “There were two people that I spoke to about it,” he told .
“One was Leigh Diffey, who obviously was the outgoing IndyCar commentator, and somebody that I’ve worked with for many years through the NBC days. We are very, very good friends. I just said to him: ‘a) should I do it? And b) do you think I can do a good job?’
Don’t miss…
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Will Buxton is IndyCar’s new play-by-play commentator (Image: Getty)
“Leigh was incredibly positive, and he’s always been a huge supporter of mine. He’s like a big brother to me, and a tremendous guide and a mentor for me. His faith that I could do it, and that he was also happy for me to do it, was a huge factor in me accepting it.
“Then the other one was . I said to Zak: ‘I think IndyCar can be incredible, but do you believe that the growth potential is there? And, from everything you’ve heard from Fox, are they as serious as they seem about it?’ Zak replied with a text message that was three words, and it just said: ‘F**king do it!’ That was literally all I needed to know.”
More F1… [EXPLAINED]
Buxton will be joined in the Fox booth by fellow F1 TV pundit James Hinchcliffe, who makes the transition from NBC Sports along with co-pundit Townsend Bell. In fact, the six-time IndyCar race winner played a role in setting up the talks to begin with.
“I was having dinner with James Hinchcliffe at the Brazilian Grand Prix, and he said: ‘Are you sorted for ‘25?’ I said: ‘Actually, I’m not’, Buxton explained. “He replied, ‘OK, would you be willing to talk to Fox about IndyCar?’ I asked if they would be interested in talking to me? And he was like: ‘Yeah, your name came up in a meeting!’ So I said let’s have a chat.”