Star of Netflix’s Drive to Survive in major career change as he quits F1 with emotional post saying ‘racing is my life’
DRIVE TO SURVIVE star Will Buxton has announced a major career change for the 2025 motorsport season.
Buxton is one of the most recognisable stars outside of the racers and team principals who feature on the hit Netflix show Drive To Survive, which documents behind-the-scenes of the Formula One season.
However, the veteran broadcaster has announced a major career change that will see him leave his main role at F1TV.
Taking to Instagram, he announced following a seven-year career with F1TV he would be moving to Fox to headline its coverage of Indycar.
In an emotional statement, he said: “I have always loved Indycar, always been enthralled by the excitement of its racing and stunned by the skills of its incredible drivers.
“And while I always hoped that one day I might, I never imagined that I ever actually would have the opportunity to join the series full time.
“That I will get to do so in the role and with the responsibility that I do in 2025 is a tremendous honour. And while I am unbelievably excited, I am only too aware of the enormity of the task I am undertaking, and the trust placed in me…
“Racing is my life. My deepest passion. Its drivers are my heroes. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had a job for the past two decades that revolves around telling their stories…
“I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone at F1TV for seven incredibly happy years.
“I’m so proud of all we created and all we built and I’m excited to watch 2025 shake out, admittedly, for now at least, from my couch.”
Buxton – a New York Times best-selling author – will present Fox’s inaugural season coverage of NTT Indycar alongside James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell.
He had featured on NBC as a pit-lane reporter for Indycar from 2013-17 before Liberty Media’s acquisition of F1 saw him move in-house to F1TV in 2018.
The first race of the 17-event season will commence with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, FL, USA on March 2.
Indycar as a racing series is actually quite similar to F1 in that the cars are open-top and race around tracks with a variety of shapes.
However, unlike F1 which has a global fanbase, Indycar is most popular in North America.
In 2023 it averaged 1.4 million viewers across a 14-race season but had a stuttering viewer count in 2024 for the final year of a 16-year partnership with NBC.
It is not yet clear whether this move will impact Buxton’s involvement in the 2025 series of the Netflix documentary.
Will Buxton leaves F1TV after seven years
Read Will Buxton's full statement below:
A decade ago I reported on my first Indycar races, including my first visit to IMS. I fell in love with the place immediately. The history, the passion, the emotion that whips through the air as the cars rocket past you, sucking the air from your lungs, breathing tradition and understanding into your soul. On my final day, I was presented with a Culver block, one of the bricks that once lined the entire speedway. It was at the time, and remains today, the most humbling gift.
I have always loved Indycar, always been enthralled by the excitement of its racing and stunned by the skills of its incredible drivers. And while I always hoped that one day I might, I never imagined that I ever actually would have the opportunity to join the series full time. That I will get to do so in the role and with the responsibility that I do in 2025 is a tremendous honour. And while I am unbelievably excited, I am only too aware of the enormity of the task I am undertaking, and the trust placed in me.
Racing is my life. My deepest passion. Its drivers are my heroes. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had a job for the past two decades that revolves around telling their stories. And beyond that, a job that I’ve always believed is about taking the fans on a journey, whether through the page or through the screen, to the heart of the racing world. To make them a part of the sport they love. That has been and will always be why I do what I do.
I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone at F1TV for seven incredibly happy years. I’m so proud of all we created and all we built and I’m excited to watch 2025 shake out, admittedly, for now at least, from my couch.
My year and my racing season will begin in St Pete.
I’m so grateful to Fox for this once in a lifetime opportunity, so thankful to everyone at the NTT Indycar Series for the warm welcome they’ve already extended, and so invigorated for the years ahead. Indycar stands at the gates of one of the most exciting and important periods in its history.
Alongside Hinch, Townsend and the world class team behind the scenes at Fox, I can’t wait to get started and to present to you all, the fastest racing on earth.