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October 14, 2024 12 mins

Will Buxton is one of the big names in Formula 1 reporting, the unofficial presenter of ‘Drive to Survive’.  

He’s been on the circuit for nearly 25 years, starting off as a staff writer for the official Formula 1 magazine and working his way up. 

“It’s been a wonderful twenty, yeah, twenty, nearly twenty-five years in Formula 1,” Buxton told Mike Hosking. 

“I’ve loved every second of it.” 

Two decades of experience in the industry have led Buxton to release an introductory book, ‘Grand Prix: An Illustrated History of Formula 1’, covering the 75 years the sport has existed.  

“I wanted to do something that was quite a gentle introduction,” he said. 

“I wanted to open it up and describe and explain the sport to new fans in a way that wasn't too scary, because F1 can get like that. It can get very intense and very detail driven.” 

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If One is back this weekend in Austin, taken on
a new meaning for us, of course, with the arrival
of Liam Lawson in the full time seat for v
cab Will Buxton as part of the IF One circuit.
Of course, you will have seen him on Drive to Survive.
He's got a new book out called Grand Prix in
Illustrated History of Formula One, which has no shortage of
New Zealand content. Of course, Will Buxton with us morning.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
And good morning to you too now.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Having watched you.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
First of all, I don't want to obsess about Liam Lawson,
but obviously from this particular side of the world we
are at the moment. What's yours as an international? What's
your impression? What's the pedix impression of Liam and his possibilities?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
I love him, I really love him. I have been
such a fan of him for such a long time,
all the way through Junior Formula DTM. What he did
when he made those couple of races in Formula one
last season. He has impressed me in everything he's ever driven,
everything I've ever seen of him. I thought it was
absolutely criminal he was left on the sidelines this year.
I just couldn't imagine a twenty twenty four Formula One

(00:57):
season without him in it, and yet we more importantly,
he has been forced to endure that. But I'm so
glad for him and for Russ as fans of the
sport that we get to see him in these final
six races because I truly think he's and I'm not
just saying this because I'm broadcasting with you guys in
New Zealand. I truly think he's He's an exceptional talent.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Good because the pressure's on him to so he's got
the six races past the three sprints, of course, so
the pressure is on him for next year. When you
look at what's happened this season so far, with people
like color Pinto into nearly next year, all of those
this that we seem to be into a there's a
whole new generation coming phase.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, I love that. I love it when we get
those those moments, those movements of a generational shift. I mean,
you see what the likes of I mean, we have
it already with Max Verstappen and Pas three and that
younger generation like Charles and Carlos, but this is like
another new generation entirely, and even younger breed, you know, five, six,

(01:53):
seven years younger than than those guys. It's it's always
exciting to see the new guys coming through and hope
that Liam can put his stamp on these six races
and assure himself a seat, maybe not even just with
with v Car I'll be whatever you want to call them.
But you know that seat was an audition for Daniel
to find his way back to the top team. So

(02:13):
the fact that Liam is replacing Daniel means that this
isn't just an audition for the Beatam, this is an
audition for the A team, and I really hope he shines.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
What's your sense and we're in a guess work here already,
what's your sense of Pariz for the rest of the season.
Does he stay for the season. If he does, he
stay beyond the season, and if he then leaves in
some way, shape or form, that's Liam's opportunity in the
big seat.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I think a lot of this has to do with
how Liam performed. You know, if Liam performs admirably but
not exceptionally, but you know to a degree that makes
him think, hey, there's you know, there's something here, then
he'll probably get the VCARB seat. For next year. If
he outdes all expectations, then there's every chance they slide

(02:57):
him in at Red Bull next year and they promote
Isaac hadjaff Formula two into that VCRB seep the next year.
So you know, this really is an audition that could
have tremendous ramifications, you know, not just for his future,
but for a number of seats in the paddock.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
Let's talk about you for a moment.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Well, most people in this country will have seen you
for the first time in Drive to Survive. When Drive
to Survive came along, what hand on how what did
you think of it? Did you think this is the
program that is going to transform Formula one.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
I had no idea what to expect. I don't think
any of us did in that first season, because nobody
had ever done anything like that in Formula one or
attempted to do something so wide reaching, and so we
all just just went along. I wasn't even expecting to
be in it. I was expecting to be the interviewer,
not the interviewee, and so when they brought me in

(03:46):
and started firing questions at me, I really didn't know
where it was going to go. I didn't how much.
I didn't know how much of what I said was
going to be used. And it was only really when
it hit the screens for everybody that first season that
I saw it and I understood what it was and
suddenly understood what it could be. And I think brutally
so did the teams, because if you look back to

(04:08):
that first season, Ferrari and Mercedes wanted nothing to do
with it, and having seen that first season, they suddenly
turned around and said, yes, we will make our teams,
and we will make our drivers, we will make everybody open
to you because they saw what this could be and
what it was going to do. And what it's done
is completely change the paradigm the understanding that we have
of what a sports documentary can be. Because after that

(04:28):
first season, people stopped saying we need to make a
sports documentary. The buzzword became we need a drive to survive,
and that's that's what it's been throughout sport ever since then.
It's completely changed the game.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
You signed to confidentiality as to what they're filming right
now that will turn up in February March of next year.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
You don't know how many of us and about it
we were no, you know, we have it on our
paths that you know we're there. We can be filmed
by anybody, you know. But I will say that we
have started looking to the sky more when we talk
to people about things and secret things in the paddock,
just to see if there's a boom mic hanging over

(05:06):
your head.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Fantastic.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
But also about you, because I didn't know about you.
I watched you, but I didn't know about you, and
so I think he must come from racing, given your
passion and knowledge.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
But you don't.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
You were correct me if I'm wrong, But you were
singing in a choir or studying architectural or law or
something like that. Next thing you know, you're if one.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, when I was very young, I was a chorister,
very young in Sweden, angelic. I always wanted to be
a journalist. A formula one journalist was all I wanted
to be. From the age of thirteen, I knew exactly
what I wanted to do with my life. I studied
politics at university because back in those days, media studies
degrees weren't really seen as very serious. I'm looking back
twenty five to thirty years ago, so in politics to

(05:50):
teach me to research to form a cohesive argument, you know,
really really sort of discover my voice. And I wrote
my thesis on the politics of Formula one, which I
sent to the guys at FLA magazine and they liked it,
and they said, d you want a week's work experience. I
went and I never left until the magazine closed down.
And that was that was where I got my break.
That was where I got my start back in two

(06:10):
thousand and two. And I've done any number of jobs
in the sport to try and keep my head above water,
keep my foot in that door, and luckily fell into
television completely by mistake. And it's been a wonderful twenty yeah,
twenty nearly twenty five years in Formula One. I've loved
every second of it.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Non surprise, and now listen, will it does remind us
of this book, I suppose for those who came to
Formula one, you know, lateish as a result of drive
to survive all the names in there, I mean, how
many drivers, there have been, how many stories, how many phases,
how many eras. It really is historically speaking of fantastic story,
isn't it it is?

Speaker 2 (06:43):
And it's you know, it's a seventy five year story.
It's seventy fifth anniversary of the beginning of the sport
next year, and you know, so many folks have come
to Formula one through drive. That survived as a statistic
that the bottom Formula one sort of announced last year
through the research they've done, which is that one in
three viewers blow for one I have been watching for
less than five years. That's half a billion people, about

(07:05):
one in three. And so if you've been watching for
less than five years, you never saw Michael Schumacher rips,
let alone the likes of an air and Sena or
an Alan Prost or even further back, your Jim Clark's
or your Jackie Stewarts or Fangio. And yet we refer
to these drivers all the time in order to give
context to what the greats of today are achieving and

(07:27):
the teams of today are achieving. And I wanted to
open it up and describe and explain the sport to
new fans in a way that wasn't too scary, because
f one can get like that, it can get very
intense and very detailed driven, and I wanted to just
do something that was quite a general introduction that said Look,
you might be a new fan, you might have only
been watching a couple of years, but I recognize that

(07:47):
we all have a first race, we all have a
day where we know nothing about the sport. So come
with me. Let me take you on a journey back
to the start and introduce you to these great teams,
these great drivers, everything that the sport has been and
has gone through to get to where we are today.
But this incredible, vibrant championship season that we're having.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
For the credibility of the book, and being from New Zealand,
the first place and name I went to was, of
course Bruce McLaren.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, I thought you would have gone for Denny.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Both are in there.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
But but but you cannot mention if one without those
two names.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
No, you can't. And you know, I've tried to tell
the story of the sport through the world champions of
each decade and the great teams of each decade, but
I wanted to make space for drivers who weren't champions
that also had an impact on the sport. And Bruce,
of course you cannot. You cannot talk about the story
of the sport without talking about Bruce McLaren. The incredible

(08:49):
impact that he's had, that his team continues to have
in the sport it is. It is something incredibly rare.
It's something I think really beautiful. And seeing what McLaren
are doing this year is is testament to him to
his his legacy. You know everything that he that he
that he represented as he said, you know, success is

(09:12):
not is not going out in years alone.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
Do you like if one as much as you always have?

Speaker 1 (09:19):
And the reason I asked that if I look at
Frank Williams and the Frank Williams era and those guys
who just sort of greased up in a shed and
put a car together and it crashed, it blew up,
versus what you deal with now, which is is corporate.
It's a different world, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
It is a different world. But the skill set, the dedication,
the the incredible respect that I have for the drivers
in what they do in this incredible thing that all
of us in our dreams wish we could be able

(09:57):
to do, to dance with a car like that, to
take it to the absolute edge of indiesion and hold
it there. The great designers, the great mechanics, the great engineers.
You know, this is a sport that is filled with
incredible minds and incredibly talented people. That hasn't changed from
nineteen fifty through to twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five.
It's the same mixture of man and machine and everybody

(10:21):
pushing to the absolute limit. So yeah, you know, look,
it's not it's not grease monkeys working in garages anymore,
or putting the cars together in a field. It is.
It's big bucks and it is a big industry. And
you know, some people might say that's a a bit
cold compared to how it was in the old days,
but those same skills make the difference today just as

(10:43):
they just as they always have. And seeing a great
driver at the limit, that is as true today as
it was back then.

Speaker 3 (10:51):
Right, Oh, pressure time for you? Your call? Who wins
the constructors? Who wins the drivers?

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Mclarn win the constructors, and at the current rate, I
think might even finish second. And for the drivers, I
think it's going to be nip and tuck. I've been
saying for a long time. I think Lando has the
opportunity to take it. But I honestly think McLaren woke
up far too late and later than most of their
rivals to the fact that they had the fastest car
and the sport. The difficulty that they have is that
Oscar Piastre has come in on very fast, and in

(11:19):
not wanting to upset Oscar and his ascent to the top,
they may just have inadvertently gifted the crowd back to Maxistap.
And if Lando loses by less than ten points, as
I think will be incredibly likely. If he does lose
this championship, it could come down to single figures. McLaren
will kick themselves. How much will Lando pick McLaren if that?

(11:40):
If that comes to pass, But I think we've got
an amazing six races. Listen, half of these six remaining
races are sprint racist and there's more points available in
those rounds. It's doable. It's never been done before, but
that's not to mean it can't happen. And I am
an eternal optimist that we've got a championship fight, and
if it goes down to Abu Dabi, I say, bring
it on. It's going to be a great fun.

Speaker 1 (11:59):
It's going to be fantastic. Well, congratulations on the book.
We wish you all the very bits with that, and
we'll get you on again soon. Before the end of
the season, hopefully so we can wax lyrical about Liam's success.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
I would love nothing more than to talk about Liam
Lawson's success.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
All right, We'll hold you to that, Will Buxton this Morning.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
news talks it'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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