Ahead of the IndyCar season opener the FOX Sports trio of Townsend Bell, James Hinchcliffe, and Will Buxton met the media, including SB Nation
For many years, Will Buxton has been perhaps the face of Formula 1.
From his role as an analyst on F1TV, to his featured part in the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive, Buxton has featured prominently in the sport’s growing presence, particularly in the United States. Buxton’s passing for racing, and deep knowledge of the F1 grid as evidenced in his recent book “Grand Prix: An Illustrated History of Formula 1,” were staples every F1 weekend.
But that is changing this year.
Lewis Hamilton’s move from Mercedes to Ferrari is without question the biggest change of scenery on the grid this year. A move that might not be too far behind, however, is Buxton’s own move. After years on the F1 grid, Buxton is joining the crew at FOX Sports as IndyCar coverage moves to the network for the 2025 season. After years as one of the faces of F1, Buxton now brings that passion to IndyCar, along with James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell, the new broadcast team.
Those three met the media on Tuesday ahead of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the season-opening race on the 2025 IndyCar schedule. Buxton’s passion for IndyCar, and his true belief that the series offers the best open-wheel racing in the world, was evident from the top.
“I think IndyCar is motorsports’ best-kept secret, and that’s because nobody in any paddock anywhere in the world will admit what they know to be the truth, which is that IndyCar is the greatest racing on earth,” said Buxton to the media, including SB Nation, when asked about the view of IndyCar in the F1 paddock. “We all talk about it; it doesn’t matter what paddock you’re in, whether it’s the World Endurance paddock or the Formula E paddock or the Formula 1 paddock. Everyone knows the greatest form of racing in motorsport is IndyCar, but they can’t ever go on the record about it because they’d be down-talking their own championship.”
Buxton continued, highlighting examples from racing history.
“I think for a lot of F1 drivers there’s a fear associated with IndyCar, and I think that’s twofold. One, they see it as quite scary. They see ovals as being quite scary,” continued Buxton. “Two, they don’t want to turn up and get shown up. Fernando Alonso, one of the greatest of his generation, one of the greatest of all times, qualified and ran well in his first [Indianapolis] 500; second [Indianapolis 500], didn’t even qualify. That’s a huge embarrassment for any Formula 1 driver considering leaving Formula 1 and coming over to America that doesn’t quite consider themselves to be at the level of Fernando Alonso, if he can get bumped, any of them can get bumped.”
Buxton also made a pitch to those who know him for his F1 coverage to give IndyCar a try. In his view — and a view shared by this writer — there is room in everyone’s fandom for both IndyCar and F1.
“I got loads of messages saying we’re really going to miss you and I’ve tried to reply to as many of them as possible saying you don’t have to miss me, just come watch IndyCar,” said Buxton.
In his mind, part of the draw of IndyCar is the balanced, competitive field. While the current F1 grid might have a handful of drivers that can win a race, or compete for the Drivers’ Championship, the IndyCar field is wide open.
“What they’re going to find when they transition over to watch IndyCar is thrilling racing and a championship where the driver makes the difference, and that is the biggest selling point, I think, for IndyCar,” added Buxton. “We go into this season and upwards of ten drivers have a real shot at the championship, and that’s before you even look at the outliers and the people who could spring a surprise. There are at least ten genuine contenders for the title.
“When we roll to green every Sunday, there are 27 drivers in that field who can take the victory, and you cannot take your eyes off it for a moment. We all know that.
“I hope that — and I keep saying this to people. Watch one IndyCar race, and you will be hooked for life because there is no racing on Earth that is this exciting.
Buxton closed his remarks on bringing in new fans with a final, passionate plea.
“I truly believe there is enough time in the day and enough room in people’s racing hearts that you don’t have to be an either-or fan. You don’t have to say, ‘oh, I don’t watch IndyCar because I’m an F1 fan.’ No, come on. If you love open-wheel racing, there’s enough time to watch both. You can watch the Grand Prix, go and make yourself a cup of tea, come back, watch the IndyCar race. Fill your Sundays with racing. That’s what I would love to see,” Buxton continued.
“I truly believe that if you just watch one race, you’ll come back for every single one because it’s about the driver, because the driver makes the difference, and on any given Sunday, any one of those rock star gladiators behind the wheel can take the victory.
“That’s why it’s so brilliant.”
The trio are also excited about how FOX Sports is approaching the series. The network made its upcoming coverage a focus during the NFL Playoffs, releasing a trio of commercials featuring three of the biggest names in the sport: Pato O’Ward, Josef Newgarden, and Alex Palou. When you are advertising on Super Bowl Sunday, you are making a big statement.
“I love what FOX has done, not just to tell the driver stories but the way in which they’ve done that. To take a 30-second spot, and in 30 seconds really try to show you who Pato O’Ward is or who Josef Newgarden is or who Alex Palou is, I thought they did a brilliant job,” said Bell on Tuesday. “It was high product value. They certainly deployed those spots in the highest possible visibility around the Super Bowl.
“I talked to Pato O’Ward, in fact, this morning about that, and he said it was like he won the Indy 500, the amount of text messages he got. He said, ‘I heard from girls that I hadn’t heard from in ten years that were watching the Super Bowl that texted me.’
“I just love that approach, and I think we have so many characters in IndyCar outside of those three, and they will reveal themselves on Sunday and throughout the season. But it’s a great start and a great reminder of why we should all care, and I think FOX has just done an awesome job out of the gate.”
Something else Bell is excited about is the technology FOX Sports is bringing to the table. Take the upcoming race in St. Peterburg, for example. Bell talked about how for years broadcasters and analysts have talked about the different ways drivers can attack the final few corners before entering the long run to the start/finish line.
Now, thanks to drone technology FOX Sports will use this season, the broadcast team can dive into those angles of attack even deeper.
“I think just a whole lot more in terms of, I’m going to call it, bells and whistles. Let’s just take drones, for instance. We’ll have drones at St. Pete for the first time. Who knows what we’ll get at the end of the day from that, but it should be awesome,” began Bell.
“St. Pete in particular, if you just think about the final corner that leads on to the front straightaway, the runway there at St. Pete, for so many years we analyzed different racing lines through there. Do you kind of come in early and fire big entry speed and kind of double apex there? Do you come in with late apex, square it off to get down the straightaway?
“All of a sudden now we’re going to have some tools to help us tell that story a lot better. I can’t imagine how cool it’ll be to have a drone following side-by-side action there.”
Ultimately, however, the coverage comes down to the three men in the booth, and the gladiators on the grid.
But in Buxton, Hinchcliffe, and Bell, IndyCar might have the best trio possible to tell their stories. Ultimately on Tuesday, that was the message the three wanted to get across: These drivers are heroes, and their stories should lead the way.
“We ultimately are here to tell stories, and we’re here to really highlight the drivers. These are the gladiators that are out there doing battle, and it’s our job to let people know how fierce it is to do what they do and how impressive their skill set is,” said Hinchcliffe.
“I think it’s our job to hero the drivers, to tell their stories, to make people care about them, whether they come from the U.S. or they come from outside of the U.S.,” began Buxton.
“They all have unique stories to tell. They all have unique backgrounds as to where they’ve come from, what their objectives are and the influences that will be affecting them throughout the season,” continued the analyst. “We also have, as Dave [Furst, IndyCar Vice President] says, 11 incredible teams to tell their stories, as well. My overriding hope and what myself, Townsend and James will be doing this year, we want people to care.
“We want them to feel an emotional attachment to these drivers, whether it’s a love or hate relationship, that when they go to the line, when they roll to green every Sunday, folks sitting at home care deeply and passionately about who they’re watching,” added Buxton.
“It’s storytelling, and that doesn’t matter what championship you’re talking about, what country you’re talking to or about. It’s storytelling, and it’s getting people to care about these incredible gladiators, these incredible daredevils who do this amazing thing that I’ve always wished that I could do but have never had the skill set to be able to do. They always say those who can do, and those who can’t talk about it.
“I’m very happy to be talking about it.”
The 2025 IndyCar season begins this weekend on FOX Sports.
You might want to tune in.
