Thanks to the popularity of Drive to Survive, Will Buxton — one of the show’s main figures — has become one of the most recognized journalists in Formula 1. While this rise in recognition has been beneficial for him, it has also attracted increased attention, including a significant amount of hate directed at him.
In a recent episode of The Fast and the Curious podcast, Buxton discussed his new book, Grand Prix: An Illustrated History of Formula 1. During the conversation, he addressed the issue of online hate and shared how much it has impacted him mentally.
Buxton revealed that he began experiencing anxiety attacks because he took things personally. Fortunately, he learned to detach from the negativity, largely due to an interview he saw with the popular Mexican actress Salma Hayek.
“I saw a sort of brilliant interview with Salma Hayek and she was talking about how you deal with online hate and she started screaming at this camera in Spanish,” said Buxton. “And then she’s like did you understand any of that? Because if you don’t speak Spanish you didn’t understand any of it,” Buxton explained.
“It’s just a crazy woman shouting at you and said, ‘That’s online hate, just think of it as a crazy woman shouting at you in a language that you don’t speak’. Because if you don’t give it value, if you see it as a foreign language you don’t speak and you don’t value then it can’t hurt you,” he added.
He also shared that practicing transcendental meditation has significantly helped him manage his anxiety. Buxton plans to take a break from work soon and go on a golf trip, during which he has promised himself to stay away from his mobile phone.
Buxton reveals the F1 community has changed over time
Listening to Buxton’s story, podcast co-host and F1 journalist Christian Hewgill remarked on how people often fail to realize that there is an actual person on the receiving end of hateful comments. This made Buxton share an interesting anecdote.
The British journalist explained that when he first began his career in Formula 1, about 25 years ago, he was responsible for the letters page of the official Formula 1 magazine. He noted that fans were encouraged to send in their opinions about F1 through letters for a chance to win a prize.
Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso on the cover of F1 Racing magazine
September 2003
#F1 pic.twitter.com/QWsHugJnbC
— F1 History (@TodayF1History) January 28, 2024
He revealed that even with a prize like a PlayStation or a Toyota Rav 4 on offer, the magazine didn’t receive more than 10 letters a month (they got no more than 50 entries for the Toyota), which shows how people were not ready to put in the effort to post a letter.
“Now that you have the ease of being able to throw out an opinion or a thought, whatever it may be… it’s literally done without a second thought,” he said, comparing this situation to today, where it’s so simple to post a hateful comment without any care in the world.
