Four years is a long time and a lot can change in this period. That is what Will Buxton thought back in 2021 as he made some bold predictions for the 2025 grid. With all 2025 driver lineups now confirmed, fans on Reddit have unearthed Buxton’s predictions, and the F1 presenter may wish that he never made them in the first place based on how many he got wrong.
Buxton rightly predicted that George Russell would be part of Mercedes, but picked Daniel Ricciardo, a driver who lost his place on the grid after last season’s Singapore Grand Prix, alongside the Briton.
When it came to Red Bull, Buxton rightly predicted that Max Verstappen would still be there but picked Lando Norris as his teammate. Considering the number of rumors that linked Norris to that second Red Bull seat, one cannot be too critical of the British presenter’s prediction.
But his predictions for AlphaTauri (now RB) and Alfa Romeo (now Sauber) could not be more wrong. He picked four drivers who currently do not have a seat in F1.
Buxton predicted that two Red Bull juniors Dennis Hauger and Arvid Lindblad would drive for RB. However, that is certainly not the case as Hauger will be competing in Indy NXT with Andretti Global, meanwhile, Lindblad is all set to compete in F2 with Campos Racing this year.
Coming to Sauber, Buxton predicted that former Haas racer Mick Schumacher would drive for them alongside Arthur Leclerc.
It is understandable that Buxton predicted Ferrari junior Leclerc could drive for Sauber, who have a partnership with the Italian outfit. However, his prediction that Schumacher would race for the Swiss team was way off. The German last competed in F1 in 2022 with Haas.
The Briton acknowledged that he got these driver lineup predictions terribly wrong on X (formerly Twitter), last month. “Will Buxton’s 2025 predictions were made 4 years ago in the middle of the pandemic as a bit of f**king fun”, he wrote.
As a strange coincidence, Buxton himself will not be a part of the F1 TV presenter team from 2025 onwards with a new opportunity across the pond.
Buxton will be moving to IndyCar
Buxton, who has become popular as the voice of Netflix’s popular F1 docu-series Drive to Survive, confirmed via Instagram that he will no longer be a part of the F1 TV presenter team from 2025 onwards. The Briton will join Fox Sports’ coverage team for IndyCar.
He will be joined by former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, who presented several F1 races over the past year alongside Buxton, and American racing driver Townsend Bell. Buxton does have previous experience covering IndyCar, having presented for NBC Sports from 2013 to 2017.
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Speaking of how excited he is about his new opportunity, Buxton took to Instagram and wrote, “A decade ago, I reported on my first Indycar races, including my first visit to IMS(International Motor Speedway.) I fell in love with the place immediately”. On reading Buxton’s post, several of his co-workers wished him nothing but the best for his future.
Fellow F1 TV presenter Laura Winter wrote, “THIS ISN’T GOODBYE but I’m so proud of you and excited to see you take on a brand new amazing challenge for you and the family. I’ll miss youuuuu”. Meanwhile, Hinchcliffe wrote, “So excited to get to work with you on this next chapter!”
