It’s the last race of the Formula 1 season before a much-needed summer break, with much of the paddock running on fumes—and yet Will Buxton is his usual animated and energetic self, launching into conversation even before I tap the “record” button. It’s the same energy that’s carried the 43-year-old Brit through a winding career as a journalist, on-air presenter, talking head (and meme fodder) on “Drive to Survive”—and author. Buxton's back to his first love, writing, with the release of his second book “Grand Prix: An Illustrated History of Formula 1,” a richly detailed and visually stunning tribute to the sport's illustrious past and vibrant present.
“It was born out of a statistic that Stefano Domenicali [the president and CEO of F1] spoke of last season, which is that one in three viewers of Formula 1 have been watching the sport for five years or less,” says Buxton. “The sport has 1.5 billion viewers in 180 territories, [so] there are 500 million people who've been watching for less than five years. Which means they never saw Sebastian Vettel in a competitive car, they never saw Michael Schumacher race… let alone have a real understanding of who was Ayrton Senna, who was Alain Prost, let alone Jim Clark and Juan Manuel Fangio.”
