Buxton replaced by Brundles' Son

[Hoffman900]

Buxton actually isn’t a bad play by play guy at all. I’ll take him over Croft (by far) and Leigh Diffey.

Buxton is pretty annoying in his DtS role though.

[Biffle]

I'm glad most people think this is a good move, and I agree. Too bad for IndyCar tho! hahhah

I will say at first I was afraid Alex would be the new version of “Brundle Bingo” but when I actually took time to listen to what he was saying, I’m ok with the content. Definitely a scholar of the sport. I’m not going to say he’s amazing (hey, I'm no expert) but it wasn't unoriginal, repeating or too vague like I hear from other commentators at times. He had actual concepts he was trying to get over to the audience. And not too condescending either, as if he’s trying to cover people watching their first race or something. Overall good move F1!

[TeamKoolGreen]

You can say you dislike Buxton all you want but there's no denying his orator skills. I am surprised that he gave up the gig. Fox must have offered him a lot of money.

He was also a big part of Drive to Survive. Which again , you can't deny his success there.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Buxton actually isn’t a bad play by play guy at all. I’ll take him over Croft (by far) and Leigh Diffey.

Buxton is pretty annoying in his DtS role though.

Leigh Diffey far better and far more studied/knowledgeable.

[Biffle]

He was also a big part of Drive to Survive. Which again , you can't deny his success there.

Have to agree with this one. I think Buxton is great in an "edited" setting like Drive to survive. He's great at underscoring a point, and making it entertaining with impact.

I didn't like him “live” during the races though. For example when they had him in the pits. The guy is trying so hard to describe what’s going on, waving his arms around like crazy, pointing at the cars, he’s very passionate, but to me it’s all too frantic, trying to hard. Just my opinion.

[Hoffman900]

Buxton actually isn’t a bad play by play guy at all. I’ll take him over Croft (by far) and Leigh Diffey.

Buxton is pretty annoying in his DtS role though.

Leigh Diffey far better and far more studied/knowledgeable.

Meh. Leigh Diffey is more shouty than Buxton. They’re both pretty knowledgable with the edge to Buxton. Leigh is spread out across multiple sports.

[Airshifter]

Buxton always came across to me as a cocky drama queen. He liked to act like he knows every aspect from a drivers point of view. But the drama was just over the top for me. I'm glad to see him gone, he was way, way, way, way down on the list of people I would want in the role.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Buxton actually isn’t a bad play by play guy at all. I’ll take him over Croft (by far) and Leigh Diffey.

Buxton is pretty annoying in his DtS role though.

Leigh Diffey far better and far more studied/knowledgeable.

Meh. Leigh Diffey is more shouty than Buxton. They’re both pretty knowledgable with the edge to Buxton. Leigh is spread out across multiple sports.

Buxton is not knowledgeable, he is a parrot who often repeats false information, I think people feed him nonsense on purpose to laugh at him parroting it.

[zeph]

I don’t think Buxton was bad at all. A seasoned pro, sure he would state the obvious which is understandably annoying to F1Technical members, but for the average viewer that was generally a good thing. His ability to narrate the race as it unfolds is pretty good.

We’ll see how the next guy does. I could be wrong, but maybe this is one of those “don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” things? Or not. I wish both of them well.

[FW17]

More propaganda for F1 fans

[continuum16]

A decent swap IMO. Buxton is a good storyteller but not necessarily someone who can offer you any insights of value. At least Alex Brundle has recent racing experience in high-level machinery, even if he is not the orator that Buxton or even his dad is. It's more realistic and less dramatized. Which might be a matter of taste but for me is much better.

As for Buxton, I thought he did an OK job in his Indycar gig. Sometimes he gets a bit too long-winded and kind of loses his train of thought mid-sentence, but overall I thought it was less erratic than expected. Was it perfect? No, but for the first one it was the most tolerable motorsport broadcast Fox has produced in years. Which admittedly is a low bar because I think their NASCAR commentary is possibly the worst in all of professional sports. And amateur sports, probably.

[Biffle]

More propaganda for F1 fans

^^ LMAO so true

Buxton is a good storyteller

I think (Fox's) NASCAR commentary is possibly the worst in all of professional sports.

@continuum16 which of the NASCAR hosts don't you like? I'm curious because I think as commentators go Mike Joy is pretty good. Clint Boyer is pretty bad tho. I'm not trying to start an argument, just interested in your opinion. I've been trying to find out consensus on what makes a good commentator, because a few in the current crop of F1 commentators makes me mental (mostly just my problem tho hahahah)

[Hoffman900]

More propaganda for F1 fans

^^ LMAO so true

Buxton is a good storyteller

I think (Fox's) NASCAR commentary is possibly the worst in all of professional sports.

@continuum16 which of the NASCAR hosts don't you like? I'm curious because I think as commentators go Mike Joy is pretty good. Clint Boyer is pretty bad tho. I'm not trying to start an argument, just interested in your opinion. I've been trying to find out consensus on what makes a good commentator, because a few in the current crop of F1 commentators makes me mental (mostly just my problem tho hahahah)

I’m old fashioned, but I like the older announcers that came from radio. They knew how to call it and paint a picture.

Announcers who came up in the tv era, especially in the social media age, just shout and talk over each other, looking for click bait and stuff that can work in 30” long social media soundbites.

Listen to this. I was just barely alive, but this is top tier commentating from Ken Squier:
(Start at 21:00)


He sounds like he’s calling a horse race, you can visualize everything going on without seeing it.

(Fun fact that race has the race speed record for Daytona averaging 177mph for 500 miles, averaging 194-195mph laps when under green).

[continuum16]

More propaganda for F1 fans

^^ LMAO so true

Buxton is a good storyteller

I think (Fox's) NASCAR commentary is possibly the worst in all of professional sports.

@continuum16 which of the NASCAR hosts don't you like? I'm curious because I think as commentators go Mike Joy is pretty good. Clint Boyer is pretty bad tho. I'm not trying to start an argument, just interested in your opinion. I've been trying to find out consensus on what makes a good commentator, because a few in the current crop of F1 commentators makes me mental (mostly just my problem tho hahahah)

First, fan of the username. That 16 in mine is not a random number.

Sorry F1 folks, but this is going a bit off the topic, but here me out.

When it comes to Fox's NASCAR coverage I think Mike Joy is fine. Harvick is OK, although he doesn't seem that comfortable and can come across as agitated (maybe that's just him lol). Bowyer is by far the weakest, but the biggest issue I have with the booth is the fact that there is no rhythm. When one of them stops talking it feels like there is a moment where they are all staring at each other wondering who goes next. And yet somehow Harvick and especially Bowyer are always talking over each other, interrupting each other or Mike Joy, etc. It seems nobody is giving them any direction or coaching. This is going to sound extremely pedantic but the cadence and inflection of their voices often (not always) comes across as mildly disappointed. Like everything is delivered with a sigh and a shrug. They rarely all three sound like they are happy to be there.

But more than anything the failures in FOX's NASCAR coverage is the technical aspects. The sound mixing is atrocious. Sometimes you can hear production team members in the background of commentary. The cars are mixed too quietly for my liking (maybe my speakers have a bad EQ for Fox NASCAR idk) and there is no crowd noise. No energy that makes it feel like you are watching a live event. The camerawork and the announcing are sometimes not in synch. There are way too many shots of random people in the grandstands that are literally just sitting there not doing anything, or eating, or drinking. I mean just a few weeks ago they cut to a random shot of people doing shots in the stands. Not watching the race or reacting to something on track. Just drinking. It's not often that a crowd shot is needed, but if it is, there should be clear enthusiasm or something unique going on in the shot.

As far as to what makes a good commentator, besides obvious personal tastes I think that there needs to be clear enthusiasm first and foremost. The people commentating have to come across as actually enjoying what they are doing. I would rather have someone who tends to sometimes be overzealous than someone who sounds like they just found out their credit card got stolen. Buxton is certainly enthusiastic, sometimes too much so.

I also think a good commentator is someone who does not try to dance around touchy subjects too much. If something happens on track, I much prefer it when they actually take a stance and especially if they back up their stance with an actual rationale. But there is a fine line between explanation and extrapolation. Too often (personally I think the Sky commentators do this) will take something and immediately speculate on the future and not actually explain what happened, just what could happen as a result.

Personally I think the gold standard for F1 commentary is Jolyon Palmer; he has enough recent F1 experience to know many of the teams and drivers, what the cars are (kind of) like, and also speaks his mind. He is enthusiastic but not artificial. He is not constantly yelling like Buxton, Jacques, Crofty, or others do.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk lol.

[Biffle]

I’m old fashioned, but I like the older announcers that came from radio. They knew how to call it and paint a picture.
Announcers who came up in the tv era, especially in the social media age, just shout and talk over each other, looking for click bait and stuff that can work in 30” long social media soundbites.
Listen to this. I was just barely alive, but this is top tier commentating from Ken Squier:
He sounds like he’s calling a horse race, you can visualize everything going on without seeing it.
(Fun fact that race has the race speed record for Daytona averaging 177mph for 500 miles, averaging 194-195mph laps when under green).

@Hoffman900 thanks for sharing that race, i'm going to have to find some time to sit down and watch the whole thing. Damn those guys have brass ones to ride at those speeds in those completely unsafe cars!!!

I think you really nailed something here too, about "they knew how to call it and paint a picture" ... we have an F1TV account and my son has been going back to watching / listening to all the old races in the archive. More than once he's told me "hey Dad, when you listen to the old races, you can tell exactly what's going on in the race without even watching the video!" He really likes that. The more I think about that, the more I realize what an art it is.

I have to agree with you about these social media type announcers. Like I when I first started watching F1, I liked Ted in the pits. But after a while I started listening to what he was actually saying, and there was always an agenda there. And many times he's just dead wrong, talking up things that will never happen because he's leaning towards one driver or the other. Now I basically ignore everything he says because I know now he's just pumping hype and propaganda.

So yea, IMHO I think a good lead commentator paints a picture of the race, and "stays in their lane" not trying to add in too much extra fluff. Well said!