The ethical standards of journalism require a professional to put their personal biases aside when reporting. Despite that, we sometimes witness some biases coming out. Sports journalism is one such arm of the profession where it is rather difficult to keep your preferences on the back burner when giving your expert opinion. Renowned F1 journalist Will Buxton holds a great deal of authority in his craft. However, he has been accused of letting his biases get in the way of his reporting in the past. That alleged bias is a preference for reigning world champion Max Verstappen. Therefore, when the star DTS journo recently showered praise on the Dutchman’s staunch rival Lewis Hamilton, all hell broke loose on Twitter F1.
Buxton developed an image of Verstappen bias ever since the 2021 Brazilian GP. As the race progressed toward lap 48, both Hamilton and Verstappen went wide in turn 4. The incident happened because of a move that looked a bit too aggressive from the Dutchman. However, the FIA stewards let it go and Buxton supported their decision.
Will Buxton catches F1 fans by surprise with “rare” Lewis Hamilton praise
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After 8 years of absolute dominance in F1, Mercedes finally had a humbling experience in 2022. Lewis, for the first time in his 16-year-long F1 career, went through a full season without a race win. However, the Briton was heavily involved in the car’s development, which finally became competitive enough to win a race in the season’s penultimate race in Brazil.
Showering praise on his efforts during the 2023 Bahrain testing broadcast yesterday, Buxton said, “I think last year also, gave evidence to the lie that has been propagated for so long, that Lewis is only a world champion because of the cars he’s had at his disposal and have given Lewis absolutely zero credit for the work that he’s done in helping to create not just the team that he races at but the cars that he races.”
Have a look at how netizens on Twitter reacted to Will’s comments.
Did Will Buxton bump his head or is he having a mid life crisis. Wonders shall never cease when you hear him praising Hamilton for once. A rarity to witness https://t.co/mKsnsnccur
— Jacobs Sepp Basil (III) 🤙🏾 (@bjacobs14) February 23, 2023
In a world where Will Buxton is praising Lewis Hamilton, anything is possible. https://t.co/rjulnbqSUi
— The Umpteenth Jedi (@UmpteenthJedi) February 23, 2023
Will Buxton dickriding Hamilton era
— cam (@camcarver1) February 23, 2023
Will is a regular on Netflix’s popular F1 docuseries ‘Drive to Survive’. Some fans wondered if he had similar praise for the 7-time world champion in the 5th season of the show.
Wow, Will Buxton saying facts, hopefully he did the same in the DTS episode with Lewis Hamilton testing etc.
— Jadeelf254 (@jadeelf254) February 23, 2023
It’s all well and good him saying these things on TV but unless he carries over the same energy on DTS, then all of the clueless DTS F1 fans won’t ever hear it and in turn will still show no respect for the greatest F1 driver of all time. https://t.co/tx3FuDaXHt
— Morgan Taaffe (@morganloutaaffe) February 24, 2023
And there were some who expressed their feeling through hilarious memes.
will buxton saying positive things about lewis hamilton pic.twitter.com/GnCVriWVGq
— sam 🌊 (@SamCarrick13) February 23, 2023
Some took the opportunity to take a swing at Max Verstappen and questioned the legitimacy of his championship wins.
Also heard the crap about Max being a legitimate champion from Buxton …. Absolute tosh from Sky again on RB , they must think 95% of f1 fans AD didn’t happen and that cost cap pen never happened.
— Bantam Ads #44 #56 (@akira1405) February 23, 2023
“The lie that has been propagated…” and I wonder who had a part in propagating that lie? 🤔🙄
— rick snip (@hi_katie_) February 23, 2023
Some fans were kind enough to give Buxton his due credit.
I can *kind of* see where he’s coming from here
He had much more BTS access than we do, and maybe we’ll see in DTS that Lewis really did contribute a lot to development at the sacrifice of performance
But still… yikes Will that’s a rough take
— Zake (@___zake) February 23, 2023
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Watch This Story: Who Is F1 Journalist Will Buxton’s New Wife?
Did it really take Lewis’ first winless season for people to notice what he’s really worth?
— RamzyRambles♫ (@rraammzzii92) February 23, 2023
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After a long wait, the brand-new season if finally here. Do let us know your predictions in the comments.