IndyCar commentator Will Buxton reacts to Steve Rider announcing his retirement

Famous sports presenter Steve Rider has announced his retirement from broadcasting at the age of 75, and Will Buxton has shared his reaction to the news. The Briton revealed how Rider was an inspirational figure for him ahead of his retirement from the sports world.

Rider is a British sports presenter much like Buxton. The former made his presenting debut in 1980 with ITV and moved to the BBC in 1985 for a span of two decades before reuniting with ITV.

The 75-year-old has presented the Olympic Games, the Football and Rugby World Cups, the Champions League, and F1, to name a few. With his time in the sports sphere coming to an end, Buxton shared how Rider had advised him in the early stages of his career, and wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

"The word legend is used a lot but with Steve it truly applies. Someone I have looked up to my entire career and a man who has always been so giving of his time and advice. The sporting and broadcasting world would look very different without him."

On the other hand, Will Buxton had been a longtime F1 presenter before leaving the European racing world to join IndyCar in 2025.

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Will Buxton reveals his ambition for perfection as the voice of IndyCar

Will Buxton at the 2025 IndyCar Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Will Buxton's choice to ditch F1 and join IndyCar shook many in the racing sphere. Though F1 gave him fame, he was glamor-struck by the premier open-wheel racing world owing to the presence of the Indy 500 and the opportunity to voice the sport.

However, his initial dab at the racing world in the United States did not go as well as he would have liked, as some pointed out how he felt out of sync with his panel mates in the initial races. This feedback was taken up by the 44-year-old and he said (via Inc.):

"I take it to heart. I care. I care what people think. I care that people think I’m doing a good job. After the first couple of races this year, a few people said I sounded a bit forced."

"I went back and listened and thought, ‘Yeah. It actually does.’ I am trying to find my place, to find my place alongside James and Townsend [Hinchcliffe and Bell, Buxton’s booth-mates], to take control of the narrative…. They may have meant it negatively, but I chose to take it constructively."

Meanwhile, Buxton will return to commentating this weekend as IndyCar reaches its halfway mark of the 2025 season with the Road America Grand Prix on June 22.