Drive To Survive - Has it Steered Away from Fact and Crashed into Fiction?
- Aug 9, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 17, 2022
Photo: kienyke.com
Although having built a massive fanbase since its origins in 1950, the surrounding community of Formula 1 continues to rapidly expand and a lot of this growth is down to the release of the Netflix series Drive to Survive.
The world renowned sport of Formula 1 has built an empire of fans and helped further establish the names of iconic brands like Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes. Referred to as the ‘travelling circus’, the ten prestigious teams pack and unpack all they have to their name every one to two weeks in countries as magnificent as Monaco, to racetracks as historic as Silverstone.
The first season of the series was released in 2019, following the progress of teams such as Red Bull and Williams, and drivers like Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. As the next two seasons were released, focus gradually spread to all the drivers and constructors, as well as the devoted lives of the team principles on the paddock wall.
Filled with tension, successes and loses, the series offers an insight into the men behind the steering wheels and the teams behind the cars. Many fans praise Netflix for introducing them to the sport, although, as it the series continued, it became apparent that editors were falsely portraying rough relationships and forming controversial representations. This leaves fans of the show and the sport questioning whether they will continue to support Netflix when the 2022 season’s episodes are released around March 2023.
Having previously known very little about Formula 1, I enjoyed watching all four series and the ‘soap opera’ of it all. As the previous three seasons introduced all 10 teams on the grid, season four focuses more on the race weekends themselves. I enjoyed gaining a further understanding of the sport’s format and the way in which it is organised. Events, which affected us all, like Covid-19 are inevitably unavoidable, especially when focusing on a sport dependent on social interaction and being within 2 metres of one another; Netflix perfectly portray the impact the pandemic had on the teams and how drivers dealt with the pressure of coming back after the final lockdown.
In episode two of Season 4, ‘Ace in The Hole’, the cameras follow Australian Daniel Riccardo as he joins 24 year old Lando Norris at McLaren. Millions of fans were initially excited about Riccardo signing this contract, particularly after seeing the hilarious bond he shares with Norris both on and off the track, however, this relationship was not presented as joyful as we expected. A collage of scenes over many races are seen in this episode, including a clip of Norris saying, “I don’t feel any sympathy for him [Riccardo]”. Many drivers were confused by the way Netflix framed the Brit, including 2021 World Champion, Max Verstappen, who said “I know Lando… and you look at the episode and think ‘who is this guy?’”. As you can see in this video, posted by the McLaren YouTube channel, Norris and Riccardo share a humorous bond, whilst also sharing a similar view on the Netflix show.
Verstappen has openly spoken out against the new season of Drive to Survive, admitting that he had initially decided not to take part in any of the driver interviews in season 5. Considering his success in 2021 a lack of focus on Verstappen may mean future seasons will not be as popular. Luckily for Netflix, since speaking out at the start of 2022, Verstappen has decided to now partake in the show.
With the unpredicted downfall of Ferrari, announced retirement of Sebastian Vettle and a messy summer transfer window with Daniel Riccardo, Alpine and Formula 2 star Oscar Piastri, the new Netflix episodes for the 2022 season are anticipated to be even more dramatic than ever and we can’t wait!
Catch all episodes from season 1 to 4 of Drive to Survive out now on Netflix:
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