Netflix, F1 Reveal Release Date for ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’ Season 4

Buckle your seatbelts, y'all—the release date for season four of Netflix's Formula 1: Drive to Survive has been announced, and it's sooner than you think. 

The media giant and Formula One jointly posted that the season will debut on March 11, nine days before the 2022 campaign begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix. The long-awaited season will show the chaos and drama that unfolded during the ’21 campaign, providing a behind-the-scenes look at some of the world's favorite drivers and teams. 

The 2021 season featured McLaren taking the only one-two finish and a grueling 22-race title battle between Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton, which ended with a controversial finish during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that launched an FIA investigation. 

That final lap left resulted in Verstappen winning, giving him the title of world champion.

The Netflix series triggered an F1 boom within the United States as new fans flocked to the tracks because of the docuseries. Guenther Steiner, the team principal of Haas F1 Team, posed a single question in the premiere of the series: “Why do you watch Formula One?”

He went on to answer himself, not skipping a beat. “You want to see action. You want to see drama. You want to see the underdog making a good result. A story. Each race should have a story, and the story should not be all the time Mercedes or Ferrari wins, because that story gets old pretty quickly.”

Drive to Survive provides a behind-the-scenes look at the circuit that uses the world as its playground, highlighting the action and providing context to storylines that emerge both on and off the course. There are harrowing moments (like Romain Grosjean’s fiery wreck that almost cost the Switzerland-born driver his life) and complicated decisions displayed (like Pierre Gasly getting sacked by Red Bull and bouncing back to win at Monza with AlphaTauri). 

And it's likely that season four will continue to share the chaos that comes with the highest class of international auto racing. Verstappen, however, chose not to participate in the filming. 

He previously told the Associated Press that in past seasons he's done interviews for the show and quotes were used for other situations and topics. He is certainly not the first person in F1 to critique the show's artistic license when it comes to drumming up storylines between drivers and management. 

“I understand that it needs to be done to boost the popularity in America,” Verstappen told the AP ahead of the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin. “But from my side as a driver, I don’t like being part of it.”

“They faked a few rivalries which they don’t really exist,” he added. “So I decided to not be a part of it and did not give any more interviews after that because then there is nothing you can show. I am not really a dramatic show kind of person. I just want facts and real things to happen.”