Red Bull Drivers Critical About Latest Season of ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’

Left: IMAGO / PanoramiC | Right: IMAGO / ANP

Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive, especially the latest season, has left viewers with mixed feelings, including the sport’s drivers. 

Red Bull star Max Verstappen told the Associated Press in October that he would not be participating in the hit docuseries, adding that in past seasons he's done interviews for the show and quotes were used for other situations and topics. Now, with season-opener Bahrain Grand Prix set to take place in a few days, the 24-year-old stood by his previous comments in an interview with BBC Sport, saying that the show was “faking rivalries.” 

During season four, a supposed rivalry between McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo played out on the screen, which was the foundation of the second episode. 

“I watched two episodes, but I was not very impressed,” Verstappen said. “It’s just not my thing, faking rivalries.

“Lando and Daniel are two great people I know—they have really great characters and immediately at the second episode it looks like they are not very friendly to each other, and for me that’s not correct and that’s why I’m also not a part of it.”

Verstappen is not the only driver who is critical of the creative license Formula 1: Drive to Survive took with the 2021 campaign, but he is the only one who has said he won't be taking part. Teammate Sergio Perez said to ESPN the latest season had “probably gone too far” with dramatizing the previous F1 campaign. 

“I really thought that they had the best season in Formula One [to work with] and I feel like they probably missed out a bit in the story and the way they presented it,” Perez said. “They tried to create too much drama, which the season already had—the season had enough drama, you know?

“They’ve probably gone too far in this last season. I thought it was going to be the best season, but to be totally honest I haven’t finished [watching] it.”

Perez said he spent an extensive amount of time filming with the crew in his home country of Mexico. However, it was not represented in the final cut. He went on to say that he plans to do less with the crew, avoiding it if possible.

The Netflix show has greatly helped build F1's popularity in the United States, bringing in a wave of new fans across the world. According to Front Office Sports, the U.S. Grand Prix in Texas last season surpassed viewership and attendance records. There were 400,000 fans in attendance—the most of all 2021 F1 races and up from the 268,000 who attended in 2019, F1 told FOS.

Now, there’s a second stateside race—May’s Miami Grand Prix. 

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).

As noted by Perez, the 2021 F1 campaign brought lots of storylines and flare that could attract new viewers. It featured McLaren taking the only one-two finish and a grueling 22-race title battle between 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 2022 campaign is slated to begin this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix, but not all of the 20 full-time F1 drivers will be on the grid. Aston Martin announced on Thursday Sebastian Vettel had tested positive for COVID-19, and Nico Hulkenberg will replace him.