The problems with ‘Drive To Survive’

By Joe Man

There is no doubt that the Netflix series has driven the sport to a new popularity around the world. The documentary brings an inside look at the life of drivers, team principles and all the drama that was 2021. With Hollywood movie style presentation of the race dramas and mistakes throughout, you have to ask if Drive to Survive is nothing but reality TV candy?

One driver who thinks so is current World Champion, Max Verstappen. Despite coming out on top at the end of the campaign, he was very evidently missing from the series. Red Bull did not give Netflix access to their star driver as Max felt it was a distraction he didn’t need. Having watched the full series I’m inclined to agree with that call.

In a recent interview Max was highly critical of the show for attempting to create driver rivalries that simply aren’t there. Two incidents stood out the most for me. Firstly, Riccardo and Norris. When Daniel joined McLaren, everyone was frothing at the prospect of the two ‘funny men’ in the paddock becoming teammates. When the expected humorous fun didn’t happen it seemed questions were asked whether the two didn’t get on. Lando in an interview early in the season simply stated that the two had very different interests and worked well without hanging out as mates.The two drivers are of a very different generation and over the season seemed to work well together.

This however is not the picture Netflix portrayed. They used off the cuff comments to try to make it seem like there was a rift between the two in a classic tabloid newspaper trashy way. I found it quite sad that they would resort to this type of drama with so many interesting things they could have focused on. I think Max was exactly right to call it a reality Tv show only interested in drama.

Last season had so much drama that it didn’t require any to be manipulated. George Russell and Valterri Bottas was another one that was a feature of the season. There was no doubt that the two had a troubled relationship with both vying for the Mercedes seat in 2022. So much of the drama however was created with shots of both drivers looking angry and suspicious of the other. These shots of course could have been about anything but when edited together showed a dislike and distrust of each other. To what extent that is true we will never know.

If there is one person who thrives on this type of drama it’s Christian Horner or Whiny Spice as he has become known! So much content was made of Christian and ex Spice girls wife Geri Halliwell talking while riding horses, playing with their kids and pretending to cook meals while their personal chef was hidden! I personally found it pretty pointless content filler designed to make Horner the star of the show. Toto and wife Susie Wolff were not dissimilar but slightly less annoying!

It’s hard to see what they benefited from being in the show and have cameras following them around. You can only assume that everyone in the paddock is under pressure from the F1 bosses as they know how good it is for the popularity of the sport.

Moving on from here, you feel that next season’s drive to survive could have a problem. Quite a few drivers have spoken about their displeasure at the way they were perceived and have said they won’t be involved again. Season 4 looked lacking in content to me which had them jumping back to races that had already featured in previous episodes. I would love to see them go race by race and cover the main incidents and stories of the season rather than endless footage of drivers trying on designer clothes for photo shoots and walking around the paddock.

The show is no doubt fascinating to F1 lovers and I still found myself glued to it but it could be so much better. They need a rethink for next year if the show is to continue with its popularity. It will be really interesting to see how many drivers refuse to be involved next year. If it turns out to be a lot it we could end up with just Christian Horner and his wife doing their own soap opera! Think I might tune out for that one!