Who’d have thought five years ago that a sport as exclusive as Formula One, would open its doors to the possibility of a documentary delving into every facet of a season, previously unseen during a regular live telecast. Little would it have been imagined of during the previous commercial rights regime, which was deposed at the end of 2016, that Netflix would stream a series that documents the narrative of the 2018 season. ‘Drive to Survive’ was announced twelve months ago ahead of the Australian Grand Prix and was set to follow the 2018 season and the stories of eight out of the ten teams competing. On the eve of 2019’s curtain-raising event in Melbourne – fans and viewers worldwide have been captivated by the ten-part series. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share Rather than being a typical documentary with an intention to educate viewers unfamiliar with the high-speed sport about its basics, ‘Drive to Survive’ immediately throws one into the deep end of the competition and delving into a side of Formula One previously not available to the public. Formula One is too often accused of being encapsulated in a bubble and its exclusivity cements that notion, given that appearance wise the sport only caters to the extremely wealthy – confirmed sponsors such as Rolex. Drivers are perceived to be far too sterile and PC, in contrast to their gladiatorial ilk from yesteryear. However, from the opening episode of the series that perception can be thrown out immediately with the intensity seen inside the Haas Formula One Team during their hero to zero Australian Grand Prix last year. Scenes of jubilation after their best qualifying performance in only their third year in the sport, were met with disdain and heartbreak on race day with not one, but two tyre failures following pit-stops for both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen – throwing away what would likely have been fourth and fifth place finishes. Team boss Guenther Steiner, who arguably stole the series with his brutal honesty and insight of agony and ecstasy of what it’s like being a Team Principal, was shown after the disastrous race over the phone with Haas’ owner in Gene Haas and summarised how they all went from looking like heroes to looking like ‘a bunch of w*nkers’. Advertisement Advertisement Steiner’s frustrations with the lacklustre performances of Grosjean is also documented without censor too throughout the series, as Haas’ battle for fourth in the constructor’s championship with Renault becomes a focal point. This never seen before element of Formula One has captivated many who have tuned in to view ‘Drive to Survive’, even those who aren’t fans of the sport. This whole other side to racing, when the helmets are off and the drivers are not in the car would have been a shock to many. The training regimes for the drivers, who possess fighter pilot-like senses but also are fit to compete in triathlons, is quite brutal and intense. Particularly when they must contest a race like the Singapore Grand Prix – which is the most physically demanding of the 21. Politics are also a huge element of Formula One and having the well-publicised divorce between Red Bull Racing and their previous engine supplier in Renault featured in the series, brought to it another tension to be dealt with. Advertisement Advertisement Sniping between Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul was entertaining as much as it would have been fierce. Emotionally too, the series is quite gripping and that is at its highest when Ferrari recruit in Charles Leclerc’s rise to Formula One is recounted. The loss of his godfather in Jules Bianchi who tragically passed away in 2015, following a horrific accident at the Japanese Grand Prix the year before and then the death of Leclerc’s father makes for a touching story around the 21-year old. The breathtaking cinematography adds to the drama further, making the series a complete package of a visual masterpiece and a narrative which can hook an audience in for binge watching. ‘Drive to Survive’ ultimately is a reminder for those bona-fide Formula One fans of how great the sport is. As frustrating as it can be at times with the lack of competition and the dominance of a single team, those who truly love the sport will have an enduring passion. What the series has achieved is that it has shown audiences who don’t watch Formula One, the reasons why we have that desire to these 20 drivers for their ten teams do battle week in and week out, as well as year in and year out. Advertisement Advertisement<doc-sep>Where to Stream: Formula 1: Drive to Survive Powered by Reelgood Formula 1: Drive to Survive is a collaboration between Netflix and the Formula One Group, giving viewers a backstage pass for the 2018 race season. The 10-episode series finds drama in racetrack rivalries, the pressure participants face behind the wheel as well as trackside, and, of course, the sport’s inherent high-speed danger. The primary questions are, will it be compelling for non-racing, or even non-sports fans? Or will it be little more than an F1 promotional piece? FORMULA 1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? Opening Shot: A drone shot of Melbourne, Australia, with Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo’s voiceover detailing his memories of racecars tearing through the city streets. The Gist: The pilot episode efficiently explains the nuts and bolts of F1 racing: each season consists of 21 races scattered across five continents, with 20 drivers representing 10 teams. How fast do these cars go? Up to 235 miles per hour, so as expected, the drivers come off as adrenaline junkies and masters of compartmentalization — their dreams of glory are at the forefront, and the risk of horrible, violent death is something they just never think about. Journalists and other talking heads provide snatches of history and context for newbies. Ricciardo, who drives for the Red Bull team, is one of the episode’s core characters. It’s potentially a make-or-break season for him — his career is on the upswing, and he’s edging closer to the top tier of drivers. The Melbourne race, the first of the season, is in front of his home crowd. As the cars sit at the starting line, Ricciardo’s parents watch with anticipation, his father stoic, his mother clearly nervous. Are they drawn into the competitive drama? Are they fans of the sport? Are they worried about a crash? Yes, yes and yes. Another key figure is Guenther Steiner, team principal — akin to the head coach of an American football team — for Haas F1. The team, the first from the U.S. in more than 30 years, is in its infancy, and therefore takes the scrappy underdog role. Just how scrappy? Big dogs such as Ferrari and Mercedes boast $500-$600 million budgets; Haas spends $140 million, and has a fraction of the staff. We see Steiner giving pep talks and taking the blame when two pit-crew greenhorns, by wild coincidence — or perhaps not! — fail to properly secure the wheels on both Haas drivers’ cars, forcing them to drop out. Our Take: As a sports fan, I found it hard not to get a goosebump or three when the audio drops out and there’s a moment of suspense just before the cars roar away from the starting line. There’s much potential for the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and all that. The pilot is dynamically edited, deftly switching perspectives from cockpit cams to trackside views and wider, third-person angles. And you’ve gotta love the closeup shots of tires literally smoking as cars pull over for pit stops. And yet, Drive to Survive feels more like reality TV than pure documentary. It’s closer to HBO’s NFL locker-room docuseries Hard Knocks than the groundbreaking journalism of ESPN’s 30 for 30. Maybe that’s not a surprise, considering it’s a co-production of the Formula One Group, who’d no doubt prefer it function as a promotional piece designed to lure in new fans instead of a hard-hitting expose. Sex and Skin: None. The episode is capped by a slow-motion shot of the podium, where Ferrari and Mercedes drivers celebrate their victory. Steiner’s voiceover contextualizes the image and likely teases the drama in subsequent episodes: “Each race should have a story, and that story should not be all the time Mercedes or Ferrari wins. Because that story gets old pretty quick.” Sleeper Star: Steiner provides the most compelling perspective in this episode. Of course, his team’s underdog status automatically aligns us with him, but he comes off as a thoughtful individual and competent manager who always has interesting things to say. Most Pilot-y Line: Haas driver Kevin Magnussen surely sums up the psychology of every F1 driver in the sport’s history when he says, “I don’t have fear when I drive. I don’t ever think about the consequences of crashing the car. I’m not worried about dying.” Our Call: STREAM IT. Drive to Survive is a nice, slick production with plenty of appeal for the uninitiated. It never really deviates from sports-docuseries formula, but is nonetheless entertaining. John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on twitter: @johnserba. Stream Formula 1: Drive To Survive on Netflix<doc-sep>Skill, drama, spectacle and of course entertainment are the elements that should drive Formula One with, hopefully, a fine narrative to push the show along. Netflix certainly believes the sport has a story to tell, even though the two biggest names involved – Ferrari and Mercedes – refused to play ball when their cameras roamed the paddock last season. The result, Formula 1: Drive To Survive, is released on Friday and as it turns out, Netflix perhaps achieved something even more intriguing in their absence. The 10-part series was made by executive producer James Gay-Rees, who was behind the biopic documentaries Senna and Amy. The hyperbolic, faintly ridiculous title aside, he and Netflix have made a very decent fist of it. The fact that it exists at all is indicative of how the sport has changed. Such a project would have been unthinkable under Bernie Ecclestone, and it shows that F1’s owners, Liberty Media, understand that they need to sell that drama, spectacle and entertainment. That said, the series will not prove particularly revelatory to serious fans. Rather it is a pleasing recounting of the 2018 season, with some candid footage that is fascinating at times. There is plenty of slo-mo luxuriating in accidents and, inevitably, some hoary rock licks. Just once, it would be nice for a director to break that mould and see if anything other than tedious soft metal goes well with racing. Why not go mad, and try The Fall or Kitchens of Distinction? But that isn’t a concern for Netflix or Liberty. In terms of enticing in casual viewers and perhaps converting them, they have a fine appetiser for the new season, which begins in Melbourne next week. Quick Guide F1 2019: Teams and drivers Show There have been plenty of drivers switching seats in the buildup to the new season. Daniel Ricciardo has left Red Bull for Renault, with Carlos Sainz moving to McLaren after Fernando Alonso's departure. Frenchman Pierre Gasly has been promoted from Toro Rosso to replace Ricciardo, with British-Thai driver Alex Albon taking his place. Charles Leclerc moves from Sauber to partner Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari, trading places with Kimi Räikkönen (pictured), who will race for a rebranded Alfa Romeo team. Force India are now known as Racing Point, with Lance Stroll joining them from Williams. The British constructor welcomes two new drivers –home hopeful and Formula 2 world champion George Russell and Robert Kubica, who makes his F1 return eight years after suffering life-threatening injuries in a rallying accident. How the teams line up Alfa Romeo Kimi Räikkönen (Fin), Antonio Giovinazzi (It) Ferrari Sebastian Vettel (Ger), Charles Leclerc (Mon) Haas Romain Grosjean (Fr), Kevin Magnussen (Den) McLaren Lando Norris (GB), Carlos Sainz (Sp) Mercedes Lewis Hamilton (GB), Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Racing Point Sergio Pérez (Mex), Lance Stroll (Can) Red Bull Pierre Gasly (Fr), Max Verstappen (Neth) Renault Daniel Ricciardo (Aus), Nico Hülkenburg (Ger) Toro Rosso Alexander Albon (Thai), Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Williams George Russell (GB), Robert Kubica (Pol) Photograph: Cyril Zingaro/KEYSTONE Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. That said, those viewers may wonder why there is so little footage of the two title protagonists. Ferrari’s decision not to take part, until limited access was granted after the Italian Grand Prix, was not unexpected – under former team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, the team had a bunker mentality. Mercedes’ decision was more surprising, given they are generally very good in terms of access to the media. Their argument was that they did not want to be distracted from competing for the world championship. The show’s other executive producer, Paul Martin, believes they did a disservice to the fans and the sport by not taking part. Yet their absence has allowed other stories room to breathe, which is no bad thing. Guenther Steiner, Haas’s foul-mouthed, acerbic team principal, is one of the documentary’s stars. Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images Taking centre stage and to a certain extent stealing the show is the Haas team principal, Guenther Steiner. The Italian is captivating. A man who is polite, calm and considered in conversation behind the scenes has an impressively acerbic wit and likes to eff and jeff with an alacrity that is glorious. His driver, Romain Grosjean, is often on the receiving end, with Steiner exclaiming during a race: “Just tell him to focus on driving and not fucking whinge. Fucking hell”. Later at a team dinner, Steiner laughingly refers to an out-of-favour Grosjean’s absence. “Romain is not here,” he says. “Maybe he is not here because he doesn’t have any points. Or I didn’t invite him because he doesn’t deserve any food”. After two wheels were not correctly installed at the Australian Grand Prix, costing Haas potentially their best ever finish, Steiner is magnificently blunt as he confesses to team owner Gene Haas. “We could have looked like rock stars,” he says. “But now we look like a fucking bunch of wankers. A bunch of fucking clowns.” The Recap: Sign up for our free roundup of editors’ picks. The mechanic responsible is later seen apologising, red-eyed and visibly distraught. This telling moment emphasis what the series has achieved in capturing the human behind the F1 spectacle. With mechanics usually helmeted and anonymous, the scene is a reminder that very real people and genuine emotion still lie at the heart of the sport. These traits are captured repeatedly. Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, suggests that looking after donkeys would be easier than managing his drivers, during a season of clashes which ended in Daniel Ricciardo’s departure for Renault. Then we have McLaren’s CEO, Zak Brown, coping with a woeful car and the imminent departure of Fernando Alonso, and Claire Williams, the Williams deputy principal with the worst car on the grid, left questioning her own ability to do the job. There is an honesty to much of the series that is refreshing, especially in a sport where the volume of spin and secrecy often leaves little of substance. In a series that Liberty doubtless hope will help promote the sport, it was impressive that Steiner’s accurate description of one of the major issues facing F1 made the cut. He is, as ever, right on the money. “You want to see action, drama, the underdog getting a good result,” he says. “Each race should have a story and that story should not always be Mercedes or Ferrari wins. Because that story gets old pretty quick.”<doc-sep>
As part of the growing number of 'fly on the wall' documentaries looking inside elite sports teams, such as the New Zealand rugby union team or football clubs like Manchester City and Sunderland, it was only a matter of time until Formula 1 piqued producers' interest. A senior F1 source revealed to me last year that there were two offers on the table for the sport: one from Netflix, and a more lucrative offer from Amazon. IndyCar is coming to COTA 2019! Video of IndyCar is coming to COTA 2019! So why go with Netflix? The thinking is simple: people who subscribe to Netflix do so purely to watch shows and documentaries. They're guaranteed to be possible viewers. Given Amazon's streaming service is an addition to its one-day delivery service, the same would not have been true had F1 gone down that route. That surmised F1's approach towards its first venture into an external digital project. It wanted to do something that would reach a new fanbase and help expand its audience, a challenge Liberty Media has wrangled with since picking up the sport in early 2017. And frankly, this seems to be the most positive step made yet. The title of the series - Formula 1: Drive to Survive - sets the tone for much of the series. Plenty of screentime is given to high-speed crashes and dramatic moments from the 2018 season, including Marcus Ericsson's crash at Monza, the Red Bulls' collision in Azerbaijan and Nico Hulkenberg's flip in Abu Dhabi. It may seem a little overplayed to F1 fans, but for the casual viewer, incidents like these and the dangerous nature of the sport is part of its appeal. So to hook around this is perhaps expected. The series does an excellent job at highlighting many of the stories from up and down the paddock with plenty of behind-the-scenes access. Daniel Ricciardo's move away from Red Bull is set against the souring of relations between the team and Renault, resulting in some intriguing moments between Christian Horner and Cyril Abiteboul. The needle between them we saw at moments during press conferences last year is only given more exposure in this for us to enjoy in excruciatingly awkward detail. Red Bull gets a huge amount of screentime through the series. It's not until the fifth episode Red Bull isn't one of the teams in the spotlight, with the shift away from the team feeling slightly refreshing. Ricciardo stands out as the star from the series, given the perfect platform to display his humour and character. Particular highlights include a song about his scrotum - yes, really - and his last appearance in the series, which acts as the final line of the season. The other stand-out figure of the series? Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner. Steiner is a brutally honest figure when discussing Haas' fortunes, particularly when Romain Grosjean goes through his early-season struggles. Whereas most team bosses would have closed up or stuck to a very PR-savvy line when defending a driver, Steiner airs his thoughts, making clear in sweary terms that Grosjean's spate of crashes cannot go on. It's a really good into the world of running an F1 team both for newcomers and ardent followers of the sport. Red Bull and Haas do appear to get the lion's share of coverage across the 10 episodes. Renault and Force India - the latter getting two episodes of focus - appear quite a bit, while McLaren is also covered well during its summer of changes. But Toro Rosso, Sauber and Williams get very minimal coverage. Williams' appearance over the Monaco Grand Prix acts as more of a scene-setter for Lawrence Stroll's takeover of Force India that is covered in a later episode. Drivers such as Sergey Sirotkin, Brendon Hartley and Stoffel Vandoorne are hardly mentioned. The absence of Ferrari and Mercedes from the series has already drawn criticism, and while it would have been good to see some of the most famous names in F1 appear, it actually works nicely to have the focus placed elsewhere. The success of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes is noted, so it's not like they're erased completely. It would be good to see what is possible for the planned 2019 series if both teams jump on-board with the project. The way in which the series is tied together deserves a huge amount of praise.