There is no perfect way to watch Formula 1. Go to a grand prix in person and you get the smell of rubber on road, the sound of roaring engines, the energy of a live sport – but you may struggle to follow what’s happening. Cars whizz by so fast you only catch a glimpse at a time; race-defining events can happen out of sight, on the other side of the circuit. Watch on TV and you catch most of the action but miss the buzz of the live event.
Then came Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive, the streaming channel’s F1 documentary series that debuted last year and just entered its second season. More than any other viewing experience, the series manages to capture the true drama of F1, shining a light on the stories – personal, political, technical – that make the sport so high-octane.
Each season of Drive to Survive follows the previous year’s F1 season (in the case of season 2, 2019), giving a full run-down of events ahead of the current year’s championship. The series’ genius is to take a holistic approach, focusing on everything but the actual races. There’s plenty of footage of memorable race moments, but it’s what happens before, between and after the cars hit the track that really tells the story of the sport. The result is a viewing experience that feels fresh even to those who have already watched every race, while showing newcomers how much more F1 is about than just fast cars whizzing around a track, some fractions of a second faster than others.
After a lacklustre opener that seems more like an extended trailer for the rest of the series, season 2 covers pivotal moments such as former Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo’s move to Renault, the shaky start of his Red Bull replacement Pierre Gasly (and then his replacement Alex Albon), and 22-year-old Charles Leclerc’s first season with Ferrari. Top teams Ferrari and Mercedes open their doors to Netflix for the first time, but the series makers make the smart choice to focus on them for just one episode each: winning all the time is boring, and it’s the lesser-known teams that prove more interesting – and more willing to really open up.
An episode on US team Haas’s struggles to create a competitive car demonstrates just how much of an engineering challenge the sport is, while touching on the controversial issues of financing and trying to stay competitive against teams with much higher budgets. Team principal Guenther Steiner, who shone as a character in the first series, returns with his sweary, no-nonsense commentary, offering a refreshing candor on the difficulties faced by the midfield team in its ongoing bid to look like rockstars, not wankers (as he would put it).
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Another episode pits Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo against McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, likely chosen as two of the more charismatic drivers in the championship, bringing a human element to a sport that can sometimes seem rather cold. We see bitter rivalry between Haas teammates Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, contrasted with friendly camaraderie between Sainz and fellow McLaren driver Lando Norris. It’s impossible not to feel for Red Bull’s Gasly as he fails repeatedly to match up to standards set by teammate Max Verstappen, and we catch a rare glimpse of vulnerability for championship leader Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Red Bull principal Christian Horner also reprises his major role in the series, even inviting the cameras into his home with wife Geri Halliwell.
This approach aligns with Formula 1 owner Liberty Media’s desire to turn F1 from a motorsport company into more of an entertainment brand, making its drivers celebrities and attracting more casual fans (the Netflix series is produced in collaboration with Formula 1). While there may not be any major revelations for hardcore fans, there will be plenty new for those who don’t follow the motorsport media, and the series goes a long way to demystify an often secretive sport, acting as a good primer on the many elements that contribute to a good or bad performance: driver, car, team, money.
The second season feels a bit too self-referential at times, with several people mentioning Netflix or pointing out the cameras, and some scenes come across as a bit too hammy and hyperbolic (an obviously-staged meeting between Haas’s Guenther Steiner and team owner Gene Haas is particularly cringeworthy). But then, what is F1 if not overdramatic?
Vicki Turk is WIRED's features editor. She tweets from @VickiTurk
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
