Netflix has confirmed that Drive to Survive, its fly-on-the-wall docu-drama series following the world of Formula One behind the scenes, will return to the streaming service on March 11.
If you’ve somehow missed the previous three seasons, F1DTS essentially peeks behind the curtains of the public facade of Formula One. The crews of Box to Box Films, who produce the series for Netflix, not only have what looks like free rein of the pitlane and other areas usually off-limits, they also speak directly to the high-profile figures and their families in their home settings and in exclusive interviews
That means they can catch the personalities in the rare moments that the guard on their carefully crafted personas drops, revealing some of the raw emotions and less stage-managed thoughts.
Each season of the show covers the F1 season immediately preceding it, and that means S4 will be behind the scenes of one of the most controversial seasons in the sport’s history — crowned by unprecedented and widely condemned intervention from those responsible for managing the races right at the last moments of the season.
With that as a backdrop, there should be plenty of material for Drive to Survive to dig through, though it all depends on which team it was following during any given race. However with plenty of incidents between the top two all season long, there’s a good chance of some previously unseen drama.
It won’t be from the new world champion Max Verstappen however. The Red Bull driver refused to take part in the show in 2021, claiming that it “faked a few rivalries which they don’t really exist, so I decided to not be a part of it”.
However his team principal, Christian Horner, is a regular focus of episodes, and we’re likely to hear a lot from him about the incidents at Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Italy, and particularly Silverstone.
There’ll be lots of other action though, including high points like Esteban Ocon’s first ever Formula One win, and Daniel Ricciardo securing McLaren’s first F1 victory since 2012 — and the season’s only 1-2 team finish with Lando Norris behind him.
Inevitably we’ll see lots of Guenther Steiner too, who has become a star due to his rather robust language — and with the Haas team’s car being the runt of the 2021 litter along with an unpopular and underachieving driver, we’re expecting some fireworks (among other words beginning with “f”).
If you’re a Netflix subscriber you’ll be able to catch the entire season when it drops on Friday, March 11, a week before the new season gets underway with free practice at Bahrain.
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