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Formula 1: Drive to Survive
Documentary television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Formula 1: Drive to Survive is a British television documentary series produced in a collaboration between Netflix and Formula One, to give a behind-the-scenes look at the drivers and races of the Formula One World Championship. The series has received one season per year since 2019, and a total of seven seasons have been released, with the latest season aired on 7 March 2025. A crossover event with Full Swing broadcast on Netflix in November 2023 called The Netflix Cup.
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Production and concept
On 24 March 2018, Formula One announced that Netflix had commissioned a ten episode documentary-series giving an exclusive behind the scenes look at the 2018 Formula One World Championship.[1][2] On 24 July 2019, Formula One announced that a second season would premiere in 2020 covering the 2019 Formula One World Championship, involving all 10 teams.[3][4]
The series is executively produced by James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin for the production company, Box to Box Films. Sophie Todd is the production's showrunner.[5]
Gay-Rees subsequently went on to reveal to The Fast Lane Podcast that Drive to Survive had originally been conceived as a series revolving solely around Red Bull Racing before it evolved into a series about F1 in general.[6]
Filming began for the 2020 season in March but was suspended until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
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Episodes
Season 1 (2019)
Season 2 (2020)
Season 3 (2021)
Season 4 (2022)
Season 5 (2023)
Season 6 (2024)
Season 7 (2025)
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Reception
Summarize
Perspective
The show has received recognition for the additional insight it offers fans,[9] and is credited with attracting new audiences (particularly American) to the sport.[10][11][12] The condensing of season-long themes into single-episode narratives has drawn praise for adapting "the natural drama of a racing season into a narrative that can encourage a fan to tune into the real thing."[13]
However, Drive to Survive has been criticized for including fake or misplaced commentary and team radios,[13][14][15][16] staging certain scenes,[13][17][18] placing undue importance on test and practice sessions,[16][17] and over-dramatizing or misrepresenting certain events and relationships within the Formula One paddock.[14][16][19] The continued criticism from both audiences and drivers led to discussions between Netflix and team managers and between Formula One and drivers.[20]
Max Verstappen refused to participate in interviews for seasons 3 and 4 as he believed that the show dramatized some drivers by portraying them as villains and that the show manufactured fake rivalries.[21][22][23] However, he participated again in season 5 after reaching an agreement with the producers to "keep it real".[23][24][25]
Awards and nominations
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Spin-offs
In 2020, a series similar to Drive to Survive was released on F1 TV based on the 2019 Formula 2 Championship, called Chasing the Dream.[51] Subsequent second and third seasons were produced, each covering the 2020 and 2021 F2 Championships, premiering in 2021 and 2022 respectively.[52][53] The fourth and fifth seasons, based on the 2022 and 2023 F2 Championships, were released on F1 TV as well as free-to-air on YouTube during the respective years.[54][55] Other motorsports series have jumped on the "Drive to Survive train", with Formula E, NASCAR and IndyCar all showing their own respective docuseries.
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See also
- Formula E: Unplugged
- Chasing the Dream
- NASCAR: Race for the Championship
- 100 Days to Indy
References
External links
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