The new season of Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” is here, and it was nowhere near as entertaining as previous seasons. But there are still some things to be unpacked from this docuseries.
Season six of Drive to Survive” has been out for a week now, and its release came with questions regarding the show’s accuracy and over-dramatization of the Formula 1 paddock.
A big controversy that has come up after the release of this new season was from episode six, “Leap of Faith.” The episode focused on Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes AMG team, where Hamilton is very critical of the team’s design choices for their car. And it revolves around the question of whether or not Hamilton is going to sign a contract to stay at Mercedes.
In the show, Hamilton, does in fact, sign on for another two years with the team, and it’s depicted as this hopeful look towards the future. With scenes of Hamilton and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff having them sit down to talk about the team and Hamilton’s future. But, just weeks before the new season came out, Hamilton signed a contract to race for Ferrari (one of Mercedes’ rivals) in 2025. This led many viewers and critics of the show to speculate the validity and truth behind the show.
Between the seemingly staged episode on Lewis Hamilton and his future at the Mercedes AMG team, and the coverage of the sacking of drivers and team principals, it’s hard to tell what the truth is. “Drive to Survive” has now become part of a bigger problem within F1. Overdramatizing stories from F1 is something that has always been done by media covering the sport, but “Drive to Survive” is meant to be a documentary.
“Drive to Survive” has contributed to the sport becoming a much bigger thing in the United States because of how entertaining and gripping it can be. Now we have three races in the U.S. on the current F1 calendar, those being Austin, Miami, and Las Vegas. Which is more races being held in a single country than any other one on the calendar. So it’s likely that Netflix has chosen to make the documentary more dramatic for American viewers to continue building F1’s American audience.
The issue of F1 becoming more of an entertainment medium for sponsors and television networks can also be tied to this Netflix documentary series. And this is something that F1 champions like Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Räikkönen have expressed their lack of care for. But since so many people tune in to watch episodes of “Drive to Survive” every time a new season comes out, there’s no end in sight.
But if you’re willing to look past the seemingly staged scenes and exaggerated drama of the show, there are still some great scenes of motor racing to be enjoyed. I will say that it is still a great way for new viewers of the sport to get a better understanding of the world of F1, at the cost of some things being overdone.
Honestly you’re better off watching previous seasons of the show that have more substance and less dramatization. And for me this new season just falls flat compared to previous seasons. But if you’re already caught up, you might as well tune into the actual grand prix weekends instead of watching staged episodes of a show that’s becoming more like a reality tv show.
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