Drive to Survive has weathered several media storms throughout its 6 years on air. The Netflix series has not only put ethical storytelling under a microscope but its questionable pattern of documenting an event has made it completely unreliable. For fans who have been introduced to F1 only through the series, it’s a sad era for the high-adrenaline sport that has so much more to offer than rivalries and drama that’s fake enough to put even the Kardashians to shame.
Unfortunately, however, there seems to be a market for a technical sport presented in the form of reality TV. With a year-long battle for the title of World Champion at stake, Formula One pushes its drivers, engineers, team principals, and even the viewers to a physical and mental extreme. And Drive to Survive taps into that adrenaline and markets it to the waiting audience.
Drive to Survive finds a market for adrenaline junkies
Despite what may be said about Formula 1: Drive to Survive, one cannot refute the fact that a majority of its current fanbase has been conceived under its carefully curated narrative. The Netflix series has manipulated, subverted, omitted, and twisted facts to present a storyline that is more dramatic and palatable to the uninformed masses.
Liberty Media, the corporation that owns Formula One and is responsible for sponsoring and creating Drive to Survive, developed the show to build a fanbase and then collect the profits. One of the first steps that went into creating a lucrative market for F1 was to completely remove its technical aspects and dive into the behind-the-scenes drama that dictates the day-to-day lives of those who drive sports cars at 300 miles per hour for a living.
James Gay-Rees, executive producer of Drive to Survive, went on to admit the same in so many words. In an interview with Insider, Gay-Rees claimed:
It’s a soap opera. Television works when it’s relatable… It’s the same with any sport – people invest in the characters. F1 has always been a very arm’s length sport, but now it feels like it’s up close and personal. That’s what makes the show work.
Meanwhile, its other executive producer, Paul Martin revealed to Insider:
When we finished season one, I don’t think we had any expectations. We hoped people were going to like it and were going to see it as a fresh take on this world. We certainly didn’t set out to land it with a particular audience or particular demographic. But, you know, we just became acutely aware, particularly in the United States, that people were just talking about it and that the audience is there.
Although it is difficult to get into the nitty-gritty of F1 without delving into a full breakdown and analysis of a race and its technicalities, Drive to Survive has found a loophole and exploited it to the best of its benefit by fabricating, misdirecting, and restructuring incidents and quotes to fit its narrative.
Netflix series exploits its sudden growth in fanbase
![Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton [Credit: Formula 1 Drive to Survive via Netflix]](https://fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/25134613/Max-Verstappen-vs-Lewis-Hamilton-Credit-Formula-1-Drive-to-Survive-via-Netflix-1-scaled.jpg "“The audience is there”: Real Reason F1: Drive to Survive Creators Want to Turn Formula One into a ‘Soap Opera’ 4")
It was a surprising turn of events for Drive to Survive to launch just as the pandemic pushed the world to a halt. Audiences all over the globe not only discovered the series but were also addicted to the sport by the end of its first season. Formula One no longer bore an elite mark but was adapted to the lives of the common masses, too.
However, with increasing popularity, the Netflix series also found worthy opposition from the niche fanbase who were already invested in F1, far before Drive to Survive arrived with its manipulative ways of tricking the audience into lapping up a false story.
As aptly put by a fan on Reddit:
Comment
byu/RX0Invincible from discussion
informula1
However, this has hardly stopped the television series from stopping to reconsider their approach. Netflix has already suffered a huge blow from the current and 4-time world champion Max Verstappen who is a vocal opposer of the series and has criticized Drive to Survive for its selective editing. It’s only a matter of time before more drivers react to the same, or perhaps even sue the series on charges of slander and defamation.
Drive to Survive Season 7 premieres on Netflix on 7 March 2025.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
