F1: Drive to Survive

 

Wow. This series is awesome and I am officially a fan of Formula 1. I have watched a little bit of F1 here and there when my dad is watching it, but I have never been able to get into it. What’s different about F1 compared to other sports is that while they are driving you don’t see the driver’s faces. They are in a car, and to someone who is not a fan, nothing is more impersonal than watching a metal box drive in circles.




What this series does so well is create that personal connection between the drivers and the people watching them. After watching all six seasons, there is no wonder this show has gotten so many people into the sport. This is brilliant marketing for F1, being able to sit down and watch the team principals, drivers, and even family members talk about their experiences in F1. It’s a behind the scenes look into a sport, like I have never seen before.




There is so much drama in this sport. A lot that you may not otherwise know is happening if this show did not exist. You get the inside look into engineering, contract negotiations, relationships between drivers, etc. Not going to lie, some of these races can be kind of boring so it’s interesting how they are able to compress an hour-long race into five minutes. I also like that you get perspectives on the same race from multiple POVs. So you get the front runners fighting for first place and what they are experiencing, but you also get the battle for fourth, seventh, and even tenth.




For fans of F1 who know some of the drivers and may really like the leaders, it exposes them more to the teams at the back of the grid. In its first season, when the top teams Ferrari and Mercedes didn’t want to participate in the documentary series, they went and found some of F1’s quirkiest and charismatic characters. I think this really makes it that much better with people like Guenther Steiner, Daniel Riccardo, and Yuki Tsunoda. I love the digs at Netflix throughout the series in Netflix’s own show.




Over the six seasons you get to see these drivers grow as drivers and mature as people. You develop a personal connection with them. If you told me a few months ago I’d be sitting on my couch watching the race at Silverstone in a McLaren t-shirt I would not have believed you. I didn’t even know what McLaren was a few months ago.




I binged the whole thing so fast and I am excitedly watching the races in real time and patiently waiting for the seventh season. I think it will be interesting to watch season 7 after having actually watched the races beforehand. One thing I am excited to see behind the scenes is Hamilton’s win in Silverstone.




If you have ever wanted to get into F1 but didn’t know where to start, this show is incredibly well done. If you want to get to know the drivers even more I would suggest watching Grill the Grid on Youtube. Other great F1 movies that I’d recommend are Ford vs Ferrari (2019), Ferrari (2023), and Rush (2013). Highly recommend this show and can not recommend it enough. Side note, Guenther Steiner: star of the show.