Over the weekend at the Grand Prix in the US, Max Verstappen announced that he is not a fan of the Netflix series Drive to Survive. The Red Bull driver said the popular streaming service no longer had to knock on his door for interviews, because the show maker visits certain situations within Formula 1. Verstappen is not the only one to criticize the series.
Bernie Ecclestone previously announced that he supports Verstappen’s opinion. The former F1 chief spoke in Reuters his displeasure. “I’m realistic. I know it wouldn’t be very real, I know how these guys act, think and act. A lot of them at least. When I see things that aren’t quite right, then I understand Max does one get a little pissed off.”
Guenther Steiner is well aware that Verstappen is no longer participating in the series’ interviews. “If Max doesn’t want to be a part of that, he’s completely entitled not to participate,” the Haas team boss told RacingNews365, among others. “This is a logical choice if he thinks he is being portrayed wrong. This is of course a disgrace to the fans, because Max is a good driver and has an interesting personality.”
Criticism of the Netflix Ferrari episode
At Ferrari’s camp, not everyone was happy with the series, especially not with the episode in which the Italian racing stable featured. Carlos Sainz said in CQ . Magazine. “Ferrari is much cooler, bigger and a lot better than it showed (Netflix, editor).”
Other drivers paid little attention to it. For example, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso announced that they had not even seen the series. “I have no idea what they did, but maybe they make it a little sexy sometimes. Is that good or bad? I don’t know,” said the Finn in front of the RacingNews365 microphone, among others. Alonso doesn’t watch Drive to Survive either: “I have an Amazon Prime account, not Netflix.”
Survival campaign supporters
Of course, there are also supporters of this series. In the United States in particular, the popularity of Formula 1 spread after the launch of the series. Team bosses and F1 seniors see the benefits of this. Toto Wolff was skeptical of the series at first, but later changed his mind. “We weren’t very happy at first, we wanted to focus on the performance. But I was wrong. It became a clear success.”
Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali is logically happy with the Netflix series following the growth of Formula 1’s followers. “This was particularly noticeable among the female audience,” he told RacingNews365, among others. “I think that was because of the way Drive to Survive presented the sport. It was more behind the scenes, not very technical. Just from a more human perspective.”
Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon and Nikita Mazepin also announced earlier that they are excited about Drive to Survive. The latter in particular has shown on social media that he collaborates a lot with Netflix. “Sometimes drivers look like robots. People forget that there are people hiding behind their helmet mask. We drive in circles, but we also have a human side. Through the series they see our weaker side, our family a little bit more and a little more special.”
Netflix is currently filming the fourth season of Drive to Survive. Although Verstappen will not participate in the season, the series will undoubtedly highlight the title battle between the Dutchman and Lewis Hamilton. The new season of the Formula 1 documentary series traditionally appears before the start of a new Formula 1 season.
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