There’s a lot that can be said of Sean Bratches and his marketing team in F1. You can raise an eyebrow to a 3-second ident or the 3M-like logo or even the expensive new theme music.
You can ponder why, after saying they are dedicated to the US and Europe, they’ve only managed to sign Vietnam and they face 4 or more races that have not renewed their contracts.
You can wonder why they have yet to agree to a new Concorde Agreement with the teams and defined a new set of regulations the FIA are happy with. You can even question the sideburns and mustache and the entire notion of Americans owning a British sport. There’s a lot you can question.
What you cannot question is the sheer genius of the new Netflix F1 documentary called Drive to Survive. In short, it is brilliant and a must-watch series.
Why is it good?
Like the best documentaries in history, the producer of Senna has delivered a terrific documentary that leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. More intrigue than finality. The viewer is the arbiter of what is good and what is not so good. No narrative forced down the viewers throat like so much news and media these days.
They have managed to put a personality behind the sport, drivers, teams and circus that is Formula 1. Sure, you know the names and see their faces in the news but what you learn in this documentary is how they think, how they deal with stress, pressure, joy and sorrow. You, in short, get to see their humanity, not just their human capacity.
Each episode follows the teams and series throughout the 2018 season and you get to see differing levels of stress, friction, pressure and elation within these teams and faces of those who work for them.
I have said a million times, I follow F1 and got hooked on F1 when I was young because I got sucked into the drama and soap opera of the sport, not just the on-track results. This documentary will deliver in spades because it will turn casual fans into avid fans.
What it isn’t
It does have the official blessing of F1 so the cameras were rolling in places that fans never get to see. Situations where fans never imagined they would get to be the proverbial fly on the wall. Even the cameras were frustrating to some of the teams and drivers and that’s a sign you’re seeing something they’d rather you not. This adds to the tension and drama.
It isn’t a series that includes Ferrari or Mercedes as they declined access and you know what? That’s perfectly fine. They were such big stories that I fear they would have dominated the documentary in narrative and it would have taken a very self-controlled producer to exclude the hours of footage they would have gained from both garages.
Would it be nice to have both Ferrari and Mercedes? Sure it would. Did it hurt this series by not having them? Not in the least.
If linearity is your game, this series isn’t going to please you as it jumps from team to team, driver to driver and does so while backtracking ground the previous episode already covered but from a different perspective. It works though and is the same cadence as the Senna documentary so I was fine with its jumps between teams, drivers and races.
What was best?
If I am honest, Gunther Steiner was one of the heroes in this series. He is an absolute hoot to listen to and a passionate racer that had me laughing for all of the segments he was involved in.
We all love Daniel Ricciardo and he featured heavily in the series for good reason. He’s a delight to watch and listen to. Those things you thought you liked Dan for are completely validated in this series. “Now lets’ go F*** some s*** up”.
I’ve read some disparaging remarks about Red Bull’s Christian Horner based on this documentary but to me, he is a passionate, serious racer and he made decisions and said things I would have done and said in similar situations. I thought he was brilliant and explained Red Bull’s position very well and helped the viewer understand why they race, where their position in racing is and just what an amazing job they have done in F1.
I drink a lot of Red Bull but I get no love or support from them but regardless, I have defended this team adamantly and after seeing this documentary, will do so even more now. What a terrific team of professionals. Christian is very proud of the team and damn it he should be!
Charles Leclerc and his relationship with Jules Bianchi, the loss of his father and rise to Ferrari is a story unto itself. Not only is this young man immensely talented and the future of Ferrari, he is wise beyond his years and if he gives his teammate Sebastian Vettel a run for his money, it wouldn’t’ surprise me in the least.
Haas F1 features heavily in the series and it is great to see the American team highlighted given what they have achieved so far in F1. It tracked the struggles of Force India to its final conclusion and even showed a side of its new owners, Lawrence Stroll, that you probably didn’t want to see (junk adjustments and all).
More F1 documentaries is more good
Sean Bratches has seen the sharp end of my bullying club and for good reason but he hit it out of the park with this one and I am not beyond admiring and respecting someone when they do well. Well done, Sean, you did an amazing job with this and I am sure you would point to your team as the real heroes here. I’ll happily eat crow any day if you continue producing F1 features like this.
Fans are left salivating about what will happen this weekend in Australia between Cyril Abiteboul and Christian Horner. Who will come out on top? They are both shooting for third or even second. How will Kevin Magnussen race against Nico Hulkenberg and how will both manage Daniel Ricciardo? How will Charles Leclerc do in a Ferrari and will Fred Vasseur move Alfa Romeo even further up the grid?
It is all to play for and the documentary sets the table impeccably well for this weekend’s first race of the 2019 season.
Incredible job, Formula 1! Simply incredible. If you don’t get Ferrari and Mercedes in 2019, that’s ok…it will be wonderful without them so don’t worry about that in the least.
I fully agree. I would have liked a deeper look into the technology, but hey, it’s entertainment for the masses, what can I expect. I think that the Mercedes/Ferrari boycott actually worked in it’s favor. It showed that the race win and championship is not the only thing happening in the sport. Most of the teams are struggling to just get good results. There are thousands of team employees who will never see trophies for their work. But they keep giving it their best. They don’t quit and find jobs where their flawed, best efforts, impaired by lack of funds… Read more »
the tech side would be cool but I wonder how willing teams would have been to reveal any of that in detail given the competitive nature of the series?
Totally love this review and it is spot-on. Ferrari & Merc are massive for sure, but the real drama and story are in these smaller teams. Loved that there were 2018 bts stories I had no idea about as an avid F1 fan. But the best part? I had a couple of non-petrol head co-workers challenged to watch a couple of these episodes and they are now hooked on F1! This, my friends has never happened. Senna, Grand Prix, 1, Rush, none of these F1 films were able to fully capture the attention and win over non-F1 new fans…but i… Read more »
I have seen the first episode (i will surely watch the remaining ones) and overall I find it enjoyable but not mind blowing. I’d like to point out it is not correct to say or write “…Ferrari or Mercedes as they declined access” or that they made “a disservice” to the fans. According to what I previously read from official sources, the two teams did not agree with all the terms proposed for the making of this documentary and the counter part put the matter in terms of “all or nothing”, instead of trying to find an acceptable compromise, a… Read more »
I get your point but if they didn’t come to an agreement, then both teams didn’t allow them access, right? I don’t blame the teams. I spent two days with Stefano Lai of Ferrari who guards their brand and I fully understand why they would want a certain deal. HE made it very clear where Ferrari stand with their brand and logo. Same for Merc. Using Haas or Williams logo and branding in the series and press releases is one thing, using Ferrari’s is another. They’ll have to pay for that. Right or wrong.
As a multi decade fan of the sport I didn’t enjoy this episode but then I cannot see it throught the eyes of a new fan.
It’s one of life’s mysteries…you can’t please everyone even when you try hard to do so. There will be some folks that don’t enjoy it. I am a multi-decade fan as well and I loved it. I watched it from the eyes of a veteran fan and understood the attempt to appeal to new fans because as a veteran fan, I can appreciate the need to walk new fans into the sport. That’s why this website was created…a safe harbor for new and veteran fans alike.
I have been a Formula 1 fan since 1978… and I loved the Series. Bravo Sean Bratches. I know Formula 1 is more than just the racing. It always has been as much about money and politics and power struggles.
Sometime during a furiously fought Grand Prix weekend… an actual race breaks out to divert the war’s attention for 2 hours.
Loved it. Binged it till 3 in the morning. Rekindled my flagging interest in the beginning of this season. They really need to do something like this going forward, because probably 3/4ths of F1 story does not happen at the track. And we get only shadowy coverage of that part, sort of teased together and triangulated by journalists. In this series, we get the human drama that is really what is most interesting about any sport. We’ll never get a deep dive on technology and I’m fine with that. We have guys like Scarbs and Somers for that stuff. Besides,… Read more »
It is certainly binge-worthy.
absolutely love it. seen it 3 times now. i wonder what my count will be by the time the 2019 series comes out?
I loved it. My girlfriend who has endured my love of F1 for many years had possibly the best takeaway, though. For a long time, she has referred to my dog as Veruca, since someone (me) has always spoiled her rotten. She now refers to her as Lance since I explained the soundboard from the podcast. Well done, Todd:)
I thought it was pretty darn good. One thing though, I think Horner comes off as a “bad guy” to many only because Abiteboul comes off as such a likable good guy and those two HATE each other. To me their spats where easily the best parts of the show. I feel just like how Steiner comes off as a great character and racer, so does Abiteboul who American fans don’t really get to see much other than Horner whingeing about him or him mumbling something incoherent from the pit wall at Crofty during the race. I actually can’t wait… Read more »
I’ve always thought Horner was just a cheeky guy, which works both ways: he’s the guy in the paddock who gives the funniest quips, and he sometimes goes too far with those quips and gets himself into trouble. Nothing in the documentary really changed that perception for me. I seem to be the only one who came out of this liking Steiner less than I did before I watched it. He totally lost me with the team dinner speech that he spent insulting Grosjean. It’s totally unacceptable behavior for a boss to publicly insult an employee like that. And considering… Read more »
Absolutely loved it. I hope more episodes are in the pipeline. Whether intentional or not, F1 isolates fans from behind the scenes information about teams and drivers, leaving us all to speculate.
This series definitely improves the fan experience for me.