Season 8 will not change anybody’s opinion
Lengthy credited for its instrumental position in F1’s mainstream breakthrough lately, Field to Field Movies has caught to its standard recipe that made Drive to Survive its most enduring sports activities documentary collection. Specializing in one key storyline per episode, it stitches collectively the occasions of the 2025 season with an excessive amount of unseen behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with drivers and group bosses and extra context from speaking heads Will Buxton and Claire .
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Drive to Survive is unashamedly aimed toward attracting new followers to the game relatively than placating die-hards, and Season 8 is not any totally different. If you’re studying this, likelihood is you belong within the latter class. So, for those who weren’t a fan of the earlier iterations, you will not immediately grow to be one now.
However for those who do not thoughts the at-times sticky, narrative sauce poured over the plat de résistance that was the 2025 season, then it’s nonetheless price staying for the unseen footage and behind-the-scenes nuggets and interactions you’ll have missed. Having stated that, Netflix seems to be doing a greater job at retaining occasions and quotes inside context and we have been capable of spot fewer incongruities in comparison with earlier seasons.
Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto get loads of display time as a part of F1 2025’s driver merry-go-round
Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto get loads of display time as a part of F1 2025’s driver merry-go-round
Netflix is lacking Christian Horner already
But when one factor has grow to be clear, then it is the truth that what has made Drive to Survive such a smash hit is the bitter rivalries, scheming and politicking to rival the likes of Sport of Thrones and Home of Playing cards. The eighth season cannot disguise how a lot it hinges on pure beef between its protagonists.
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As since-ousted Crimson Bull group boss Christian Horner says after he’s booed by the gang on the collective F1 75 launch, each story wants a pantomime villain. And purely by way of storylines, after Horner’s mid-season exit, each F1 and Drive to Survive have grow to be a poorer place consequently.
Horner regretted not having the ability to have a correct goodbye, however he was actually given the send-off befitting each his position in F1 and on Drive to Survive, with the producers visiting him at his ranch to show a secure right into a makeshift interview sales space.
Within the aftermath of his shock post-British Grand Prix sacking, the emotion and bitterness have been nonetheless uncooked as Horner lifted the lid on what had occurred.
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“[Max Verstappen’s] father has by no means been my greatest fan,” he stated. “He’s been outspoken about me. However I don’t consider the Verstappens have been accountable in any method. I believe this was a call made by Oliver Mintzlaff, with Helmut Marko advising from the sideline.”
Horner additionally instructed changing after simply two races by was all Marko’s doing, which checks out if you understand how little religion Horner had within the Japanese as a driver to start with.
In any case, the collection falls flat after the Crimson Bull-dominated fourth episode, and with fellow juggernauts Toto Wolff, Zak Brown and Fred Vasseur all being so chummy and good to one another, Netflix will likely be hoping Horner’s F1 return elsewhere will materialise sooner relatively than later.
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The portrayal of McLaren’s intra-team title combat feels incomplete
The portrayal of McLaren’s intra-team title combat feels incomplete
McLaren’s sanitised title combat leaves loads to be desired
After all, the opposite massive headline of the 2025 season was McLaren’s intra-team title combat between and , which was invaded by Verstappen after the papaya group dedicated one blunder after one other.
The subject was the principle focus of three of the eight episodes, however weirdly sufficient it nonetheless leaves plenty of essential info out. Half one centres round Piastri’s early dominance, Norris’ struggles and his redeeming British Grand Prix win. However then we do not revisit Woking till the ultimate two episodes, which deal with McLaren’s errors in Las Vegas and Qatar and the Abu Dhabi title finale. What about Monza’s place swap, which left Piastri livid? What about Baku? What about Singapore and Austin?
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None of these key moments between the 2 team-mates/rivals is even talked about. It’s not clear if this was a deliberate alternative by the group, the manufacturing, or a matter of not having the precise microphones hovering over the precise conversations. However whether or not it was a deliberate alternative or not, McLaren’s segments really feel method too sanitised. However we do get group boss Zak Brown, who has now grow to be a most important character, mixing and mingling with the wealthy and well-known at a swanky Vegas dinner, so there’s that.
DTS nonetheless does the job it is supposed to do
For Season 8 the makers have minimize the collection down from 10 to eight episodes, hovering between 36 and 51 minutes, a acutely aware resolution to deal with high quality over amount. However nonetheless, as an entire, it feels a bit sparse.
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A meandering first episode would not precisely begin with a bang – except you rely farting right into a microphone backstage – and afterward there’s a full episode devoted to Carlos Sainz’s adjustment to Williams, which felt a bit overkill given how mildly attention-grabbing that was.
Criticism apart, Drive to Survive nonetheless largely ticks all of the bins, which is to introduce newcomers into the piranha membership of F1. Alongside the brutal remedy of Lawson and Horner going through the axe, first-time viewers are launched to F1’s different pantomime villain Flavio Briatore and his swift liquidation of in favour of , solely to then give the Argentine a sturdy bollocking in Italian over his lack of efficiency.
For F1 diehards, nevertheless, Drive to Survive struggles a bit extra to be at its greatest, which is when it tells us stuff we did not already know or see. However when a few of its greatest personalities go lacking, the present both dangers changing into too pedestrian or getting accused of stirring up drama artificially, so it could’t win.
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Drive to Survive Season 8 is launched on Netflix on Friday 27 February.
Drive to Survive Season 8 – Episode Listing
Episode 1 – New Children on the TrackEpisode 2 – Strictly BusinessEpisode 3 – The #1 ProblemEpisode 4 – A Bull with No HornsEpisode 5 – The Sky is the LimitEpisode 6 – The DuelEpisode 7 – What Occurs in VegasEpisode 8 – Name Me Chucky
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