In hindsight, the primary indication that one thing was barely amiss was the episode checklist. Why has season eight of Formulation 1: – the present which has launched the game, the streaming website and the artwork of the behind-the-scenes docuseries into the British public mainstream – been lowered from ten episodes to eight?
Formally, the road Netflix gave The Impartial was that “the narrative creatively lent itself to eight episodes.” And you could properly say, nothing to see right here. Moot level, transfer on. Seize the popcorn and binge away.
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But having watched the total assortment, forward of its launch on Friday, there isn’t any doubt that this newest instalment, chronicling a 2025 marketing campaign which included Lando Norris’s and ’s lowest low, lacked a sure innovative. Whether or not it’s a memorable soundbite, an unleashing of paddock rage or a meme-able social media clip, DtoS usually shares a myriad of such moments to an keen viewers. This season, nonetheless, falls flat.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will not be interviewed by producers within the new season of Drive to Survive (Getty Photos)
In fact, for petrolheads and informal followers alike, there are nonetheless intriguing glances into the circus. The of Jack Doohan at Alpine and his culling in Miami, amid Flavio Briatore’s old-school power-trip, was hard-hitting content material. A powerful concentrate on likeable Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli and his rookie season frailties had been a reminder of the game’s cut-throat nature. Hamilton and discussing the approaching start of the Dutchman’s daughter at The O2 season launch – “It’s a must to watch it come out!” … “I’m unsure, perhaps from the opposite facet!” – was significantly amusing.
Nonetheless, on the entire, this season lacked its key double-billing: real fly-on-the-wall entry and enthralling private interviews.
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It was notable, as an illustration, that Verstappen has seemingly began his second boycott of Drive to Survive, as soon as once more opting towards being interviewed by the present’s Field to Field producers. The hard-nosed Crimson Bull driver has in regards to the manipulation of scenes, not least final 12 months with the merging of post-race footage from Miami and Zandvoort. Hamilton, as properly, within the midst of his worst-ever marketing campaign on his Ferrari bow, doesn’t as soon as take his place within the notorious interviewee chair.
The game’s two greatest stars opting towards participation? It’s hardly a glowing endorsement. For each, behind-the-scenes nuggets had been restricted to zoomed-in digital camera lenses and a increase mic: Verstappen in Crimson Bull’s hospitality unit, speaking to VIPs forward of the Abu Dhabi season finale, and Hamilton chatting with kids at an occasion for his Mission 44 charity.
The depiction of ’s downfall at Crimson Bull final summer season – a narrative which began with the – was additionally missing in real perception. Positive, we’ve got Horner speaking via his response with spouse Geri Halliwell at his Oxfordshire dwelling. The sacked group principal additionally reveals a touching textual content message from arch-rival Toto Wolff, within the aftermath of his dismissal.
Christian Horner’s downfall at Crimson Bull lacks the standard fly-on-the-wall entry (Getty)
However from Horner’s ultimate furlong at Silverstone? Nada. Even his penultimate race in Austria didn’t present any earth-shattering footage. The refrain of boos Horner acquired on the 2025 season launch occasion in London had been lasered in on and arrange the narrative arc appropriately. “It’s a must to be the pantomime villain,” he says to Crimson Bull’s commander-in-chief Oliver Mintzlaff.
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For a group determined to rehabilitate their blissful as Larry picture, the But in-season, there aren’t any revealing paddock conversations between Crimson Bull’s kingmakers to notice.
However Horner’s sorry departure is one other occasion of the present merely dropping its finest characters. Within the house of three years, we’ve misplaced Drive to Survive’s chief antagonists and f-bomb retailers in Horner, Guenther Steiner and Daniel Ricciardo. In a brand new period of group bosses resembling engineering boffins versus mafia males, Netflix might want to carve out completely different caricatures for its future viewers.
Lando Norris gained his maiden world championship final season (PA Wire)
And, in some ways, the present is now a sufferer of its personal success. Find and interesting new followers, who now watch races and are well-aware of the tales and the nuances earlier than they hit the display screen, Drive to Survive is a paradox of its personal reputation. From this level on, how do you retain the present contemporary and invigorating?
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Nico Rosberg’s transient addition as a pundit is a stable name. Although as punchy as ever, it does really feel considerably odd that Will Buxton remains to be front-and-centre, given his job now as lead commentator for… IndyCar. Nonetheless, most pivotally, the stagnancy of the episode system, whether or not it’s a frontrunner or midfield group, is now clear as day. A handful of episodes even began with the identical sight: a driver or a group principal on a helicopter, overlooking that day’s discipline of play.
For followers of Norris, eager for eye-opening perception into his title triumph, there’s a lack of end-of-show punch, except for just a few expletives from Zak Brown. Altogether, it was far too stale and predictable.
Will the 2026 season, with overhauled guidelines and new groups, assist Drive to Survive recapture the magic? (Getty Photos)
There’ll nearly actually be one other season, nonetheless. The 2026 marketing campaign on-track, with , guarantees to be an unpredictable belter, even with an added layer of complexity which, someway, producers must convey within the easiest of phrases. Nonetheless, the present remains to be very a lot a net-positive for each F1 and Netflix, producing earnings and numbers. They’ve additionally began an identical sequence for F1 Academy, the game’s all-female competitors for younger drivers.
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But on this 12 months’s providing, a brand new method can be required to maintain viewers coming again and to draw much more followers, significantly within the US. In any other case, for the primary time since this behemoth of sports activities leisure debuted in 2019, they could simply run out of highway.
