Netflix - Formula One: Drive to Survive

Series 1 was much better i thought. But hopefully Netflix stick with it. What annoyed was why Charlie Whiting didnt even get mentioned, let alone some tributes to him !
 
I really enjoyed both seasons!

I like how at the end of season 2, they all try to make prediction for the new year 2020, but watching this during the pandemic when everything now is pretty much gone out of the window... it's kinda comical (after the fact) how one knew what was coming ahead.

Only Kimi R statement remains true... "This is just a hobby" LOL!
 
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Just finished catching up with S2 as well. IMO they could use another 1-2 more episodes. There's nothing on Racing Point & Alfa, and I would've liked to see the debrief after Ferrari's Brazil meltdown.

Also I've gained a whole lot of appreciation for Albon. Considering everything he's gone through, it's easy to see why he soaks up the pressure at RB like a champ while someone like Gasly wilts.
 
Finished S2 today and it was again really entertaining and well-made! Some events weren't shown which was a surprise to me.

shoemaker
Series 1 was much better i thought. But hopefully Netflix stick with it. What annoyed was why Charlie Whiting didnt even get mentioned, let alone some tributes to him !
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Yeah, I don't understand why Charlie Whiting wasn't mentioned.

LeGeNd-1
Just finished catching up with S2 as well. IMO they could use another 1-2 more episodes. There's nothing on Racing Point & Alfa, and I would've liked to see the debrief after Ferrari's Brazil meltdown.

Also I've gained a whole lot of appreciation for Albon. Considering everything he's gone through, it's easy to see why he soaks up the pressure at RB like a champ while someone like Gasly wilts.
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I think Ferrari didn't want that they show the debriefings.

Again I was surprised that the Canada GP with Vettel's outrage wasn't part of the Ferrari episode. This was one of the most controversial scenes in the sport in this decade and from a viewer's point really entertaining how he swapped the position tables :D
 
Trailer does the job - can´t wait! Hoping for some Ferrari BTS. Trailer is hinting at that.
 
It looks like they’ve followed some good stories this season (2019 missed several). I’m hoping S3 is more chronological like S1, which often told two different separate stories in one episode, eventually following up and “concluding” them later on.

In S2 they kinda threw each team/driver‘s season story in it’s entirety in one episode, it made Haas’s episode really underwhelming. Their placement as well as Williams’ in the episode list was really jarring, getting near the end and suddenly being thrown back to pre-season. Had it opened with the Williams testing strife and then the first half of Haas’s story with the Australia woes, and then in another episode finished up with the hopeful-looking Austria Quali and then Rich Energy debacle (maybe even tied up with Mercedes’ episode as a “low point” theme) there would’ve been much better flow.

I just rewatched the last 2 season’s trailers, and this new one is the meatiest on details so far, so I’m excited for S3 whichever way it may go.
 
And it's out. I'm on episode 3 at the moment. Looks like some juicy stuff to come, there's a whole episode for Grosjean it appears.
 
I was sad going in knowing that Russel’s Mercedes drive wasn’t going to be a feature story, as well as a couple other drivers, teams, and races, but honestly I’m finishing episode 9 right now and I’m finding this to absolutely be my favorite season so far.

I didn’t like S2 as much as S1 due to lack of chronology, as well as locking each story to its own episode with minimal overflow (IMO this in particular made a lot of episodes in season 2 feel rushed). S3 definitely isn’t super chronological in relation to the season on-track, but this time around they dove so much more deeply into the off-track drama that it really didn’t matter so much - chronology took the medium of behind-the-scenes rivalries and driver moves. As well, unlike both the prior seasons, episodes didn’t always feel like isolated mini-docs, and there was a lot of interconnectivity that made it feel like a “season” rather than collection of episodes; in particular the seat changes of Vettel, Sainz, Ricciardo, and Perez all got their own episodes, but we’re still all connected throughout the series, and allowed the subject matter in each particular episode to really flourish and get the mileage it deserved.

I only felt kind of “meh” on episode 7, and a little bit on 10, though I just binged it all in one sitting, so I could have some burnout impacting me by the end. I just wasn’t nearly as engaged with the fight between the McLaren drivers, and it felt more like they were trying to manufacture a story out of footage, sort of like the Sainz/Alonso “rivalry” episode in season 1. I will say that was the only episode that didn’t feel very organic to me this season.

While it did an amazing job with what was covered, I think one major thing this series could’ve benefitted from was one or two more episodes to get a couple more bigger stories in. I realize it’s possible the crews just weren’t there or there wasn’t enough footage to build a full episode, but I’m going to list some big moments I felt were missed.

- George Russell and/or Williams, especially with the change in leadership. This in combo with his opportunity to get a Mercedes drive could be really cool. They used flashbacks really well this season, so maybe it can get a short feature in an episode next season.
- Verstappen. He existed, but wasn’t really a fulcrum of any particular plot element, and when he was present, he was more synonymous with redbull in their features rather than an autonomous figure. A take on his personal struggle for title contention would’ve been cool, though I can see how that could lead to personal one-sided theoretical talks about moving to a more competitive team, and given how many moves were covered this season I could see how that could get convoluted or repetitive.
- Hulkenberg’s return. Aside from the fact that this major event was completely glossed over, this could’ve been an interesting element to mix in while Perez’s and destination was unknown, perhaps even with the Haas/Alfa driver story.
- Mention of McLaren’s switch from Renault to Mercedes power, seems like it could’ve slotted in well with Ricciardo’s move.
- Mugello chaos. It doesn’t seem to have any plot in and of itself, but there’s a lot of action there, and I could see it being well used as a builder/prologue in the Bahrain/Grosjean’s episode the highlight the danger.
- Silverstone tire chaos. I’m not sure where it would fit in but it was very exciting. Perhaps included with the Verstappen brainstorm I listed above.

S2 made me nervous, but the direction this new season took made me really excited for future seasons.
 
Binged S3. When it's good, it's very good, but I was surprised by the omission of many key moments that Quakebass listed.

And Vettel's podium didn't get a mention? Nothing on Alonso's return? Tsunoda replacing Kyvat? Stroll getting sick? Weird.

Watching the episodes unfold knowing what we know now, things got awkward, especially with the beginnings of Covid and driver changes.
 
I'm on the opposite spectrum from most people. S3 falls a bit flat for me. Maybe it's because I've followed F1 super closely last year so most of the stuff are not a surprise anymore. But in previous seasons there are always one or two new behind the scenes footage that was interesting. This year it seems there's not as much (possibly a limitation to how close they can get due to all the social distancing, group bubbles and travel restrictions though). Also I still find it very jarring when they keep skipping back and forth between various points of the season, but I can understand by focusing on individual teams it's a lot easier to digest for the casual viewer.

In addition to what Quakebass said, they completely omitted a LOT of big events:
- Hulk's double return
- Massive Mugello crash
- Kimi's Portimao first lap magic (and Sainz)
- Russel's heartbreak in Imola and roller coaster weekend in Sakhir
- The whole Turkish GP, possibly the best race of the year with Lewis' stunning title drive, Perez' podium and Vettel's redemption
- The end of an era for Williams as a privateer team
- Alonso returning next year and Alpine's rebrand
- Japan's bittersweet situation of having a new rookie in Tsunoda, but Honda pulling out of F1 just as Red Bull looks to have their car and drivers sorted out

Instead they spent a whole episode on Botass (that's totally becoming a meme isn't it?) and the yawn fest Abu Dhabi race. I don't know if they are only contractually obligated to only produce 10 episodes, but this season could easily have been 15 strong eps.
 
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TV production runs like this one are a predetermined amount of episodes from the start, so they couldn't make more. They could've made like bonus feature episodes though if they had the material for it, it's a Netflix production after all so there's not much stopping them there.

I'm wondering how big of a say the teams and Liberty Media have in what gets put in to the final thing though. I can't stop having conspiracy theories about Russell's Mercedes drive and if any of it is true it would make sense for Mercedes to veto any insight into that affair even though it would make for fantastic TV.

A whole episode about Bottas' woes over team priorities but not a lick about one of the most dramatic drives of the season with almost as much riding on it as Perez's drive in the same race?
 
I just watched Season 3. It was alright, nothing too new was explored. If you followed the F1 season, you already knew the drama covered in the series.

I'm not too sure about the standalone episode focus. It seemed like Groundhog Day for many of the episodes, seeing Austria and Silverstone over and over again.
 
They were very restricted on how and when they could film. They had to stay within 1 team at any given weekend, which drives a lot of the standalone team per episode focus.
 
I'm not sure how Drive to Survive seems to established F1 aficionados ... but I will say it has captured the interest of my wife & younger daughter who now follows (to some extent) the progression of the F1 season. I think the focus on the "human story" is well done & widens the appeal of an otherwise inaccessible & arcane sport.
 
Biggles
I'm not sure how Drive to Survive seems to established F1 aficionados ... but I will say it has captured the interest of my wife & younger daughter who now follows (to some extent) the progression of the F1 season. I think the focus on the "human story" is well done & widens the appeal of an otherwise inaccessible & arcane sport.
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I think that is a very important aspect that most of the established fans forget - DTS is not produced for us. It is not the official season review that fans are looking for, and about establishing new fans. My wife also watched season 3, and she is someone who has spent years reminding me how much she hates F1 and that I am a mug for watching it! As F1 fans, take it as the entertainment it is rather than anything too factual.
 
Pezzarinho17
I think that is a very important aspect that most of the established fans forget - DTS is not produced for us. It is not the official season review that fans are looking for, and about establishing new fans. My wife also watched season 3, and she is someone who has spent years reminding me how much she hates F1 and that I am a mug for watching it! As F1 fans, take it as the entertainment it is rather than anything too factual.
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Well, let's just say there's not so much interest in the finer points of Kers technology ... & more consideration of who's cuter - Lando, Charles, Carlos, Alexander or George (Alex is not in the running). ;)
 
My wife liked Mark Webber! But she was more interested in the drama, watched it as a filler waiting for new season of "below deck"! 😅
 
Biggles
Well, let's just say there's not so much interest in the finer points of Kers technology ... & more consideration of who's cuter - Lando, Charles, Carlos, Alexander or George (Alex is not in the running). ;)
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Mrs Shaun is a big fan of Lando, I somehow don't think it's down to his raw pace though.
 
Normally I would be interested in this but now? Cant say there's much anticipation for this or the new season of Fugazi 1... Was absolutely gripped by last season too... what a shame for Max & Lewis to end it like that. Mid February and nothing has changed either winner winner!
 
Pretty horrible season

They got a lot wrong
Completely skips brazil
No vettel this season too much mazespin
No kimi farewell, tbh he probably told them off
The race sequence was off too
 
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Verstappen on DTS

Had some nice talks abut this series previously.
Since I am following F1 since the 1980's, the made up stories and also putting comments from drivers from one race into a different one, just to add drama or a story, seems unfair.
I believe Max sees it the same way, and if Norris is portrayed in a bad manner, adds up to not wanting to spent time on this soap-opera.
 

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