From my childhood, I was very fascinated about driving cars, not just driving but also fast. So I offered myself whole collection of “NEED FOR SPEED” video game series to cater my interest. Even though I was very much involved in racing video games, I was not that much involved in watching Formula 1. For starters Formula 1 is a High speed racing event on the planet which possess abundance of talent, money, glamour and politics. To be honest very few sporting events across the world comes close to equal the calibre of this event. OK wait… You might be wondering why I am boasting a lot about Formula 1 even though I mentioned earlier that I rarely watch formula 1. It’s due to the two season wonder titled “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” produced by Netflix which reveals the contract discussions, clashes and emotions rarely seen in race weekend coverage. This web-series stamps Netflix’s brilliance and success in making sports related content.
Even though both the seasons follow same pattern of storytelling, the show runners have done superb job in capturing highs and lows of teams to bring out the drama factor beautifully in this documentary. Sound design and Editing deserves special mention for the way they brought the authenticity of racing right into our living rooms. Editing team made sure we were kept on the edge of our seat by seamless cuts between racing tracks, cockpits and funding companies.
Season one had Red bull racing, Rockit Williams, Renault, Haas F1, Torro Rosso and Force India. Season one mainly focused on the resurgence of Renault and hass racing, at the same time it also focused on the downfall of former giants Williams Racing. The one thing I dearly missed in season one is the emotions associated with the winners of grandprix because Mercedes racing and Ferrari didn’t participate in season one. Following the tremendous success of season one, Mercedes and Ferrari made themselves available for season two. I loved the fact that Netflix used both of them as flag bearers for the second season but allocated only one season to each team. This decision is mainly due to the universal truth that consistently winning doesn’t create enough drama to savour.
Every web series has one person around whom things actually happen, and for me regardless of the season that person was Haas team boss Günther Steiner. An Italian manages an American racing team. Historically Formula 1 has never been kind to American teams. A hilarious character who curses at his drivers and staff in ways that American football coaches would envy. English is not his first language, but he’s an artist with the f-word. “This is not a f***ing kindergarten here,” Steiner shouts at staff in cockpit during Austrian granprix when his team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnusson collide each other’s car. For me these were the best lines of the whole series. Netflix threw some surprise in portraying his character by showing an exactly opposite personal life where he is more kind and soft-spoken. During 2018 season Hass performed better and became 5th in championship which is quite good for a young team. But 2019 turned out to be dismal year for Hass. Their drivers failed to finish races and engineers consistently made errors in designing cars. The frustration was clearly visible in Steiner simply because he used F-word more frequently than before.
The team I empathize a lot is Rokit-Williams. They ended up as last place holders in both 2018 and 19 season. Williams racing is not a rookie team, to be honest they are one of the pioneers of formula one and had great success at past. Willams Racing has altogether 16 titles. Currently Williams is managed by Claire Williams who is daughter of Williams. Williams as name suggests founded this racing team and lead to all the 16 titles. In the trailer for Season 1, Claire Williams said something that has stuck with me ever since I heard it: “Every day I break out in a cold sweat thinking, ‘do I have the skillset to do this?’”. These words reflect in all the episodes where she appears because she always seems to be desperate for answers for her team’s abysmal performance and at the same time she is worried of the fact that Williams racing will have to face a bankrupt situation during her time as Director. In Williams’ case specifically, she has reached the highest position of any woman in F1, an organization that has historically been outrageously chauvinistic. Her detractors will argue that she only has her job because of her father, and her supporters will argue that the most qualified and experienced team principal in the world couldn’t turn around Williams on F1’s lowest budget. When things went from bad to worse during 2019 season preseason where Williams engineering team failed to produce car at preseason training, reaction from Claire was not that sound. I feel this approach has to change to bring Williams back to its glory days.
As expected, every match weekend Mercedes team will arrive to the racing arena and will place their car on the track. Their team drivers Lewis Hamilton or Valterri Bottas will win the pole position and then on Sundays one of them will win the grandprix 8 out 10 times. At the end of the season Mercedes will win Constructor’s Championship and Lewis will take driver’s championship honours. This is the same old story for the past 6 years and Netflix also showed the exact thing without any drama, unsurprisingly drama is hard to find in a team with 6 consecutive championships. Their closest rival Ferrari gave some opportunity to make some drama with the help of experienced Vettel vs. rookie Leclrec battle which occurred throughout 2019 season. Red bull racing got more screen time in the whole series but there was very less drama. The main highlights were the break in the partnership with Renault as engine manufacturer, Riccardio’s exit and Max Verstappen’s Resurgerence as next big thing in Formula one.
Netflix has renewed their association with Formula one for 2020 season also. 2020 season is a highly anticipated and interesting season due to some regulatory changes. You can clearly see in the both the seasons small teams often complete about the budget inequality where big teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari spend more that 450million dollars annually but on the other hand small teams only spend around 150million. For 2020 season FIA has put restriction on financial budgets for all teams so experts believe that the gap between teams will be reduced which in turn increases the competitiveness. Another factor is that most of the driver’s contracts are coming to close at the end of the season so musical chairs between teams has been virtually on. But sadly god had other plans, 2020 Formula 1 season has been indefinitely postponed due to coronavirus pandemic. So we will have to wait until this pandemic gets over to catch the unparalleled action.
So, is Drive to Survive still worth watching? Whether you’re an avid race fan or a casual observer, the answer is yes.
True, anyone with a basic knowledge of grand prix racing will have to endure explanations of how F1 works every five minutes, but the level of detail and behind-the-scenes footage still makes it highly viewable.
For those new to F1, the drama, excitement and at times comedy of the series is certainly enough to make the series appeal to a wide market.
In short, there’s something for everyone.
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