Season seven of Formula 1’s hit Netflix series Drive to Survive is available to watch from Friday.
After a largely one-sided 2023 season, the programme makers had a lot more to work with last year. Which storylines did they cover, and how successful were they?After watching all 10 episodes, here’s RaceFans’ verdict on which ones you should see – and which you can skip without missing anything.
Business As Usual
Verdict: Skip
Drive to Survive season seven leans on contrived exposition scenes like a drunk on a lamppost. The device pops up over and over, beginning with the conflab between the Horners which sets up the season-opener. Although this episode can’t resist a nod towards the other big story of the 2023-24 off-season – Lewis Hamilton signing for Ferrari – it centres on the allegations against Horner which were front page news 12 months ago.
As the various investigations meant Horner couldn’t speak on the subject, and the contents of the notorious Bahrain Grand Prix email leak are obviously not going to be shown, it makes for a thin episode. It ends by giving the impression the matter has been resolved, yet it remains to be seen whether this is in fact the case. Linking Max Verstappen’s retirement from the Australian Grand Prix to all this is tenuous even by DTS standards.
Frenemies
Verdict: Play
Verstappen may have resume co-operation with Netflix two years ago, but as he has a deal of his own with ViaPlay, we see much more of Lando Norris in this first of three episodes which focuses on last year’s championship fights.
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Norris is such a willing subject that there’s much more to get into here, including some excellent retro footage and the aftermath of his breakthrough win in Miami. Horner’s assessment of Norris’s mental state heading into one race is particularly brutal.
Looking Out For Number 1
Verdict: Skip
There’s no escape from the dreaded exposition scenes, which are so over-used in this episode it feels like a particularly wooden soap opera. George Russell appears in these with the natural ease of a hostage being prodded before the cameras.
Interesting to note, though, that although Mercedes have tried to play down expectations of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, here team principal Toto Wolff is already comparing him to Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and – yes – Max Verstappen.
Carlos Signs
Verdict: Play
Also, bonus point for the witty title.
Le Curse Of Leclerc
Verdict: Skip
No points for that title, or the rest of the episode, which is a waste of time for anyone who knows a little about Formula 1. Last year’s Monaco Grand Prix was such a soporific affair the series has rushed in a knee-jerk rule change for this race only to prevent it happening again. So why devote a whole episode to it?
The answer is to wring the ‘Charles Leclerc finally wins home race after years of misfortune’ angle for all it’s worth. But the hysterical commentary on top of a race where the drivers were stroking their cars home for 77 laps is just comical.
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Wheels Of Fortune
Verdict: Play
More McLaren versus Red Bull rivalry. As has become familiar from past seasons of DTS, the verbal barbs are seldom delivered by the drivers, more often by their team bosses, above all Horner, who only seems to open his mouth to take a pop at his McLaren counterpart in this episode.
Here we get plenty of McLaren tying themselves in knots over whether and how to impose a running order on their drivers. The story comes across well on the whole, though its implication Norris’s Q1 elimination in Baku was his fault rather than poor luck isn’t accurate or fair.
The cut from McLaren CEO Zak Brown watching footage of his teenage self on quiz show Wheel of Fortune to McLaren’s distinctive wheel covers is a neat touch, though.
In The Heat Of The Night
Verdict: Play
Elbows Out
Verdict: Play
“The Netflix story is not working,” is the pithy observation from Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko which captures this episode. Series favourite Daniel Ricciardo does not get to fulfil the redemption arc he was set up for, losing his seat to Liam Lawson, who then puts Sergio Perez’s nose out of joint by humiliating him in front of his home crowd, then taking his seat.
Again, there are some obviously acted scenes, and it doesn’t shed much light on Red Bull’s decision-making, not least its lack of interest in Yuki Tsunoda. But there are some amusing paddock moments and a particularly revealing interview with Ricciardo which is not to be missed.
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Under New Management
Verdict: Skip
A snarling Briatore trashes Esteban Ocon as a “spoiled brat”, insists he’s lost all motivation and lays the ground for a sacking. Ocon’s strong drive to second in Brazil fits neither Briatore’s narrative not Netflix’s, and he is duly shown the door one race early. The driver deserve credit for his composure in not rising to the bait.
A rivalry between Ocon and his replacement, reserve driver Jack Doohan, is confected, notwithstanding the fact Ocon’s departure from the team was announced as early as June. At least Claire Williams is on hand to spell out the obvious point the episode otherwise tries to avoid: “Briatore just wanted him gone from the team.”
End Game
Verdict: Skip
Drive to Survive’s finales tend to suffer from the difficulty of bringing anything new to the championship storyline, not to mention the consistently poor racing at Yas Marina. The final episode is not without its moments, however, notably Briatore’s comments to Pierre Gasly and Juan Pablo Montoya’s remarkably prescient observation about Verstappen.
The episode concludes with Wolff narrating an advert for a messaging service, dressed up as a farewell to the Ferrari-bound Hamilton, which many will have heard when it did the rounds on social media three months ago. For all the series’ behind-the-scenes insights, ending on something so dated was an odd choice.
Over to you
Have you watched any of the new series of Drive to Survive? Share your views on season seven in the comments.
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Formula 1
- FIA extends DRS zone on Shanghai’s longest straight to make passing easier
- McLaren would have been “stupid” not to use hold position order – Norris
- Hamilton dismisses ‘negativity’ over his radio calls. ‘Other drivers are almost abusive’
- Eddie Jordan, former F1 team principal, manager and driver, dies aged 76
- Antonelli “got really scared” when he made “big save” on first lap of Australian GP
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
7th March 2025, 7:33
Watched the 1st episode of season 1 and enjoyed it, then the growing sense in my mind that it was actually, as you say contrived and worse anglo saxon words, left me very happy to skip the next 7 series. I dont know any serious fan who watches it but its been undoubtedly responsible for the uplift in global audiences and the plethora of sponsorship deals plastered to the side of all cars now, even the backmarkers. So all in all a force for good and if you dont like it, skip it. See also Monaco, sprint races etc
Ray Pang
7th March 2025, 12:33
Except that the increased popularity of F1 has made ticket prices skyrocket in the last few years. Grrr.
S Arkazam
7th March 2025, 19:11
I’ll probably watch it as I know exactly what to expect. And to that extent it is not much different to reading many comments on this site, which I also still read.
For now though, the most fun is to read the comments of the ‘serious fans’ and their aversion of DtS :P
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
7th March 2025, 8:17
That’s very clever and something I, as a not at all DTS fan, would definetly watch. There used to be a TV show in Argentina created by Juan Ignacio Chela and Mariano Zabaleta, two pro tennis players, back in the day before youtube (circa 2003-2006) where they did exactly that: grab a camera and shot whatever they were doing while on the circuit. Training, playing, travelling to tournaments. It was the funniest thing ever. Players like Moya or a very, very young Nadal appeared often. And it was raw, almost no editing. Hopefully DTS one is like that.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
7th March 2025, 8:25
When even an F1Fanatic as Keith Collantine suggests that you could skip half of this new season, than you know enough about the quality of Drive to Survive.
I was never fond of the series, but I understand the popularity. Now it is becoming more and more clear that Drive to Survive is a broken record, the same narrative over and over again and the same fake created drama over and over again.
Patrick (@paeschli)
8th March 2025, 10:31
Crazy that you can skip half of the season after such an interesting season we’ve had
Mal Ross (@malross)
7th March 2025, 8:49
As much as I enjoyed the drivers’ title fight last year, not sure I can face the DTS treatment of it, even if Keith recommends those episodes. I don’t need any more Horner or Marko or Briatore in my life either. Might just stick to Carlos Signs and In The Heat Of The Night and leave it at that. 🤷
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
7th March 2025, 8:55
Thank you ! I might end up watching everything and cringe, but I think the “watch or skip” approach is best. For all its defects, the series always features fascinating nuggets to catch among the contrived storymaking.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th March 2025, 9:17
I did wonder if that was part of the appeal for some!
tielemst
7th March 2025, 21:57
Very much so. I also really enjoy how Will Buxton makes a comment on a topic with clear hindsight and then looks mysteriously in the distance as if he wants to say “we’ll see what happens”. Cracks me up every time!
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
7th March 2025, 11:38
I watched the whole F1 season last year, I don’t need an artificially dramatised review or someone else’s contrived narratives to watch.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
7th March 2025, 11:40
And by review I meant Drive to Survive, not your review @keithcollantine
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
10th March 2025, 1:41
So… don’t watch it?
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
7th March 2025, 13:18
Just waiting for the memes.
Mig29smt
7th March 2025, 13:41
I’ve been watching F1 since 1998 and haven’t seen a single episode of this… is this driver soap opera? TBH i want to see drivers and F1 cars race, i don’t care what they do outside the car.
Edvaldo
7th March 2025, 14:13
I quit on this series right at the beginning of season 2 when they made that business-as-usual Verstappen overtake on Vettel in Australia in lap 29 i think, into an epic clash that lasted until the last lap of the race.
It was when i realized the show is F1 for those who don’t watch F1.
dot_com (@dot_com)
7th March 2025, 14:37
Couldn’t agree more. I made it through 2-3 episodes of season 1 and that was enough for me.
Señor Sjon
7th March 2025, 15:32
I think I only watched the first two seasons, but season two was already very annoying with the long pauze after Leclerc’s Monza crash while in real time the ‘I’m OK’ was quite quickly. The usage of footage from different GP’s and fake storylines turned me off permanently.
Dex
7th March 2025, 15:34
Play or skip? I prefer having my own opinion. I’ll also read the article only when I’m finished. It’s a boring documentary, worsening each year (I’ve seen only 4 episodes so far), but everything’s better without spoilers.
David BR (@david-br)
7th March 2025, 15:49
Documentaries are an art form in themselves, done well and they can be mesmerizing.
DtS is almost an anti-documentary, whenever I’ve watched, I feel like I know less afterwards. Partly because the content is fairly vacuous, but mostly because the editing instils a profound distrust in me: ‘contrived exposition’, exactly. I may try watching the ones Keith has selected (thanks). Not hopeful though.
El Pollo Loco
8th March 2025, 22:04
Because “contrived” is exactly what it is. For fans like us who are actually aware of what’s going on, you cannot take dramatizations of this nature seriously. Even if you didn’t follow F1, it’d be obvious that the show is a dramatized distortion of reality.
I’m all for escapist entertainment. Everyone needs it. But not of this type. We already have enough problems with bad actors lying and misleading through the medium of news and docs.
Imre (@f1mre)
7th March 2025, 16:07
If it released early February I might watch it. But 1 week before the season… I don’t care.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
7th March 2025, 16:59
Exactly. They’ve had long enough to produce it. Never liked the way this is promoted just when F1 should be building up to the real-life season (and it’ll be great to have that done properly for one year at least, with a Melbourne start to the season.)
Apart from the drivers with phones in Singapore which could be amusing for a few minutes, it’s (in the) Skip from me.
Tjof
7th March 2025, 16:25
As a hard core fan, the series are completely unnecessary. For an entertaining purpose, I find it hilarious and awesome. The way they manipulate, cut and return to specific situations. As a tv series, very entertaining and gives me many chuckles. Nothing to do with the sport/sporting entertainment that we enjoy, and if it brings in more fans, hard core or not, I say, I hope they find more fun share for the crowds.
sam
7th March 2025, 16:32
There are enough Races in the year to not need this dribble.
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
7th March 2025, 17:09
About the first episode : it sounds pretty hilarious that even Verstappen’s brakes had enough of Horner’s shenanigans. I’ll watch it, if only to see how the script managed it.
El Pollo Loco
7th March 2025, 17:17
Twink to Survive is heart pounding stuff. The haircut and sunglasses competition is fierce.
Jezzard
8th March 2025, 8:42
A formula 1 programme for people who don’t like formula 1.
f1andrea
8th March 2025, 12:34
I never miss a single second of everything about F1 since I was 4, but I’ve boycotted DTS after Abu Dhabi 2021 even if in this season I’ve been footage. Stupid, patethic and for who doesn’t know anything about F1, they take footage from different races and put together and is pretty easy to note it
Ferdi
10th March 2025, 7:54
Having watched just the first episodes of season 1, I quit watching it, for all the reasons mentioned above by other F1 fans. The issue is though that DTS seems to affect Race Control as the scripting seen in the series is boiling over to Liberty and the FIA. It all becomes a ‘fun for the masses’ circle. Makes you wonder what F1 will look like in say 5 years. Will it become an entertainment franchise only with no sports element in it anymore? It is certainly the direction it is heading ever since Liberty took over.