Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019)

Watchseries; If you love Formula 1, you'll love this! If you don't love Formula 1, you'll still enjoy the series!

A really captivating look at last season, which is given all the more context because of the behind the scenes information the show provides. Interviews with drivers, team bosses, and analysis from Sports journalists, really puts some of the key events of the season in perspective, or helps you appreciate the context surrounding them.

The most interesting part isn't really the cars winning at the front, but the dreams and aspirations of the lower end drivers and teams, as they strive to do all they can to progress forward. Watching a team like Renault celebrating a 3rd place like they had won the championship really shows how much points mean to the drivers and the teams.

Compelling viewing from start to finish, my wife and I finished Season 3 in 3 days!

If you love Formula 1, you'll love this! If you don't love Formula 1, you'll still enjoy the series!

A really captivating look at last season, which is given all the more context because of the behind the scenes information the show provides. Interviews with drivers, team bosses, and analysis from Sports journalists, really puts some of the key events of the season in perspective, or helps you appreciate the context surrounding them.

The most interesting part isn't really the cars winning at the front, but the dreams and aspirations of the lower end drivers and teams, as they strive to do all they can to progress forward. Watching a team like Renault celebrating a 3rd place like they had won the championship really shows how much points mean to the drivers and the teams.

Compelling viewing from start to finish, my wife and I finished Season 3 in 3 days!

Formula 1: Drive to Survive watchseries. I've been a fan of Formula 1 for a very long time, but when you follow it on TV, generally the focus is always on the lead drivers and winners of the day.

They do focus on the midfield when battles are under way but they still don't get the same focus or discussion as the leaders and fair enough.

This show goes behind the scenes and gives you the ins and outs of the drivers personalities and team successes, failures, and how important it is for teams just to pick up points...arguably after watching both seasons you are more interested in the mid order teams and their battle for survival than the top teams.

The drivers personalities are the highlights, everyone wants to be a champion and you have to possess something special to be one of the top 20 drivers in the world and they all feel they have it....riveting viewing!

Very little of Hamilton and Vettel, this series shines a light on the mid and back of pack teams, the personal battles to hold their seats and the teams fighting for Constructor points. Watching the TV feeds on Sunday you miss a lot of this. Lots of slow motion crashes, cursing and serious managers. Good series to get more into the racing, as focussing on the Mercedes team constant success at the front is too limiting.

The style and way this series is presented is truly remarkable simply because I never thought there could be a show that would interest me so much that I would start watching and following any form of racing. Now I'm waking up early on the weekends to watch the qualifiers and racing haha. I don't know the history of F1 ratings or general world interest, but this series has to have created a huge new interest in the sport. I truly hope they keep making the series every season.

I have never really cared for racing other than video games and being American most friends of mine that do like racing are nascar fans. Left turn driving only is boring but I randomly started this show on Netflix and I ended up binging it. It even made me look up f1 schedule on tv and since the first season I watch most races or at least record them. Well done show to see the back story of what's going on in the f1 world.

Over three seasons, "Formula 1: Drive To Survive" has refined its craft, nailing the balance of watching contenders fighting for points on the track, whilst shedding light on the F1's dark arts behind closed doors. Narratives have come to fruition: brilliant driver conflicts are complemented by unprecedented access inside the racing paddocks, all sewn together by sublime footage of unbridled racing.

This latest season is the show's pinnacle - COVID's influence has presented a unique opportunity to show the impact on sport, alongside some serious power shifts within the teams at both the top and bottom of Formula 1. By sticking with a non-chronological format, Netflix can moderate how many of the season's best moments they show per episode. A prime example is the episode "Man On Fire", a global news story: without detracting from anything else happened that weekend, this narrative was still done justice.

Every character serves a purpose. Red Bull's Christian Horner plays the pantomime villain, using sly tactics whenever possible to get the edge; meanwhile, the men of Mercedes are the titans, speaking more on track than in interviews. For my money, the entertainment is better down the table. Smaller teams like Haas, Renault and McLaren and their enigmatic team principals are eternally scrabbling for sponsors, drivers and podium spots, a dichotomy of friendship and rivalry.

What is most refreshing is how uninhibited the drivers (bar Lewis Hamilton who is bit of a PR robot) and staff are allowed to be in their interviews. They speak frankly and honestly about their competitors, teammates and careers, insight we have never had in any similarly high profile sport. My only real criticism is that sometimes the show does occasionally force the drama, using audio from different conversations to portray a story untruthfully. On top of that, drivers with less gripping tales are marginalised: season three has no interviews with Verstappen (arguably the second best driver in F1 today), nor does it feature Team Williams whatsoever.

I am not opposed to criticising Netflix's remorseless documentary pandering, but they have done this depreciating sport a serious service. Formula 1 badly needs an avenue to reclaim popularity with people unenthused by 50 laps of monotony, and this documentary's willingness to trim the fat makes "Drive to Survive" a compelling watch.