Netflix’s Drive to Survive just seems to get better and better, and season 5 may be evidence of that. The OTT platform released the latest season of their hit docuseries on February 24; fans cannot get over it.
Drive to Survive has played a major role in promoting F1 worldwide as the sport’s viewership has increased significantly since the first season of the docuseries hit the OTT platform on March 8, 2019.
Here is a look at the top five themes of season 5 of Drive to Survive (spoilers ahead) that feature some of the best behind the scene moments from the 2022 F1 season.
Top highlights of Drive to Survive season 5
Daniel Ricciardo’s ‘end of the road’
As soon as Netflix released the titles of their episodes, one episode that caught the eyes of most fans was ‘Nice Guys Finish Last,’ and this was primarily because it contained fan favourite Daniel Ricciardo.
The Australian, who only managed to secure a test driver seat with Red Bull Racing this season, features extensively in this episode. The 33-year-old’s heartbreak is captured in this episode after being told he will no longer drive for McLaren in the 2023 season.
McLaren made this decision as Ricciardo struggled to meet the team’s expectations. The Australian only scored 37 points the entire 2022 season compared to the 122 points his teammate, Lando Norris, scored in the other McLaren.
After McLaren made this decision, Ricciardo explains in the episode how he had moments of ‘doubt, frustration and anger’ due to his inability to perform at the required level.
Oscar Piastri saga
Another major theme that emerged due to Daniel Ricciardo leaving McLaren was the Oscar Piastri saga. Alpine had taken to social media and announced they had signed the 21-year-old, only for the Australian to dismiss the news shortly after.
McLaren made the most of this opportunity and signed Piastri. Alpine’s failure to sign the Australian was a major blow to the team and a huge embarrassment for them because of how the events panned out.
In the episode, ‘Nice Guys Finish Last,’ Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer explains how embarrassed the team felt after they failed to sign Piastri.
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During the same episode, McLaren team principal Zak Brown and some of his team members were also seen mocking Szafnauer on the same issue to rub salt in the wounds of Alpine.
A few moments later in the episode, Szafnauer directly talked with Brown about McLaren supposedly signing Piastri ‘unfairly.’ The two were seen having a heated exchange, with Szafnauer threatening Brown of taking McLaren to court. In this fashion, the bitterness of the two team bosses is on display in season 5 of Drive to Survive.
Max Verstappen’s return to Drive to Survive
One more important aspect of Drive to Survive is perhaps the return of Max Verstappen to the docuseries. The two-time world champion boycotted the show during season 4 as he claimed that it was overly dramatized and often incorrectly portrayed individuals.
During the course of the show, the Dutchman comments on his relationship with his teammate Sergio Perez and explains how it feels to be a double world champion.
The docu-series gives a detailed account of Verstappen’s mindset and how he dealt with all the pressure while the focus remained extensively on him throughout the 2022 F1 season.
Mick Schumacher’s struggles and comparison with father Michael
The ‘Like Father, Like Son’ episode, is another that caught the eye of most fans when Netflix dropped the titles of the episodes. This episode extensively covers Mick Schumacher’s struggles with Haas in the 2022 season and the continuous comparisons between him and his father, Michael Schumacher.
Haas’ damning assessment of Mick’s start in F1 is displayed as team principal Guenther Steiner, and owner Gene Haas make some critical statements about the young German.
In one scene of the episode, Steiner tells Gene, “We gave him a year to learn. And what does he do? In the second race (in Saudi Arabia), he destroys the car because the other one is faster.”
Although the episode extensively showed Mick’s troubles, it did end on a positive note. The 23-year-old was seen scoring his first points for the team after a brilliant battle with Max Verstappen for a potential seventh place at the British Grand Prix. Despite this result, he failed to keep his seat at Haas, who signed veteran Nico Hülkenberg for the 2023 season.
Also Read: Michael Schumacher Would Have Been a Mechanic If He Hadn’t Had $900 Million Formula 1 Career
Christian Horner vs Toto Wolff
Even though Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing dominated the 2022 season, it did not stop Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff from getting into heated altercations with Christian Horner.
The highlight of the season perhaps came in episode 2, Bounce Back, when Wolff slammed Red Bull Racing and the rest of the teams for ignoring his team’s concerns about porpoising.
The episode featured an intense behind-the-scene moment when Wolff directly confronts Horner in the presence of F1 boss Stefano Domenicali.
Wolff accuses Horner and the rest of playing a ‘dangerous game,’ stating that he would come after them if a car hit the wall due to excessive porpoising. In reply, an annoyed Horner tells him to ‘change his car’ if he has a problem and asks him not to complain.
Although these are some of the best moments featured in season 5 of Drive to Survive, the latest season also showcases Ferrari’s highs and lows, the troubles at Alpine with Fernando Alonso leaving the team, among several others.
