“Cameras and microphones into places they haven’t been allowed before” – Formula 1 has confirmed the ultra-successful Netflix’s Drive to Survive series will release its fourth season in 2022.
F1’s director of media rights, Ian Holmes confirmed this, enumerating the impact the show has had on the sport’s burgeoning fanbase. He also thanked all the teams for allowing Netflix to enter their territory and produce mind-opening interaction footages between the drivers and crew.
“What the Netflix series shows us is that there is this appetite for content that has no place to be in a pre-race show. But there is a place for it and people are genuinely fascinated by it.
“The other thing it’s really demonstrated to us is that what interests people most is the individuals, the personalities, the rock stars, the drivers, or in some cases maybe a few team principals. It’s that sort of personality-driven programming.
“What I think it has so successfully done is shone a light on that, and this is where the teams deserve an awful lot of credit for their openness and their agreement to embrace the project and allow cameras and microphones into places they haven’t been allowed before.”
Guenther Steiner has no issue with sensationalism
Drive to Survive has done its best to keep the content as real as possible, but there are elements of sensationalism thrown in. One person who doesn’t have an issue with this is the star of the show Guenther Steiner, the Haas team principal.
“We know filmmakers, they get the best they can out of it, that’s pretty clear. I don’t know how much was played up and therefore I’m not with those who are critical about it. I don’t know how they managed the stuff. That’s why I don’t have much of an opinion about it.
“It’s well known that film people always try to get the best possible out of it, so that the viewers enjoy watching it. We have to, and can live with that.
“As long as stories told there are not completely wrong. I didn’t hear that, actually, that it’s untrue. Maybe sensationalised a little bit, but otherwise I don’t think much is changed in principle – at least that’s how I understand it.”
