Drive to Survive has had a major contribution in skyrocketing the popularity that F1 has enjoyed in recent times. The Netflix series has managed to reach out to new fans and expand the fanbase of almost all the teams and drivers. However, as per a report by Speedweek, Christian Horner has recently revealed that the $183,090,000,000 worth of company initially wanted to make a documentary on just Red Bull, only to be rejected by Liberty Media.
The unparalleled success of Drive to Survive has inspired several other shows focusing on other sports. This includes the likes of BreakPoint, created by the team behind Drive to Survive, which follows the tennis stars around as they participate in the grand slams and the ATP tours.
Netflix has also started documenting other sports and tried to bring the behind-the-scenes actions to the viewer in the style of Drive to Survive. This includes Quarterback – created in association with the NFL, Full Swing – a series about Golf, and Unchained – a docudrama series about the Tour de France.
The Birth of ‘Drive to Survive’
Before all of these shows happened, the original idea that Netflix had come up with was to make a documentary on the Red Bull team. Team Principal Christian Horner recently revealed the same to Speedweek.
🗣️ | Christian Horner reveals Netflix’s original idea of a Red Bull documentary
“Actually, the Netflix people wanted to make a documentary about Red Bull Racing, they wanted to be the fly on the wall and accompany us for a while”
“So the producers came to the Formula 1… pic.twitter.com/rYIdGAZGjF
— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) August 22, 2023
Horner said, “Actually, the Netflix people wanted to make a documentary about Red Bull Racing, they wanted to be the fly on the wall and accompany us for a while”
However, when the Netflix team approached Liberty Media with this proposal, they faced immediate rejection. Liberty made it clear that if the streaming giant wants to go ahead with a project of this sort, they cannot focus on only one team, but will have to include all ten teams on the grid. This is what led to the birth of Drive to Survive.
Red Bull has no dearth of documentaries
Despite missing out on their own documentary series, Red Bull wouldn’t be too disappointed because their star driver Max Verstappen already has several shows focusing on him.
One of the most prominent ones is “Max Verstappen: Anatomy of a Champion” created by ViaPlay, which was released in April. This mini-series follows the 2022 season which saw Verstappen clinching his 2nd World Champion title.
Another docu-series that was made back in 2020 by Ziggo Sport was “Max Verstappen: Whatever it Takes.” This three-part series focused on the rise of the young Dutch talent in Formula 1.
