Netflix’s Drive to Survive (DTS) has been one of the primary factors for F1’s rise in popularity since 2019, particularly in the United States. The dramatic storytelling and personalized approach of handling each driver and team principal’s story behind the scenes has really struck an emotional chord with new fans, who have become passionate enthusiasts of the sport in recent years.
Naturally, drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz have developed a dedicated fanbase, which wasn’t the case for individual drivers except for the championship protagonists in the pre-Drive to Survive era. And it is not just drivers, as team principals and team bosses have also garnered a niche following of their own.
Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Mercedes’ Toto Wolff are the most prominent names who come to mind as F1’s most popular team bosses. However, even McLaren CEO Zak Brown started to receive sudden attention after DTS was released on Netflix.
Back in the day, Brown had been at the helm of McLaren for just two years or so. Still, people started recognizing him amid the Woking team’s renaissance as well as the rising interest in F1 due to the Netflix docu-series. In fact, the American recently narrated how he once overshadowed two Los Angeles Lakers basketballers in New York.
Brown recalled how he was staying in the same hotel as the Lakers team, where he ran into, presumably, two of their players, in the elevator while heading down for dinner. “[We] get out of the elevator, Lakers everywhere. All right, it’s the Lakers. They won’t sign for the fans, because they got to get to the bus,” he revealed in a conversation on Bloomberg Podcasts.
At that moment, a couple of fans came in front as he was walking beside the team and asked for the McLaren CEO’s autograph. “I’m walking out with them at the front door. These three fans popped out from the front group. They go, ‘Can we get your autograph?'”
While the Lakers players thought they were being asked to hand out autographs, their reaction was priceless when they got to know it was actually Brown. He recalled those fans’ response: “‘No, no, not you. Mr. Brown, We love Formula 1, and these two guys looked at me like, ‘Who the hell is this guy?'”
Just like Brown was not aware much of the Lakers’ players, they were also in the dark about the American businessman’s popularity at the pinnacle of motorsport. Of course, DTS had a major part to play in his fame.
“Zak is a prick” – Horner
“I control you, every millimetre” – Briatore to Doohan
“Good for Lewis. Good for his bank account” – Albon
The trailer for the new series of Drive to Survive has arrived.#F1 pic.twitter.com/fmZTYnsp2p
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) February 28, 2025
Brown had been a mainstay on the series as the face of the McLaren team besides his drivers. And given that his off-track life also gained some screen time, fans started to connect with him on a personal level.
Just like Brown, Horner and Wolff, as mentioned earlier, have also garnered a similar spotlight. However, the most fan-favorite team principal on Drive to Survive has been none other than Guenther Steiner.
Steiner’s straightforward attitude and unhinged responses have made him one of the most relatable characters appearing in the docu-series. And even though he is out of F1 now, courtesy of his exit from Haas at the start of 2024, the American-Italian still has a locked-in place in many people’s hearts as one of the most entertaining personalities of the sport.
