Drive to Survive: Producers say Formula 1 is 'not run for Netflix'

The new Formula 1 season is only a week away — but can it match the drama and controversy of 2021 and that final race, in which Max Verstappen snatched the title from Lewis Hamilton?

The fallout has barely subsided during the three-month off-season, with the removal of race director Michael Masi, question marks over seven-time champion Hamilton's future, and an ongoing rivalry between Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff.

And now the fourth series of Drive to Survive — the hit all-access Netflix documentary about F1 — is streaming, taking us behind the scenes of last year's epic championship battle, which was decided on the final day of the season by a controversial call and a one-lap shootout.

Among the many accusations in the aftermath of that thrilling Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the claim it had been engineered for maximum entertainment — sacrificing sporting integrity for TV drama.

But, speaking to BBC Sport, the producers of Drive to Survive said there was simply no way decisions were made with Netflix in mind.

James Gay-Rees said the suggestion was «a total red herring», adding: «It's just people under enormous pressure making decisions in the moment. There's no way anybody was thinking: 'Will this play well on Netflix?'»

Despite that, some within F1 have suggested the show creates, or at least exaggerates, narratives.

Wolff was quotedexternal-link this week as saying: «They create a spin to the narrative. They put scenes together that didn't happen. I guess you'd say as an insider: 'Well, that's different than how it was.'

»But we're creating entertainment, and that is a new dimension of entertainment."

Paul Martin — one of the show's creators — takes a different view, telling BBC