For the longest time, Netflix has enjoyed a free rein with Drive to Survive. The series on Formula 1 that documents an entire year of Grand Prix in each 10-episode season has often taken liberties with its “content” by manipulating real events for drama. The series only grows bolder in misleading its audience with each season and despite being criticized, stands its ground on the said issue.
Drivers and team principals have time and again called out Netflix and its F1 series for faulty representations and distorted reality. The discrepancy between the actual experience on the track and what is portrayed on the screen makes it difficult to contend with the series, no matter how instrumental Drive to Survive has been in boosting F1’s popularity around the world.
However, there are times when the Netflix series serves its purpose and does right by the fans by unraveling the internal drama and politics of each team. In Season 7, DTS worked overtime to expose Red Bull’s unfair advantage in F1.
Drive to Survive exposes Red Bull’s unfair advantage
While 2024 was a momentous year in the history of Formula 1, there were events of lesser magnitude that managed to fly under the public’s radar. This is where Drive to Survive comes in with its extensive portrayal of each race in each Grand Prix season where a single event is portrayed from multiple perspectives and is open for scrutiny and examination by the audience.
In Season 7 of the Netflix docu-series, a behind-the-scenes political powerplay has left the fans shocked at the strongest team on the grid. Red Bull openly flaunting its B-team and functioning in tandem with their engines and drivers has left the audience perplexed about the team’s unfair advantage on the grid.
Before Drive to Survive had appeared on the scene and commanded an entire legion of reality TV fanatics, only the ardent fans of the sport were privy to the information about each outfit and their B-teams in Formula 1. In the not-so-distant past, Haas served as Ferrari’s sister team, McLaren had a relationship with Renault, and Williams and Mercedes worked in close collaboration.
As of 2024, only Racing Bulls (formerly VCARB) remains on the track as Red Bull Racing’s sister team and often serves as the development and feeder team for the parent outfit.
Fans call out Red Bull’s treatment of its B-team drivers
While Red Bull hardly offers the fans an opportunity to call out their performance throughout the year, the audience is happy to finally find a fault with the Milton Keynes-based outfit. As the only company on the F1 grid to have a B-team, Red Bull has an unfair advantage over its competitors due to its ownership of Racing Bulls which often also works as a waypoint for junior drivers before they are promoted to the primary team.
However, not only does Red Bull use RB to strategize its Grand Prix season performance but has also sidelined one of its drivers, Yuki Tsunoda, at every possible opportunity. This has left the fans enraged, to say the least, over Christian Horner and his shrewd politics off the tracks.
In a Reddit thread, one fan pointed out the problematic aspect of Red Bull’s current situation, saying:
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As Drive to Survive now begins filming the 2025 season, the discrepancies between the show and the actual race will be further highlighted moving forward. Red Bull will also have to contend with its ownership of the B-team now that the fans are aware of the outfit’s behind-the-scenes activities.
Drive to Survive Season 7 is currently streaming on Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
