Drive To Survive: it will now be without Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen is not the type to pretend. So the artistic liberties sometimes demonstrated by the Netflix series “Drive To Survive”, which injected new blood among fans of Formula 1, particularly in the United States, it will be without him.

We can regret it because the sensational duel offered by the pilot Red Bull and his great rival Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) this year promises to be the tasty common thread of the next season which will be released in 2022 and will chronicle the current campaign. But Verstappen doesn't care about these mundanities.

Since the launch of the show in 2019, “Pilots of their destiny” (in French) has greatly contributed to broadening the F1 audience by reaching a much wider audience than early fans.

Many players in the paddock also agree that the great dynamic currently displayed by sport across the Atlantic (audiences up 50% on ESPN, addition of a 2nd date to the calendar with Miami, etc. ) relies heavily on the success of the series, which immerses viewers behind the scenes of an ultra-elitist discipline.

Despite its popularity, “Drive To Survive” is also singled out for the excessive scripting of certain sequences. Verstappen is clearly one of these detractors and has therefore chosen not to endorse the artistic approach of the creators of the series.

« They invent a lot of things, entrusted the Batavian to the news agency AP ahead of the US GP.

They have created several rivalries that don't really exist. So I chose not to participate and not do interviews with them. That way they can't use anything.

I'm not the type of person who wants to put myself on stage to put on a show. What interests me are the facts and the truth ».

Verstappen nevertheless recognizes that the program is “ necessary to grow the popularity of the sport in the United States ". His refusal to give interviews obviously does not prevent the directors of the series from drawing on the images of the F1 production.

If Netflix religiously protects its audience figures, the streaming giant conceded that the 3rd season of “Drive To Survive” had been the most followed, while it was also the 7th most streamed program last March, when it was released on the platform, according to the site The Atlantic.

We will remember that the Mercedes teams and Ferrari had first refused to open their doors to Netflix cameras during the first season of the show. Given the success of the series, the two top teams then changed strategy, aware that they were cutting themselves off from a large audience of casual fans likely to interest their partners.