When Formula One Group CEO Stefano Domenicali was asked who between the two top contenders — Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen — will win the championship decider Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021, he said, “The clear winner will be Formula 1”. Thanks to Netflix, he has been proven right. Since the release of the first season of documentary-drama Formula 1: Drive to Survive in 2019, it brought in millions of new followers for one of the most expensive sports in the world. However, it appears that the fourth instalment of the show has gone off track, for the series has also come under scrutiny for sensationalising and creating sequences that are not in sync with reality.
Full disclosure, I dove into the world of motorsports after Formula 1: Drive to Survive was aired in 2019, much like thousands of other Indians.
For many Indians, Formula One is synonymous with Indian motorsport racing driver Narain Karthikeyan. Those who know a bit more would remember Vijay Mallya’s feeble attempt to crack into the world of motorsport with the team — Force India. In a cricket-obsessed country such as ours, seldom do other sports get the same level of the limelight. Once you get past cricket, then there are other sports like badminton, hockey, and kabaddi that enjoy massive popularity. In the grand scheme of things, motorsport has remained an elusive and exclusive sport to follow in the country. Formula 1: Drive to Survive changed that significantly, paving the way for racing cars to speed into our pop culture discussions and shaping a community of its own. It is no longer a solo experience for the hardcore motorsport fans in India.
But as it turns out, there is a thin line between documenting a sporting event and taking creative liberties to enhance some select flavours. And, with its latest season, Formula 1: Drive to Survive has managed to blur it.
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‘Netflix docuseries ruined my mind’
In Formula 1: Drive to Survive, 20 rich young men speed past circuit after circuit to compete in 23 races set across the world for the coveted title of ‘Formula One World Champion’. Besides them, ten constructors, led by team principals (all middle-aged men with an exception of lower-ranked Williams racing team up till 2020 season) compete for the Constructors Championship. The team of genius engineers and mechanics create some of the best motor cars in the world. It is super-fast, edgy, and cut-throat, peppered with team rivalries (exaggerated by the show’s editing) — what’s not to like!
Red Bull’s racing driver Max Verstappen is just seven years old in Formula One, but his performance in the previous few seasons is testimony to his exceptional talent. After driving shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Mercedes’s seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen went a step further and won his maiden championship title in Abu Dhabi last December. The Belgian-Dutch driver also set a new record for most podium finishes in a single year with the grand finale win at Yas Marina circuit being his 18th one.
So, when a driver of Verstappen’s stature boycotts Formula One: Drive to Survive’s fourth season, it raises serious questions over the legitimacy of what we see on screen. The reigning world champion said that he won’t change his mind [to participate in the filming of Netflix docuseries] and it was “already ruined after season one”. He acknowledged the leverage shows like Drive to Survive might take to dramatise certain elements to entertain people but he clarified that “it is just not my [his] thing”. He has accused Netflix of “creating fake rivalries”, and he would rather have them state facts as they are, and “not hype it up”.
Lando Norris from McLaren and Mercedes Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff also flagged their concerns over the “fake scenes” and “spinning the narrative” by Netflix under the garb of taking creative liberties.
Such statements from the F1 fraternity do raise poignant questions — How far is too far? Should sports docuseries even resort to such narratives when the season itself is highly entertaining and unpredictable? Will the sport benefit from this?
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Creative licence over factual narrative?
This is not to say that it’s all bad. Absolutely not. Formula 1: Drive to Survive has been a hugely successful sports docuseries not just because of its production value and entertainment quotient but also because it achieved what it had set out for in India and abroad, promoting the sport. Formula One announced that a four per cent spike was registered in the broadcast audience for the 2021 season as compared to the year before.
While all that is great, Netflix might be playing with fire here with the ‘excessive’ usage of its creative licence. It might be fun and entertaining for a rookie viewer, but the true fans may turn away if it does not get its act together.
After the latest 10-episode season of the show received criticism for its overdramatisation, F1 issued a statement saying it would talk to Netflix if, going forward, it is crucial that “the story does not move away from reality, otherwise it no longer fits”.
As more fans chime in for the ride, Formula 1: Drive to Survive might lose out on its existing audience if it deters off track for too many laps.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)