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The fifth edition of the Netflix F1 docuseries Drive to Survive premiered on Friday, just in time to perfectly set up the start of the 2023 season. The latest edition has 10 episodes and covers a range of topics from last year's action.
While the latest edition of the docuseries has not been criticized as much as its predecessor, it was far from perfect and there were certainly parts that proved to be major disappointments. What were they? Well, let's take a look.
#1 Lack of coverage for Sebastian Vettel's F1 retirement
Sebastian Vettel will go down as one of the best drivers in the history of F1. He retired at the end of last season as a four-time world champion. In a career that spanned roughly 15 years, Vettel has won more than 50 races and his stats are only behind the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, and Alain Prost. That's elite company to be a part of.
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However, the only mention of Vettel retiring from the sport was in a feature where Fernando Alonso's move to Aston Martin is being discussed. Meanwhile, an arguably 'more marketable' face in Daniel Ricciardo got a lot of attention for his F1 sabbatical.
Even for prospective fans, the fact that a true giant of the sport in Sebastian Vettel does not get his due is hard to believe and it was disappointing to see the showrunners not dedicate more time to the German.
#2 No mention of the Saudi Arabia race weekend
One of the major controversies of the 2022 F1 season was the race weekend in Saudi Arabia. A missile attack at a facility just a few kilometers away from the race track is no small matter. F1 drivers rallied together and objected to going through with the race.
The Drive to Survive docuseries has made its name by providing "never seen before" behind-the-scenes footage. The omission of such an important moment of the season leaves a gaping hole when you talk about what happened in the 2022 F1 season.
#3 Abuse from F1 fans, online and offline
Max Verstappen faced vehement abuse and boos in Silverstone and Monza. Lewis Hamilton was a victim of the same in multiple tracks as well. F1 presenters have been a target in the last year or so. Esteban Ocon was targeted by the Spanish fans.
The list of these incidents is long and distinguished. The coverage on this, however, was non-existent. When you're talking about a sport, you're talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is something that the Drive to Survive series has done admirably in the past. This was a major miss from the series, especially when it could have had a major impact.
#4 The Esteban Ocon vs Fernando Alonso rivalry
Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were part of one of the biggest teammate rivalries in F1 last season. The two drivers raced hard early in the season but as the season unraveled, friction began to arise more from Alonso's side than his teammate.
There have been multiple tirades on team radio from the Spaniard against his teammate during the race in Brazil and the two drivers even had an altercation in the sprint race as well.
It was even reported over the weekend in Brazil that Laurent Rossi had threatened the two drivers of losing their seats if they didn't behave on track. The rivalry would have made for a very interesting watch. Unfortunately, it wasn't covered.
#5 Max Verstappen-Sky Sports boycott does not even get a mention
The second half of the season featured far too many controversial moments from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. One of them was the Sky Sports boycott from the Red Bull driver during the 2022 Mexican GP. The reasoning behind this was the comments passed by Sky reporter Ted Kravitz that were somewhat disparaging in nature for the Dutch driver.
There was backlash from the British media against Red Bull, Max Verstappen, and even Christian Horner. This was another one of the moments where behind-the-scenes conversations would have been very interesting to hear, but as it turned out, there wasn't even a mention of it during the docuseries.
