Opinion: Drive to Survive’s new season reminds us why you can’t script sport.
Netflix is no stranger to top-tier factual programming. The very best Netflix documentaries pluck the most fascinating of unknown stories from obscurity, heightening their emotional impact with talking heads, simulated role-play and an animation or two for audiences to enjoy in comfort and disbelief. The latest season Formula 1: Drive to Survive, though – which began streaming on Netflix this weekend – has the particularly tricky task of dramatizing the events of a sporting season that defied even the imagination of the show’s usual scriptwriters. No amount of ominous narration or slow-motion camerawork could ever do justice to the jaw-dropping spectacle that unfolded during the final lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a moment of pure ecstasy for Max Verstappen fans and heartbreak for those supporting Lewis Hamilton. Having watched the first episode of Drive to Survive season 4, it’s clear the series still employs all the familiar tricks to help its audience relive those fist-clenching moments. It’s still one of the best Netflix shows, don’t get me wrong. But it’s also clear that it will fail to conjure the same feeling of awe that reality presented us with in 2021 – a pleasant reminder that sport is at its best when the unthinkable unfolds before our eyes.
