Formula 1: Drive to Survive

The show that sold Formula 1 to people who do not care about cars

Drive to Survive works because it is not really about racing. It is about twenty extremely rich, extremely fragile men trying to keep their jobs, and the team principals quietly ruining each other over lunch. Christian Horner and Toto Wolff are cast as villains from a soap opera and neither of them seems to mind.

What works

The access is extraordinary — garage cameras, pit-wall arguments, the moment a driver finds out he has been dropped. Season 4's Abu Dhabi finale is genuinely one of the best hours of sports television ever made, and the show is superb at making midfield teams like Haas feel like a tragedy in progress.

What drags

The editing lies. Radio messages get moved between races, rivalries get invented in the cutting room, and long-time fans have every right to be annoyed about it. Later seasons also struggle when Red Bull win everything and there is no story left to manufacture.

Verdict

Slick, addictive and shameless about it. Nine and a half, and I have never watched a full Grand Prix.