How Netflix’s ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’ drove the sport’s ratings

Ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix announcement in March this year, Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei said that after the release of the fourth season of Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive, the show had become the No.1 show in 33 countries.

Though the latest season received criticism from drivers and fans alike for misrepresentation of facts, the show soldiers on to expand F1’s influence across the globe.

While understanding an F1 race with all the jargon might seem like a track with no chequered flag in sight for a new audience, the docuseries is adept at decoding the races with the help of interviews with drivers, team principals and seasoned F1 journalists such as Will Buxton.

F1 popularity grows

The phenomenon that is F1 and its growing influence became evident when cafes and pubs in Indian cities started to organise screenings of the races, something that was almost unheard of until a couple years ago.

While the show has brought the pinnacle of motorsport closer to Indians, it has also spiked interest in motorsport as a whole with junior Formula drivers like Jehan Daruvala who race under the tricolour experiencing a surge in support from fans.

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As the 2022 F1 season is underway, so is the filming of the fifth season of Drive to Survive. Fans of the show have much to look forward to as the dynamics and power relations on the grid have undergone a major change due to the new regulations brought in by governing body FIA this year. Season 5 then could lay the track for the show’s redemption.

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