Lando Norris joins Max Verstappen in criticizing ‘fabricated nonsense’ of Drive to Survive

Lando Norris joins Max Verstappen in criticizing ‘fabricated nonsense’ of Drive to Survive

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull content pool)

The Netflix docuseries, ‘Drive to Survive’ has reshaped Formula 1. The show has brought in millions of new fans ever since the first season was released in 2019. However, F1 drivers are not the biggest fans of Drive to Survive due to the dramatic storylines created by the show makers that don’t often relate to real life. Max Verstappen has been a vocal critic of DTS in the past, with Lando Norris now joining the Red Bull driver.

The seventh season of the Netflix docuseries was released on March 7, 2025. The new release focused on the 2024 world title fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Verstappen recently stated that the show had falsely shown him to be very sad after losing the Miami GP to Norris. So much so, that the Dutchman thought it was better for him to not say anything at all.

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Now, Lando Norris defended Verstappen’s views over the show. The British driver asserted that Drive to Survive should focus more on showing the truth to viewers, instead of its dramatic storylines. Norris made it clear that he was not a fan of ‘fake stuff’ often portrayed in the docuseries.

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They need to show the truth about people more. I’m not a fan of fake stuff.

Lando Norris said, as quoted by GPBlog

Moreover, the McLaren star asserted that he simply wanted to see facts being shown to viewers. So much so, that the 25-year-old labeled Drive to Survive’s certain aspects to be nothing more than fabricated nonsense. He pointed out that the show makers would often use ‘made-up scripts’ just to create a desired narrative.

I want facts. I don’t want made-up scripts and fabricated nonsense, which there is.

Lando Norris added

Lando Norris hits out at Drive to Survive over title fight with Max Verstappen

Drive to Survive portrayed Max Verstappen as the villain of the show this season, who was facing a challenge by the ‘nice guy’ Lando Norris, something which new fans might like. However, traditional followers of the sport were not happy with such comparisons,

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Norris claimed that the way the show portrayed Verstappen, and their title fight last year was focused too much on unnecessary drama. He asserted that it would’ve been better if the show simply showed facts on a race-by-race basis.

The portrayal of Max, and how we were against each other so much, they don’t need to create that drama, just show the facts.

Lando Norris explained

Lando Norris reckoned that in some ways, Drive to Survive was lying to its viewers by showing such drama. The 25-year-old made it clear that he didn’t think this was correct, as the show would often use clips or audios from a different race while talking about another Grand Prix. Norris slammed the show makers, claiming that they didn’t even care what they were doing while jumbling such elements.

It is almost lying in some ways, and I just don’t think that’s correct. They just jumble up the whole thing and they don’t care when they put it in.

Lando Norris noted

Lando Norris wants Drive to Survive to become a documentary

Netflix kicked off Drive to Survive as a docuseries to attract new F1 fans. This worked wonders for the sport with many younger audiences becoming fans in the past six years. However, this has allowed the creators to use creative freedom which has often distorted facts, as mentioned by Lando Norris.

Lando Norris (via Planetf1)
Lando Norris (via Planetf1)

Now, the British driver has suggested that it would be better if the show is transformed to a complete documentary set-up, rather than the show-like format they have right now. Norris asserted that presently Drive to Survive has drifted far off the truth of the grid.

Maybe it needs to be more of a documentary of the season, more than a show like they’re trying to do. It has drifted too far away [from the truth].

Lando Norris concluded

Certainly, it is clear that Lando Norris is no fan of Drive to Survive. The McLaren star acknowledges that the show has taken things too far in order to create a dramatic storyline for viewers, something which unnecessarily distorts the truth. The sole purpose of the show has become to entice new followers rather than showing what actually happened in the last season. As such, Formula 1 might soon need to address this issue with Netflix to prevent further outrage.