Toto Wolff mocks Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ as being closer to ‘Top Gun’ than a docuseries

Toto Wolff has poked fun at the much-maligned Netflix docuseries, 'Drive to Survive', as being closer to the 'Top Gun' movies than an actual documentary.

Toto Wolff mocks Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ as being closer to ‘Top Gun’ than a docuseries

Toto Wolff

The fifth season of the Formula 1 docuseries ‘Drive to Survive’ hit Netflix yesterday. Season 4 had been panned by fans all across social media. This one has been better received than the S4, but still, it’s not all perfect. There is one criticism of the show that continues to be echoed: Dramatization. This was one of Max Verstappen’s criticisms, and it was why he did not participate in S4. He’d cited that the show tried to push a rivalry between Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.

Misrepresentations, and poking out a rivalry where it does not exist continue to be criticisms, but the show is undoubtedly successful. It’s fair to say that it’s been at the forefront of F1’s popularity explosion in the USA. It’s technically a ‘documentary series’, but perhaps a more appropriate classification will be a ‘docu-drama’. Toto Wolff, in particular, does not think the series is very close to reality.

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The ‘Top Gun’ movies, including the 2022 blockbuster hit ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ starring Tom Cruise, dramatizes the eponymous naval flight instruction program. While the movies may show a somewhat realistic portrayal of the program, at the end of the day, they are meant for entertainment and are fictional. Wolff thinks that ‘Drive to Survive’ is closer to these movies than to an actual documentary, e.g. ‘Planet Earth’, etc.

While getting ready for his first interview (of the season) with the ‘Drive to Survive’ team, Wolff was told to pretend that the show is a documentary. Clearly, he was not particularly keen on that and said: “It’s not a documentary. This is more close to Top Gun than a documentary” It seems like the Mercedes boss holds a similar view of the show as many ‘hardcore’ fans do.

Read More: “I’m going to come after you,” Toto Wolff threatens Christian Horner and other F1 Team Principals over porpoising in the new season of Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’

Does ‘Drive to Survive’ make a positive impact on Formula 1?

Formula 1: Drive to Survive's sixth season will release in the middle of pre-season testing for the 2023 season.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive

Drive to Survive is definitely very popular, even if not particularly critically acclaimed. The numbers matter. As mentioned above, the Netflix series is a big part of Formula 1’s recent popularity boom, particularly in the USA. It’s now really taken as light-hearted entertainment and a good means of introducing the sport to prospective fans. But at the same time, anyone whose knowledge of the sport is not up to date or correct is termed as a ‘DTS fan’.

The ‘attacks on ‘Drive to Survive’ include accusations of sensationalism, over-dramatization, misrepresentations, and even faking rivalries (the main issue Max Verstappen had with the series). But, if you are well-acquainted with the sport, you are unlikely to take the show very seriously. At the end of the day, it’s entertainment. Whether it’s good or bad entertainment is up to you to decide. But its impact is undeniable.

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