“Drive to Survive has had a positive impact on the sport,” Susie Wolff lauds the Netflix series amidst strong criticisms
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Susie Wolff
Drive to Survive, the Netflix F1 show, just released its fourth season, which covered the ever so dramatic 2021 season of F1. The show has been credited for bringing new audiences to the sport by the use of its dramatization and interviews with the people of the paddock.
However, the show is also notoriously famous for its clever edits, heavy dramatization, and forging rivalries, which was also one of the reasons Max Verstappen backed out from this season’s interviews and F1 also reportedly talked with the production team. The show’s fourth season has received harsh criticism for showing few drivers in a bad light.
Susie Wolff, the British racing driver and also the wife of Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff, has come out in defense of the show and believes that the “human” element, i.e., the interview and stories of the drivers and other stakeholders, has helped the sport. Susie also believes there are more positives to the show than negatives.
She said, “The drivers [usually] wear a helmet, so people don’t get to see them a lot. Whereas, in Drive to Survive, you see the challenges of being an F1 driver, you see the pressure that these guys are under, so I think there are far more positives to come out of Drive to Survive than there are negatives.”
Susie Wolff’s thoughts on Drive to Survive
As quoted by Racingnews365.com from Beyond The Grid podcast, Wolff said, “[Drive to Survive] has done a great thing for F1, in that it’s opened F1 up to a wider audience. I certainly see so many more young girls and women interested in the sport because of Drive to Survive. I think, formerly, the sport was seen as very technologically driven, whereas now there’s more of a human element.”
Speaking of the impact on the sport and show’s criticism, she said, “I can understand the frustrations from certain people that the narrative has been spun in a different way. But, in the end, we’ve got to be thankful as a whole that Drive to Survive has had a positive impact on the sport.”
It is largely believed that the show has brought audiences in huge numbers to the sport. One of the pieces of evidence is F1’s growing popularity in the United States. The country will be hosting two races this season and three in 2023. Moreover, Andretti Autosport also wishes to add their team to the grid from 2024, displaying the rise of viewership of the sport.
ALSO READ: “It’s a small, little, intimate team,” Kevin Magnussen praises Haas’ tightly knit structure
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Manan Goel
(400 Articles Published)