Missed by Netflix: Stories that didn’t make it into Drive to Survive Season 7

Adrian Newey leaving Crimson Bull

One of many greatest information tales of the 2024 season concerned longtime Crimson Bull design guru, Adrian Newey, defecting to Aston Martin. His shock departure despatched shock waves by the paddock, particularly contemplating it got here shortly after Christian Horner’s highly-publicised scandal, and questions over whether or not he would stay on the workforce.

Newey was instrumental within the success of Crimson Bull, notably in the course of the workforce’s current interval of dominance with Max Verstappen. There are nonetheless a number of query marks lingering as to why he left the Milton Keynes-based outfit, and what enticed him to affix Lawrence Stroll. In fact, there’s the hefty compensation bundle (price about $30m per 12 months), however followers are nonetheless questioning whether or not Aston Martin have what it takes to compete on the high finish of the grid. Maybe it’s a storyline for season eight.

George Russell’s disqualification at Spa

A whole episode of the present’s focuses on George Russell’s future at Mercedes because the chief of the workforce. The throughline of the episode involves a crescendo when he pulls off an audacious one-stop technique in Spa-Francorchamps, which is framed because the efficiency that satisfied Toto Wolff he’s as much as the duty of changing Lewis Hamilton (an unenviable job, that’s for certain).

Nonetheless, Russell was disqualified shortly after the race when stewards declared his automobile 1.5kg underweight. The Briton was the primary race winner to be disqualified from a grand prix since Michael Schumacher’s 1994 victory on the identical circuit and though the disappointing consequence wasn’t resulting from his efficiency, it was a shocking exclusion given the win was in the end awarded to Russell’s team-mate, Hamilton.

Doohan and Schumacher shootout check

Final 12 months’s driver market carousel may have simply been the premise for a complete sequence in its personal proper, however Netflix selected to focus its central storyline on Carlos Sainz. And understandably so: a driver who loses his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton and spends six months selecting a brand new workforce makes for a compelling narrative. But it surely looks like they might have squeezed just a little extra out of all of the chaos.

When Sainz lastly knocked on the door that Netflix’s storyline positioned James Vowles behind, Alpine did not instantly decide to signing Jack Doohan. As an alternative, they put him up towards Mick Schumacher in a check. As a lot because the workforce formally denied it was a shootout, in actuality it was. Nonetheless, little or no made its method into the press about the way it truly performed out, as no media have been current on the check.

However Netflix was. And what an episode it may have been: for Schumacher – who was named after Jack’s father, legendary rider Mick Doohan – it was probably his final probability to return to F1. But it surely appears as if his childhood buddy had the higher hand. The paddock was stuffed with rumours in regards to the consequence of the check, and the truth that Alpine in the end selected the Australian speaks for itself. However we by no means received to see the way it all occurred – all as a result of the Netflix producers determined it wasn’t thrilling sufficient to make the lower.

Jack Doohan, Alpine F1 Group

Picture by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Photos

Ollie Bearman’s debut

Some of the shocking omissions from the seventh season of Drive to Survive was Ollie Bearman’s points-scoring debut for Ferrari. At simply 18 years outdated, the Brit jumped into Carlos Sainz’s automobile at one of the notoriously robust tracks on the calendar in Jeddah. He acquired a name on the eleventh hour in the course of the second race weekend of the season, and was solely 0.036s from knocking Lewis Hamilton out of qualifying.

Group principal Fred Vasseur revealed that Bearman was nonetheless studying the steering wheel features the night time earlier than the race, and he went on to complete a outstanding seventh. Nonetheless, Drive to Survive doesn’t even point out the career-making efficiency that secured Bearman’s seat on the 2025 grid.

Reasonably, he’s solely talked about in an episode centered on the midfield battle between Haas and Alpine. When Bearman stepped in for Kevin Magnussen in Brazil final season, his efficiency within the moist situations have been a far cry from his stellar drive within the Center East earlier within the 12 months. He’s even seen getting a telling-off from his future boss, Haas workforce principal, Ayao Komatsu.

How shut have been Bottas and Vowles to a reunion?

One other driver whose combat to remain in F1 may have made for an excellent storyline is Valtteri Bottas. The ten-time grand prix winner in the end misplaced that battle, however he knocked on a number of doorways. It’s understood that he even signed a contract with Sauber to remain for at the very least yet one more season, however he by no means received to see that piece of paper signed by the workforce administration – and that most likely says rather a lot about how ruthless this world will be.

Valtteri Bottas

Picture by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Photos

Earlier in 2024, he reportedly got here very near signing with Williams earlier than James Vowles realised that Carlos Sainz may truly develop into obtainable – regardless of Mercedes and Crimson Bull nonetheless having open seats. And there was at the very least one large motive why Bottas’ return to Williams would have been gold for F1: think about the social media buzz over one other spherical of “Valtteri, it is James”…

At one level, Bottas was truly going through questions from the media about what this reunion may imply for him – so certain have been those that it was taking place. And judging by his solutions, he was certainly near sealing the deal. A driver with expertise and pace going through the cruel actuality of being left with nothing appeared like an ideal match for the title Netflix selected for its sequence. However…

Audi administration reshuffle

Maybe Audi’s thorny highway to F1 will ultimately make it right into a Drive to Survive episode (although it is uncertain the German producer’s advertising division could be too eager). However 2024 has already offered loads of materials for an intriguing plot.

On-track struggles, pitstop tools points, drivers’ errors – all unfolding towards the backdrop of an inner energy wrestle between Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffmann over who would steer the ship. Ultimately, each have been ousted, paving the way in which for Mattia Binotto’s return to the paddock. The very picture of the Italian packing his luggage and leaving his winery villa behind to rejoin the Piranha Membership felt like a second worthy of inclusion.

Audi CEO Gernot Dollner and Mattia Binotto, CEO and CTO, Stake F1 Group KICK Sauber

Picture by: Motorsport Photos

But none of this made it into the seventh season of Drive to Survive. Maybe the producers are saving it for subsequent time?

No goodbyes for Sargeant, Magnussen, and others

In earlier seasons, Drive to Survive usually leaned on tales of drivers crumbling below the stress, desperately making an attempt – however in the end failing – to show their price. However this time round, there could have been too a lot of them for the producers to trouble with.

Logan Sargeant usually appeared like probably the most dejected man on the planet in 2024. The story of his automobile being given to Alex Albon in Australia alone may have been an episode in itself. Even James Vowles admitted that it could be troublesome for the American to regain his confidence after such a blow. A few of Sargeant’s media periods was near-interrogations, and at instances he gave the impression to be barely holding himself collectively. Nonetheless, the ultimate lower of the sequence solely included his quite a few crashes – providing no sentimentality a few dream slipping away.

Kevin Magnussen fought simply as onerous – at instances, maybe too onerous – to show his price to Haas. However in the long run, he too needed to settle for that his time in F1 was up. And Zhou Guanyu? Caught in an uncompetitive automobile, all however ignored by the workforce administration preoccupied with inner squabbles, and left with nearly no choices elsewhere…

Franco who?

An off-the-cuff F1 fan who solely tunes into Drive to Survive annually could be forgiven for not understanding the title Franco Colapinto. The 21-year-old Argentinian, who grew to become the discuss of the paddock when he changed Logan Sargeant at Williams in the midst of 2024, didn’t get any display screen time on Netflix.

Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing

Picture by: Williams

The pandemonium surrounding the rookie felt not possible to disregard final season, which could make this probably the most obtrusive omission on the record. Maybe producers opted to not point out the South American star as a result of he did not safe a seat for 2025, nevertheless dialog about his future at Alpine (he’s at present the workforce’s reserve driver) stays rampant on-line and within the media. It’s clear that the fandom surrounding Colapinto isn’t dying down, and may he find yourself in a seat mid-season, viewers will possible be taught extra about him within the present’s eighth instalment.

And the place is Lewis Hamilton?

Hamilton has by no means been the star of Drive to Survive. In truth, the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Guenther Steiner grew to become the sequence’ breakout stars as a result of Mercedes and Ferrari have been reluctant to look within the first season. Nonetheless, Hamilton’s presence – or lack thereof – was notably noticeable this time round.

The present makes a degree to deal with his shock transfer to Ferrari on the high of episode one, however there’s little point out of him once more. Not even his victory at Silverstone – which broke a 31-month winless streak for the seven time world champion – will get a lot airtime.

Lewis Hamilton received for the primary time in three years in F1

Picture by: Erik Junius