Let’s start with the obvious: Christian Horner has been a dream for Drive to Survive since the show landed in 2019. The Red Bull F1 CEO has been front-and-centre of countless episodes in the past six seasons, gladly playing the role of F1’s pantomime villain, with numerous scenes filmed at his country mansion home in Oxfordshire, alongside Spice Girl wife Geri Halliwell.
Season seven was no different. The latest instalment, chronicling the 2024 season, begins with Horner at the wheel of his 4×4, locked in conversation with Geri about a record-breaking 2023 campaign, in which Red Bull won 21 out of 22 races.
With an air of inevitability synonymous with Netflix’s exquisitely curated narratives, Geri strikes a warning to her husband: “You never know what life’s going to bring.” In actual face, we all know what’s coming next.
The latest chapter in the Drive to Survive behemoth, premiering on Friday 7 March, peaks unquestionably at the start. Episode one, titled “Business as Usual”, captures through a fresh lens the two biggest stories in F1 this time 12 months ago: Lewis Hamilton’s swashbuckling 2025 move to Ferrari (starter), and Horner being accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female colleague (main course).
Red Bull’s impressive launch of their 20th F1 car last year in Milton Keynes sets the scene. And credit to the team, firstly, for providing media access from all angles amid a torrid period off-track for the then-world champions. The episode then skips to Bahrain, where Horner finds a new foe for the series – away from the usual suspect of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff – in the shape of straight-talking Californian Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren.
At the end of a feisty press conference of no-comments and denials, Brown calls for “greater transparency” into Red Bull’s investigation. Cue Horner, strutting the walk of a highly-strung, under-pressure team boss, telling his communications director: “Zak is p****.”
There’s not much change a year on by the season-finale in Abu Dhabi, episode 10, when Horner calls Brown “f****** annoying.”
Yet the first episode even touches on those leaked WhatsApp texts and shows Horner’s immediate reaction on the Bahrain pitwall. It is captivating viewing, concluding with that most striking of paddock photos: Geri accompanying her husband, hand-in-hand, on race-day in Bahrain.
The pop star even gives Max Verstappen’s dad, Jos, a hug after his son’s victory, despite the unearthing of tensions which continued into the early weeks of the season. The episode ends with confirmation that the original complaint and an appeal were dismissed, with Horner cleared of any wrongdoing.
But that’s about as good as it gets. An episode focused on Mercedes’s search for Hamilton’s replacement centres weirdly more on George Russell than Kimi Antonelli’s promotion. Most bizarrely, Russell’s ascent to “team No 1” hinges in the series on his win at the Belgian Grand Prix last summer, yet inexplicably fails to mention that he was later disqualified, with teammate Hamilton actually taking the victory.
On Hamilton, his ninth home win at Silverstone receives little coverage, but the famous boom mic does manage to pick up fascinating detail from a pre-season testing chat at a press conference with Carlos Sainz, the man he has replaced at Ferrari.
“Have you talked to Toto?” asks Hamilton. “I haven’t talked to Toto yet,” Sainz replies. “Which makes me feel like if he had really an interest, he would have already called.”
Sainz’s eventual move to Williams makes up one episode, as James Vowles beats Sauber (Audi) and Alpine to his signature. Yet with a smidge of an episode focused on Daniel Ricciardo’s emotional second retirement and Guenther Steiner’s sacking at Haas meaning the expletive-laden former team boss barely features, who would replace Steiner as the outspoken star of the show?
Enter stage left: Flavio Briatore.
The Alpine kingmaker, who returned to the French team last summer after 15 years out of the sport following the 2008 Crashgate scandal, is an enigma.
Asked how he responds to his naysayers, the 74-year-old replies: “People are jealous of me.” Questioned on what made Sainz choose Williams, he says: “Everyone makes mistakes.” Upon telling Jack Doohan of his 2025 race seat at Alpine, Briatore says: “The future of the Jack – I control you every millimetre.”
It is chilling. It is enthralling. And Doohan’s face tells the story.
On the whole, amid a high-octane 2024 campaign, the narratives this time speak for themselves. A view of the Singapore Grand Prix from the perspective of five drivers is a nice change of pace. Lando Norris’s title tilt with known Netflix-detractor Max Verstappen is intriguing, but only if you somehow missed the end-result.
Strangely, the Dutchman’s end-of-season spat with Russell receives no mention at all – a story to tell for a season eight yet to be confirmed, perhaps? Adrian Newey’s Red Bull exit and Ollie Bearman’s Ferrari bow in Saudi Arabia also receive no mention.
But while other sports have tried and failed to crack the fly-on-the-wall docu-series code – rugby union, cycling and tennis have all seen series’ decommissioned from Netflix – Formula 1 continues to go from strength to strength with DtoS. Another series should bring another increase in eyeballs, just in time for the 2025 season kicking off in Australia next week.
This time though, the sport did its own curating; there was little need to manufacture. Especially when you have figures like Horner, embroiled in controversy and gossip, who embrace the spotlight just as much as the spotlight embraces them.
