Netflix and Formula 1 confirmed today that the highly popular Drive to Survive series has been renewed for a fifth and sixth season on the popular streaming service.
The series has grown in popularity over time, with Season 4 attracting the biggest audience to date and breaking into the weekly Top 10 in 56 countries.
Offering unprecedented access, the new season will once again take fans behind the scenes, to witness first-hand how the drivers and teams prepare to battle it out for the 2022 and 2023 championships. The series will offer never-before-seen footage and interviews from the sport’s biggest names.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive is executive-produced by Academy-Award winner James Gay-Rees (Amy, Senna) and Paul Martin (Diego Maradona) for Box to Box Films, with Season 5 is being filmed now and will run on Netflix in 2023.
A surge in F1 popularity, particularly in the United States, has been attributed to Netflix popularising the drama and spectacle to a new audience who are being attracted to the sport. As a result, the United States have three Grands Prix on the F1 schedule next year.
Las Vegas joins the calendar in 2023, joining the race in Austin which has happened for several years and, of course, this weekend the first Miami Grand Prix.
On the downside, several F1 drivers are not happy hos the narrative is depicted, turning small moments into flashpoints, including reigning F1 World Champion Max Verstappen who has been one of the most vocal, terming the Netflix series “fake” accusing directors of distorting rivalries.
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali told reporters last month that he would talk to Netflix about keeping the F1 narrative rooted in reality and would also open a dialogue with drivers.