Drive to Survive Season 3

Drive to Survive Season 3

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Discussion

robuk

2,195 posts

189 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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It is a solid series again but I think the pandemic did alter it as you would expect compared to previous editions.

The niggles such as the fake commentary and obviously bad editing will stand out for 'us' types posting on a F1 sub section of a motoring forum, but for the general wider Netflix audience it helps form the narrative.

I know of a couple of people who are now looking forward to a grand prix season and weekend again off the back of it, and that appears to be widely replicated, and that can only be a good thing for the sport.

resolve10

1,003 posts

44 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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I can overlook most of the 'creative exaggeration' as on the whole it's a very entertaining watch, but one bit in particular really irked me and that was the Ferarri engineer telling LeClerc to 'try and maximise full throttle' during the Monza race. Even if that's edited from another scenario, why would the engineer be telling a (very highly rated) driver how to drive the car?!

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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resolve10 said:
I can overlook most of the 'creative exaggeration' as on the whole it's a very entertaining watch, but one bit in particular really irked me and that was the Ferarri engineer telling LeClerc to 'try and maximise full throttle' during the Monza race. Even if that's edited from another scenario, why would the engineer be telling a (very highly rated) driver how to drive the car?!
Engineers tell drivers how to drive the car all the time. It's a data driven discussion.

honda_exige

5,980 posts

205 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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resolve10 said:
I can overlook most of the 'creative exaggeration' as on the whole it's a very entertaining watch, but one bit in particular really irked me and that was the Ferarri engineer telling LeClerc to 'try and maximise full throttle' during the Monza race. Even if that's edited from another scenario, why would the engineer be telling a (very highly rated) driver how to drive the car?!
That's not too bad, it could simply be a comment RE tyre wear, ie degradation is less than expected and can go full throttle earlier as a result, but without wanting to tell every other team listening exactly what's going on.

honda_exige

5,980 posts

205 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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paulguitar said:
ch37 said:
Worth a watch... https://youtu.be/2brvJ3OHUWE, I appreciate that doesn't fit the narrative though.

Also had a look back to the actual driver radio 'whilst Grosjean burns alive', Lewis immediately says "everyone ok?", then follows up with "is everyone ok?" again when no info is coming through. Remember he was ahead so wouldn't have seen much/anything compared to several other drivers at the time.
Lewis gives the impression of being obviously concerned when there is an incident to hear that the drivers involved are okay. There's not much point in trying to reason with people who see the whole of the sport (and in some cases life itself) through an anti-Hamilton prism though.


As far as season 3 goes, I've enjoyed it but been more frustrated this time by the silly sound-effects and in particular the clumsy audio editing. Having an engineer in the pits supposedly telling a driver on a qualifying lap that he has to 'push all the way to the line' is just insulting the audience.
Yup, we never heard what the question was. Could easily have been 'how did seeing the accident make you feel?'

ch37

10,642 posts

220 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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Eye opener for me was Toto telling Bottas' engineer...

"say 'keep it up', just that one sentence"

...during the Sochi race, fascinated me that on occasion that level of detail in managing a driver comes direct from the TP (and CEO!)

DaveE87

1,144 posts

134 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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I think there's too many people reading too much in to what is really the official F1 soap opera.

Of course there's continuity errors. Of course there's poor edits. This show is to try draw some new punters in that don't know anywhere near as much as the "proper" fans like a lot of us on here. If it brings new fans (which I think it is) then so be it. Senna and Rush were two films that told a story rather than being 100% accurate yet a lot of people still enjoyed both films.

Overall I think this season has improved from 1 and 2. It covered a majority of the key moments from the 2020 season, and gave us some more insight that we don't get watching the race weekend coverage. I think that they could have released it prior to testing, but then again it has filled the gap nicely between testing and race 1.

spunkytherabbit

442 posts

179 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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DaveE87 said:
I think there's too many people reading too much in to what is really the official F1 soap opera.

Of course there's continuity errors. Of course there's poor edits. This show is to try draw some new punters in that don't know anywhere near as much as the "proper" fans like a lot of us on here. If it brings new fans (which I think it is) then so be it. Senna and Rush were two films that told a story rather than being 100% accurate yet a lot of people still enjoyed both films.

Overall I think this season has improved from 1 and 2. It covered a majority of the key moments from the 2020 season, and gave us some more insight that we don't get watching the race weekend coverage. I think that they could have released it prior to testing, but then again it has filled the gap nicely between testing and race 1.
The disrupted and fluid race schedule also impacted filming as well as logistics. Camera and audio crews were also limited due to covid restrictions meaning they had less higher quality footage to pick from for all the episodes than previous series.

I don't know about anyone else, but regardless of the edit suggesting Grosjean was in the fire for a few minutes, I still breathed a sigh of relief when he climbed over that barrier. Even all these months later and knowing the outcome.

coppice

8,562 posts

143 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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For what amounts to another reality TV show it's pretty decent . It's not aimed at the informed enthusiast , hence the repeated statements of the absolutely bleedin' obvious from the souffle light Jenny Gow and the very earnest Will Buxton. The sexed up soundtrack grates, but it is faked on just about every natural history programme and the public seems to lap it up regardless.

Having watched F1 , often live, since the pre Jurassic era I remain bemused by fan hysteria and sport as soap opera but hey ho, times change .

Sandpit Steve

9,885 posts

73 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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coppice said:
For what amounts to another reality TV show it's pretty decent . It's not aimed at the informed enthusiast , hence the repeated statements of the absolutely bleedin' obvious from the souffle light Jenny Gow and the very earnest Will Buxton. The sexed up soundtrack grates, but it is faked on just about every natural history programme and the public seems to lap it up regardless.

Having watched F1 , often live, since the pre Jurassic era I remain bemused by fan hysteria and sport as soap opera but hey ho, times change .
Very true, you do have to think of it as a it of a soap opera, and not get too concerned with the things that dedicated fans get upset about, such as like the editing, after-commentary and sound effects.

Their brief was to get new fans interested in F1 and, if the reaction of my wife and her friends to it is anything to go by, they have massively over-delivered on that - even if some of it makes little sense, knowing how things actually played out during the season.

Presumably Jennie’s role in the series, was to make us look forward to the insightful journalism of Nathalie Pinkham once the season gets going biggrin

coppice

8,562 posts

143 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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Shudder. At last I no longer have to endure Ms Gow 's penetrating apercus in Motor Sport magazine every month .

snotrag

14,446 posts

210 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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Sandpit Steve said:
Their brief was to get new fans interested in F1 and, if the reaction of my wife and her friends to it is anything to go by, they have massively over-delivered on that - even if some of it makes little sense, knowing how things actually played out during the season.
100% this. My partner knows that 2020 was a great season because she would hear me whooping and screeching at the TV all year and watched the odd bit or highlight with me. She sat and watched the whole Netlfix series with me over a few evenings which is a serious acheivement - if you'd have said, prior to Drive to Survive, that she would watch 8 hours of F1 documentary, I would have laughed my head off.

It works, its great entertainment, its exciting and dramatic. It got a non F1 fan interested by seeing that its all about people and personalities, not just cars going round in circles,and its got me even more excited ahead of Bahrain this weekend. Hats off to them, IMO.

ch37

10,642 posts

220 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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snotrag said:
100% this. My partner knows that 2020 was a great season because she would hear me whooping and screeching at the TV all year and watched the odd bit or highlight with me. She sat and watched the whole Netlfix series with me over a few evenings which is a serious acheivement - if you'd have said, prior to Drive to Survive, that she would watch 8 hours of F1 documentary, I would have laughed my head off.

It works, its great entertainment, its exciting and dramatic. It got a non F1 fan interested by seeing that its all about people and personalities, not just cars going round in circles,and its got me even more excited ahead of Bahrain this weekend. Hats off to them, IMO.
Same here, my wife caught half of episode 1 whilst I was watching it then asked if we could watch all the rest of it together. The Ferrari / Vettel episode was a highlight in our house, love how uncomfortable he made the team during the season!

TheDeuce

21,274 posts

65 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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ch37 said:
snotrag said:
100% this. My partner knows that 2020 was a great season because she would hear me whooping and screeching at the TV all year and watched the odd bit or highlight with me. She sat and watched the whole Netlfix series with me over a few evenings which is a serious acheivement - if you'd have said, prior to Drive to Survive, that she would watch 8 hours of F1 documentary, I would have laughed my head off.

It works, its great entertainment, its exciting and dramatic. It got a non F1 fan interested by seeing that its all about people and personalities, not just cars going round in circles,and its got me even more excited ahead of Bahrain this weekend. Hats off to them, IMO.
Same here, my wife caught half of episode 1 whilst I was watching it then asked if we could watch all the rest of it together. The Ferrari / Vettel episode was a highlight in our house, love how uncomfortable he made the team during the season!
Seems to bring past fans back in to the sport too, in addition to attracting new ones.

It's definitely dramatised but that's fine by me, it's getting the job done! In addition to DTS Liberty also introduced the 'Beyond The Grid' podcasts which offer a deeper and more sober look at parts of the sports history and it's characters. Out the two together combined with live action on track and all bases are covered smile

SturdyHSV

10,083 posts

166 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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Only two episodes left, but thought I'd chime in.

Not fussed by the excitable editing and such, it serves its purpose of making it appear exciting and drawing new fans in to the circus. It's enjoyable to watch and I think it's been one of Liberty's best moves for the sport.

In terms of my impression of some of the stand out characters:

Sainz is one of those people who is too close to their parents and I think it's negatively impacted his F1 career. Nice guy obviously, but IMHO he's never going to be WC.

Ricciardo I feel the same about as from the last 2 seasons, big smiley face, but I know I'd find him annoying, and I suspect the ridiculous grin is to cover the fact he's probably just a bit of a dick.

Wolff I can't warm to. He's a master Bond villain, he knows exactly what he's doing and saying at all times, and he is maintaining an image in order to succeed, which he's doing incredibly well. I would only trust him if I knew it was to his benefit to tell the truth hehe

For me, Horner isn't two faced, he's doing his job. He's straight talking and his sarcasm or choice of words at times is entertaining. He is a professional the same as Wolff, but he isn't bothered about maintaining a 'perfect' public image, which frankly I find more genuine.

Cyril is indeed the most French man alive hehe

Guenther is entertaining but I'm not sure particularly effective, and I don't think I'd want to work there, it just feels a bit too shouty / sweary. That's to say too much time is spent reacting angrily at things as opposed to just instantly accepting them and moving on to trying to resolve them.

Zak Brown I didn't like in Season 1, I'd assumed he was just some fat businessman brought in to do business things, I still felt sort of 'meh' for Season 2, but having seen him in the garages during the LM 24 hour and getting interviewed etc. realised I'd been totally wrong about him and he is in fact an actual enthusiast. Having watched Season 3 in that light, I found him likeable and it's clear he's been instrumental in McLaren's recent progress.

Ferrari seems like a st place to work and in no way suited to Vettel's personality. I don't think it will suit Sainz either, at all. LeClerc is a good fit there, I suspect Max would be too, but not Lewis.

Lance Stroll redefines the term st-eating grin. Lawrence Stroll is the stereotypical mafia boss character, and I wouldn't want to work under him in any capacity.

Good for Bottas giving Max the tow.

mick987

1,247 posts

109 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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ch37 said:
Same here, my wife caught half of episode 1 whilst I was watching it then asked if we could watch all the rest of it together. The Ferrari / Vettel episode was a highlight in our house, love how uncomfortable he made the team during the season!
That red haired Ferrari presswoman looked like she was going to have kittens every-time Vettel spoke, she certainly earned her money last year.

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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mick987 said:
ch37 said:
Same here, my wife caught half of episode 1 whilst I was watching it then asked if we could watch all the rest of it together. The Ferrari / Vettel episode was a highlight in our house, love how uncomfortable he made the team during the season!
That red haired Ferrari presswoman looked like she was going to have kittens every-time Vettel spoke, she certainly earned her money last year.
Yep it was hilarious, you could just sense the tension whenever Vettel was going to say something, I also loved the way she told LeClerc off for being on his phone in the press conferences, which TBH I agreed with, it looks crap and unprofessional, like that time a few years back when Hamilton was dicking about on Snapchat during a press conference.

Leithen

10,800 posts

266 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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HTP99 said:
mick987 said:
ch37 said:
Same here, my wife caught half of episode 1 whilst I was watching it then asked if we could watch all the rest of it together. The Ferrari / Vettel episode was a highlight in our house, love how uncomfortable he made the team during the season!
That red haired Ferrari presswoman looked like she was going to have kittens every-time Vettel spoke, she certainly earned her money last year.
Yep it was hilarious, you could just sense the tension whenever Vettel was going to say something, I also loved the way she told LeClerc off for being on his phone in the press conferences, which TBH I agreed with, it looks crap and unprofessional, like that time a few years back when Hamilton was dicking about on Snapchat during a press conference.
Nightmare position for any PR staff. Driver gets dumped at the beginning of the season, but left driving for the remainder of it. PR staff left to somehow minimise the damage. I thought the reaction to his Aston signing announcement was a tacit understanding of the st both Vettel and her team had had to deal with.

Jordan210

4,503 posts

182 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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Some of the continuity is odd.

Ep 1. Honer goes to his DBS on his drive. Then the front shot of him driving is a V12 vantage. Next shot is the side of the car that says DBS.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
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mick987 said:
That red haired Ferrari presswoman looked like she was going to have kittens every-time Vettel spoke, she certainly earned her money last year.
She had plenty of practice, she was Alonso's Press Sec at McLaren.