Drive to Survive Season 3

[TheDeuce]

WickerBill said:

Think I enjoyed Season 2 more...

For me..

Season 1 reaction: "Hmm... this is interesting, this has potential!!"
Season 2 reaction: "Netflix know what they have now, they're in to every corner - this is perfect"
Season 3 reaction: "Ahh crap. The teams have all now figured out how to play, lead or evade Netflix..."

I think it'll be an enduring love-hate relationship between the production and the teams, some seasons Netflix might hit gold, often the teams will be well enough rehearsed to hide anything they want hidden however. But that is judging the series as the fans we already are - we obviously can see the cracks in the DTS format because we follow the sport closely enough to know how the drama actually played out. In terms of what DTS sets out to achieve however, it's right on the money. It's pretty much perfect TV in that it's proven out the box to appeal to it's target demographic and in fact convert an impressive number to paying punters for F1.

[Leithen]

It must have been pretty weird in the covid bubble, with no crowds and a tv crew hanging on each word.

[stemll]

WickerBill said:

It was pretty good but it struck me that a few BIG moments were left out of the season

A lot was made of people ‘trying to stop’ Hamilton from breaking Schumachers record, and yet nothing was really shown of the incredible race in Turkey.

Would it have hurt them to show that iconic shot of gasly on the podium?

Every time hamilton was mentioned it seemed he was getting a penalty lol

I enjoyed the show but it is getting close to a bit ‘daily Mail’ and sensationalist...making stories out of nothing while missing the important things

Think I enjoyed Season 2 more...although Bottasses..... well Bott-ass was a highlight :-p

Things were missed because of the way Netflix had to work. Because of the restrictions in place they were embedded with particular teams for particular races and it was set beforehand. When George, as an example, moved to Mercedes on almost no notice, Netflix could not move to Mercedes in order to cover it. Hence things were missed and why the TP interviews seem to have all been done at the end but they tried to make them look like several interviews (not terribly well but they may not have tried too hard).

As others have said, it's not really aimed at the type of fan who read forums like this and it certainly isn't meant to be a documentary.

As an aside I did love it when Seb effectively told Ferrari "What are you going to do, sack me?" and Ferrari were 100% correct as to why his Aston contract was announced at Ferrari's 1000th race. That was absolutely deliberate as was Valtteri giving Max a tow. Whether Max ended up 1st or 2nd, Valtteri ended up 3rd which is where he wanted to be if he couldn't be on pole. Toto was fuming and what's the betting that in the debrief Valtteri was all "What? Did I give him a tow?"

Other highlight for me was Romain's wife rolling her eyes at him after his "I'm the man that walked out of fire"

[TheDeuce]

Leithen said:

It must have been pretty weird in the covid bubble, with no crowds and a tv crew hanging on each word.

I can confirm that in general travelling overseas for work during covid lockdowns is pretty weird.. Empty airports, empty planes.. Freedom to break most social distancing rules because of 'work' but being aware that others that can see you might not understand that..

However the weird circumstances might have effected the openness or defensiveness of the teams vs DTS last season, there was probably a degree of camaraderie too - because they were all dealing with the same restrictions and batst craziness at the same time

[ch37]

snowen250 said:

See also, Binotto on the pit wall at 'Monza' with a completely different circuit map taped up in front of him!

But overall i enjoyed the series as always.

Or Cyril on the pit wall at Austria in an episode focusing on Austria, then him stepping down from his box and crossing the pit lane at Silverstone saying 'those effing pink Mercedes' (or something along those lines) and then it cutting it back to Austria.

I don't have a problem with it, but it's amusing picking them out when you're sad enough to know the pit layout etc at each circuit! Must be a huge job editing when they're happy to go that far out of sync to build a scene.

[HardtopManual]

Teddy Lop said:

Danny joined a team in the ascendancy who did a u turn with constant questions about the parent companies willingness, and by the time the 2020 season was with us had already signed for McLaren.

Exactly - he gave them a single season.
I hope he does well at McLaren for the team's sake, but I'd be quite pleased to see Lando beat him.

[SturdyHSV]

HardtopManual said:

I hope he does well at McLaren for the team's sake, but I'd be quite pleased to see Lando beat him.

Me too.

[anonymous-user]

HardtopManual said:

Exactly - he gave them a single season.
I hope he does well at McLaren for the team's sake, but I'd be quite pleased to see Lando beat him.

He signed a 2 year contract with Renault, not a 5 year one.

It was quite possible Renault were about to pull out of F1 again after Renault cars have been battered by Covid and restructured their whole business.

In his shoes, given the choices at the time, i would have jumped for McLaren, who's main business is F1.

[kiseca]

jsf said:

He signed a 2 year contract with Renault, not a 5 year one.

It was quite possible Renault were about to pull out of F1 again after Renault cars have been battered by Covid and restructured their whole business.

In his shoes, given the choices at the time, i would have jumped for McLaren, who's main business is F1.

I think any driver would have made the same choice. I also remember, when he first signed for them and everyone was wondering why he'd gone from Red Bull to a team that were halfway down the field, that there were at least rumours that he had a get-out clause in his contract that allowed him to leave should a seat in a top team become available.

As far as I am concerned that was always his plan to keep his options open for a chance in a quicker team and this was general public knowledge - or opinion at least - before he'd ever even driven a Renault.

The idea of a longer commitment wasn't even raised until Cyril mentioned it on DTS, and later in the series it becomes clear, even from Cyril himself, that Daniel gave his full commitment to the team down to the last race, and Cyril was sad to lose him because he'd brought so much to the team not just in driver talent but in developing the team as well.

I'm certain those two parted ways with their relationship completely intact and Daniel, as far as I'm concerned, was completely honourable with the team, how he dealt with them, and how he continued to work with them even after he'd secured a McLaren seat - i.e. throughout 2020

Edited by kiseca on Thursday 25th March 15:03

[Moospeed]

TheDeuce said:

For me..

Season 1 reaction: "Hmm... this is interesting, this has potential!!"
Season 2 reaction: "Netflix know what they have now, they're in to every corner - this is perfect"
Season 3 reaction: "Ahh crap. The teams have all now figured out how to play, lead or evade Netflix..."

...

Bang on, totally agree. I don't mind the irritating personalities of F1 as it's all part of the mix but I really hoped they could've got rid of Will Buxton - he's far more annoying than any added sound effect or continuity break.

[trackdemon]

kiseca said:

jsf said:

He signed a 2 year contract with Renault, not a 5 year one.

It was quite possible Renault were about to pull out of F1 again after Renault cars have been battered by Covid and restructured their whole business.

In his shoes, given the choices at the time, i would have jumped for McLaren, who's main business is F1.

I think any driver would have made the same choice. I also remember, when he first signed for them and everyone was wondering why he'd gone from Red Bull to a team that were halfway down the field, that there were at least rumours that he had a get-out clause in his contract that allowed him to leave should a seat in a top team become available.

As far as I am concerned that was always his plan to keep his options open for a chance in a quicker team and this was general public knowledge - or opinion at least - before he'd ever even driven a Renault.

The idea of a longer commitment wasn't even raised until Cyril mentioned it on DTS, and later in the series it becomes clear, even from Cyril himself, that Daniel gave his full commitment to the team down to the last race, and Cyril was sad to lose him because he'd brought so much to the team not just in driver talent but in developing the team as well.

I'm certain those two parted ways with their relationship completely intact and Daniel, as far as I'm concerned, was completely honourable with the team, how he dealt with them, and how he continued to work with them even after he'd secured a McLaren seat - i.e. throughout 2020

Agree with all of the above; DanRic haters will make negative comments no matter what he does so that's neither here nor there. FWIW I think he's a supremely talented driver, you only have to look at some of his performances against Seb & Max to know he's 'got it'. If he's arguably not on the top step with Lewis & Max, he's only just below. The McLaren decision strikes me as entirely logical and reasonable; Renault don't look like vaulting into a solid, consistent 3rd fastest any time soon whereas McLaren have been on a good trajectory and havning secured the best PU on the grid.... well it's an easy racers decision - quite apart from the kudos of driving for what is undeniably one of the biggest names in F1.

[kiseca]

I also just recently noticed that the McLarens are now numbers 3 and 4! Makes me wonder when was the last time a team had two sequential numbered cars since they became driver numbers instead of car numbers.

[Teddy Lop]

HardtopManual said:

Teddy Lop said:

Danny joined a team in the ascendancy who did a u turn with constant questions about the parent companies willingness, and by the time the 2020 season was with us had already signed for McLaren.

Exactly - he gave them a single season.
I hope he does well at McLaren for the team's sake, but I'd be quite pleased to see Lando beat him.

during which time their parent companies chairman (and F1 program backer) ghosn became an international fugative with an Interpol warrant out of his arrest, they reported a 150M loss instead of 3,3B profit, they had a game of musical chairs as to who was to be CEO (and ultimately say whether the F1 program was yay or nay) with the word "coup" being used to describe appointments, and failed to meaningfully confirm any commitment to the sport. Whilst reversing their championship ascendancy and sliding backwards.

Makes the Italian outfit look sober and uneventful. But no loyalty y'say?

[Sandpit Steve]

Teddy Lop said:

during which time their parent companies chairman (and F1 program backer) ghosn became an international fugative with an Interpol warrant out of his arrest, they reported a 150M loss instead of 3,3B profit, they had a game of musical chairs as to who was to be CEO (and ultimately say whether the F1 program was yay or nay) with the word "coup" being used to describe appointments, and failed to meaningfully confirm any commitment to the sport. Whilst reversing their championship ascendancy and sliding backwards.

Makes the Italian outfit look sober and uneventful. But no loyalty y'say?

When you put it *that* way...

[DaveE87]

Moospeed said:

TheDeuce said:

For me..

Season 1 reaction: "Hmm... this is interesting, this has potential!!"
Season 2 reaction: "Netflix know what they have now, they're in to every corner - this is perfect"
Season 3 reaction: "Ahh crap. The teams have all now figured out how to play, lead or evade Netflix..."

...

Bang on, totally agree. I don't mind the irritating personalities of F1 as it's all part of the mix but I really hoped they could've got rid of Will Buxton - he's far more annoying than any added sound effect or continuity break.

I'm not sure what you have against Will Buxton. He's one of the most knowledgable F1 journos and creates a lot of good content both for the official F1 channel and his own personal one. He's here to stay.

[paulguitar]

DaveE87 said:

Moospeed said:

TheDeuce said:

For me..

Season 1 reaction: "Hmm... this is interesting, this has potential!!"
Season 2 reaction: "Netflix know what they have now, they're in to every corner - this is perfect"
Season 3 reaction: "Ahh crap. The teams have all now figured out how to play, lead or evade Netflix..."

...

Bang on, totally agree. I don't mind the irritating personalities of F1 as it's all part of the mix but I really hoped they could've got rid of Will Buxton - he's far more annoying than any added sound effect or continuity break.

I'm not sure what you have against Will Buxton. He's one of the most knowledgable F1 journos and creates a lot of good content both for the official F1 channel and his own personal one. He's here to stay.

I agree, WB is excellent, finding his contributions more annoying than the sound effects and continuity issues is just bizarre.

[kiseca]

paulguitar said:

DaveE87 said:

Moospeed said:

TheDeuce said:

For me..

Season 1 reaction: "Hmm... this is interesting, this has potential!!"
Season 2 reaction: "Netflix know what they have now, they're in to every corner - this is perfect"
Season 3 reaction: "Ahh crap. The teams have all now figured out how to play, lead or evade Netflix..."

...

Bang on, totally agree. I don't mind the irritating personalities of F1 as it's all part of the mix but I really hoped they could've got rid of Will Buxton - he's far more annoying than any added sound effect or continuity break.

I'm not sure what you have against Will Buxton. He's one of the most knowledgable F1 journos and creates a lot of good content both for the official F1 channel and his own personal one. He's here to stay.

I agree, WB is excellent, finding his contributions more annoying than the sound effects and continuity issues is just bizarre.

I didn't notice him in season 1, which means he did just fine (IMO) then.

In season 2 he drove me bonkers because everything he said was just stating the blindingly obvious, or rehashing some popular percieved wisdom or cliche about Formula 1.

In season 3 I noticed him because of Season 2, but he didn't drive me bonkers this time.

[paulguitar]

kiseca said:

I didn't notice him in season 1, which means he did just fine (IMO) then.

In season 2 he drove me bonkers because everything he said was just stating the blindingly obvious, or rehashing some popular percieved wisdom or cliche about Formula 1.

In season 3 I noticed him because of Season 2, but he didn't drive me bonkers this time.

I think the talking heads seem to be there just to provide a basic narrative. It's aimed at non-F1 fans really, but I think all of them do a perfectly decent job and didn't annoy me at all. The messing with pit to car audio, however...

[Gary29]

cuprabob said:

Irrespective on whether you decide to watch the rest, make sure you watch episode 9 about the Grosjean crash.

I tried to watch another episode last n ight, couldn't get passed the first 5 mins.

Does the Grosjean episode tell me anything I don't already know? Or is it just interviews with his wife and team thinking he wasn't getting out alive? Long pauses before they start speaking as if they're thinking deeply about things rather than the camera was rolling before a question was asked and they edited it to look like that?

Fair to say I'm probably not the millenial the series is aimed at

[ch37]

kiseca said:

In season 2 he drove me bonkers because everything he said was just stating the blindingly obvious, or rehashing some popular percieved wisdom or cliche about Formula 1.

He (and Gow) are literally there to fill in the gaps, I wouldn't be surprised if a rough cut is already assembled with the overall narrative in place before he then comes in and says exactly what is required to pull it all together.

You're not exactly going to get Joe Saward or Gary Anderson going deep on politics/technical stuff in a series aimed at bringing a new/on-the-fence audience into F1. The overall tone and style of the series makes pretty clear what they're going for.

I think they got most of it spot on, whilst it's very much cut and shut to make everything very tight and dramatic, they seemed to keep the overall narrative pretty honest in most cases (the Cyril/Daniel episode a case in point), the massive outlier being the McLaren episode, no idea what they were playing at there. That sort of thing can lose access to drivers in the future if they lose confidence in how they are being portrayed.

Edited by ch37 on Friday 26th March 09:48