Drive to Survive Season 5 review: Everything you need to know about latest F1 documentary
Drive to Survive will bring drama. One episode reveals how close Danirl Ricciardo came to remaining on the grid in 2023. SPOILER ALERT.
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SPOILER ALERT*****
Daniel Ricciardo departs McLaren, replaced by Alpine defector and countryman Oscar Piastri.
Red Bull wins its second-consecutive Drivers’ Championship behind runaway leader Max Verstappen, and takes the Constructors’ title from Mercedes’ grasp, all the while combating allegations of cheating via the cost-cap.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel retires, Fernando Alonso burns his bridge on the way out of yet another team (Alpine) and the feud between Toto Wolff and Christian Horner continues – though very one-sided in nature.
Drive to Survive Season 5 keeps the Formula 1 drama dial cranked to 11, helped along by a 2022 campaign of off-track madness.
Crucial, too, given that Verstappen and Red Bull had little issue after the summer break in waltzing away with dual championships.
Before you tune into the latest DTS offering, browse our bite-sized review so you know what to watch for.
Episode 1: The New Dawn
A soft launch of the new season with the traditional welcome to Bahrain testing day shots and recap of the previous year’s fallout.
We get an early indication that Mercedes may not be the dominant powerhouse of seasons past when George Russell and Lewis Hamilton admit shock at their car’s drastically different design compared to the rest of the grid.
We get the usual explainers from the on-camera talent of the what, who and why ahead of the start of the season and a brief flipbook of images encapsulating the main points of the remaining nine episodes.
It’s a good start for those new to Formula 1 and Drive to Survive, but with not much substance beyond that.
Episode 2: Bounce Back
Lewis Hamilton wants to take back what is his. He and Mercedes have not forgotten the ignominy of the Abu Dhabi drama, when Max Verstappen won the race and Drivers’ Championship in controversial circumstances.
Much of this episode is dedicated to reintroducing George Russell as a Mercedes driver, and detailing the team’s early season struggles.
Speculation surrounds Hamilton and a possible retirement decision, however he’s forthright with the Netflix cameras that he plans to stick around.
The best scene of the episode comes in a meeting of team principals, when Toto Wolff goes on the attack declaring other teams are playing a “dangerous game” with drivers’ lives.
This in response to some of the engineering decisions teams made for their 2022 cars, which looked notably different to Mercedes.
Horner bites back at his rival and puts a bow on the feeling circulating through the paddock, that Mercedes is no threat in 2022, labelling Wolff and co “part of the scenery”.
It’s the type of back-and-forth between Wolff and Horner that DTS fans have become accustomed to, but unfortunately is one of the few instances this season of the two going at each other.
Episode 3: Like Father, Like Son?
It takes 20 minutes in Episode 3 for Haas team principal Guenther Steiner to go from declaring Mick Schumacher “can achieve” success rivalling his famous father’s in F1, to a private meeting wanting the German out of his car.
Every DTS season has at least one episode detailing a young driver’s downfall and this is Schumacher’s.
Everyone at Haas wants the son of a seven-time F1 champion to succeed, including his teammate Kevin Magnussen who at one point advocates for Schumacher to be given more time to improve.
But it’s clear that Steiner and owner Gene Haas quickly lose patience with Schumacher as he racks up crashes and millions in car repairs, with few points to show for it.
For his part, Schumacher declares the last name is only a blessing, not a curse as many suggest. But the pressure of expectation mounts with each passing poor performance.
Haas goes on a “dead man walking area” rant to Steiner behind closed doors and Schumacher’s fate is sealed soon after.
The team wants Daniel Ricciardo in the seat, anticipating he will be dropped by McLaren, but Steiner bemoans the Aussie’s ridiculous salary ask: “He wants 10 f---ing million”.
We hear from Max Verstappen, briefly, about his relationship with the Schumacher family and how the pair grew up driving together.
It’s a remarkable juxtaposition between the two – one a reigning world champion with another on the way, and the other about to be out of Formula 1 after failing to score points.
Episode 4: Matter of Principal
The promise of a possible title-winning season wanes with each passing race – as does Charles Leclerc’s patience with Ferrari.
Red Bull starts the season poorly by its high standards and the Scuderia are a surprise clubhouse leader, with Leclerc ahead in the championship.
But with a fast car at his fingertips it’s Ferrari’s odd strategy calls that cost the Monegasque driver.
Race after race the pressure mounts on team principal Mattia Binotto, who at episode start is lauded for his lack of grey hairs – a symbol of stress-free racing – but by the end is very much flustered.
As Red Bull retakes the Constructors’ Championship lead, Christian Horner is seen to regularly question the strategy calls from his Scuderia counterpart. Everyone is confused by Ferrari’s faults, given it began the season with the best and fastest car in the paddock.
Leclerc’s frustration is palpable on team mic at the end of each race and his only snippet with the Netflix cameras in this episode is to declare, through gritted teeth, that Binotto’s word is law and he has to accept the strategy calls that come.
There’s not much in the way of anything new here for fans who watched Ferrari’s season unravel in real time. But some of the behind-closed-doors footage does add context to the frustration within the team.
Episode 5: Hot Seat
Bless the rains down in Monaco.
That could be Red Bull and Sergio Perez’s cover of the famous song by Toto (not the Mercedes team principal), after the Mexican seemingly secured his future at Milton Keynes with a shock victory on the streets of the principality.
Red Bull owns two of the 10 episodes in DTS Season 5, this being the first.
It hints at Checo’s concerns over not having a secure future at Red Bull and Horner considering other options if his second driver does not improve.
Plugged-in fans know of the controversy at Interlagos later in the season when Max Verstappen refused to swap places with Perez in his fight for P2 in the championship. Friction between the pair seemingly stemmed from Monaco, when Perez’s qualifying crash cost Verstappen a possible place on the front row.
But we only get a single sentence from Verstappen on Perez and it’s very neutral, while the episode barely touches on the duo’s dynamic at all.
Perez gets his third grand prix win and a new two-year extension. It’s a heart warming narrative for fans of the Mexican but that’s about it.
Episode 6: Pardon My French
If you’re even a passing F1 fan you knew this episode was coming.
Featuring the Alpine-McLaren midfield rivalry, the Fernando Alonso defection and Sebastian Vettel’s shock retirement announcement on Instagram, Episode 6 is where things start to get juicy.
It begins with the introduction of Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer, who had departed Aston Martin at the end of 2021 to link up with the French team.
Alonso is immediately painted as the arrogant veteran and Esteban Ocon the talented future of Formula 1. And then there is Oscar Piastri.
I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) August 2, 2022
After a short blow-by-blow of the French Grand Prix, where Alpine outraces midfield rival McLaren to take the lead in their Constructors’ Championship battle, Szafnauer and CEO Laurent Rossi are seen toasting to their continued rise and a promising future with Piastri under contract.
As Netflix does so well, that rise is met with a precipitous fall.
Vettel’s retirement announcement hits the Hungarian Grand Prix like a freight train and by the time the dust has settled on the race in Budapest, Alonso has already signed himself away to Aston Martin.
Shrugging off the disappointment, Szafnauer announces to the Alpine team at its headquarters in Enstone than Piastri will be the next man up. He and CEO Laurent Rossi are incredibly excited about the young Aussie’s future.
And then, with just three minutes left to run in the episode, the infamous Piastri tweet – “I will not be driving for Alpine” throws a cat among Alpine’s pigeons.
Daniel Ricciardo’s future at McLaren is also called into question for the first time; a brief chat between team principal Zak Brown and chairman Paul Walsh, at an unknown point in the season, sets the scene for the papaya’s pursuit of Piastri in his countryman’s place.
Episode 7: Nice Guys Finish Last
Christian Horner insinuating Mercedes is cheating by working during the summer break and rolls straight into incredulity over Oscar Piastri’s tweet declaring he will not drive for Alpine in 2023.
Things are beginning to get spicy.
Then we see Mark Webber and Piastri running a trail in France, before a not-so candid chat over coffee with the mountains in the background. How quaint.
It’s the calm before the best episode in the season – and perhaps the first time F1 fans learn something new about 2022.
McLaren and Alpine go to war over Piastri’s contract, with the latter threatening to sue the Aussie for the US$5million it invested in his development.
A meeting between Zak Brown and Otmar Szafnauer reveals the divide the two parties have, with Szafnauer declaring intentions to sue and Brown cautioning his rival over a potential PR nightmare that could follow.
Brown then meets with Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi in Zandvoort to propose a driver swap as an olive branch, with Ricciardo returning to the French team.
Rossi says it’s an option but it becomes obvious that Pierre Gasly is the preference, and the signing is sealed and delivered by Suzuka.
Szafnauer throws a parting shot at McLaren in the dying stages, declaring Gasly is the better option over untested rookie Piastri.
But that’s a far cry to the “future world champion” tag he put on the young Aussie earlier in the year, when Piastri was still in Alpine’s colours.
Meanwhile, an emotional Ricciardo opens up about the mental battle the season is taking on him and his disappointment at leaving McLaren, though nothing new to those who followed the saga during the year.
Episode 8: Alpha Male
Fans of AlphaTauri firebrand Yuki Tsunoda get another glimpse at the promising young Japanese driver in Episode 8 as he comes to grips with teammate Pierre Gasly leaving and the pressures of Nyck De Vries joining for 2023.
This episode does a great job of encapsulating much of the midfield driver experience and the pressures on drivers like Tsunoda in comparison to those at top teams.
His penchant for hot-headed errors is highlighted before a heartwarming back-against-the-wall top-10 finish in Dallas.
No longer a rookie, Tsunoda is expected to become a more consistent driver and bank regular points for AT like Gasly.
With the Frenchman’s departure to Alpine confirmed, Tsunoda struggles with the idea of his good friend no longer being on the same team.
Enter De Vries, whose sole F1 drive was a points finish for backmarker team Williams. He will arrive ready to immediately battle Tsunoda for the unofficial No.1 driver at AT.
In the past, Drive to Survive has copped criticism for creating rivalries and controversy where there was none. It’s nice to get another glimpse inside the rare friendship of Gasly and Tsunoda, and how the pair come to terms with the idea they will be racing for different teams in 2023.
Episode 9: Over The Limit
The Red Bull cost cap saga finally comes under the microscope in the penultimate episode of the season.
It’s Red Bull versus the world as rumours spread through the paddock in Singapore that the champions-elect are cheating.
Horner vehemently refutes all claims and is outspoken in his anger with rival team principals.
Wolff, Brown and Binotto enter his crosshairs and four of the most powerful figureheads in the sport getting into a slinging match, over what turns out to be a US$400,000 overspend, which Red Bull claimed was on catering.
An awkward moment arrives when Horner catches Wolff and Binotto discussing what Red Bull’s punishments should be.
It boils over later in the episode with Horner and Binotto entering a fiery exchange in pit lane – the Ferrari boss declaring his Red Bull rival “maybe feels guilty”.
We learn Horner received a call from the FIA after the championship-clinching win at Suzuka, telling him of the findings.
Horner explains to his Red Bull crew that a meeting with FIA boss Mohammed Ben Sulayem revealed rivals were lobbying the governing body hard to have significant sporting penalties handed down.
As it happened during the season, the cost cap scandal seemed somewhat like water off a duck’s back to Horner and co. But the Netflix cameras show it really did affect he and the team at the start of October.
Episode 10: End of the Road
With both championships locked up, the final episode of the season centres on the battle for second between Ferrari and Mercedes, and the ever-present Alpine-McLaren feud for fourth.
After perhaps the greatest finish to an F1 season ever in 2021, this one feels a little flat by comparison. But you can’t always have a controversy to finish.
The usual song and dance plays out with celebrations for the victors and commiserations in defeat.
We’re then treated to a rather emotional farewell for Daniel Ricciardo, who adds another quotable line to his DTS repertoire: “I look like Big Foot’s d---”.
Arguably the face of the Netflix series since its inception, it’s a fitting send off for Ricciardo with flashbacks to some of his best and funniest moments over the previous five seasons.
He speaks as though it really is the end of the line as a full-time Formula 1 driver.
With a throw forward to the 2023 season and introductions to the new faces in the paddock, the stage is set for Season 6.
Now, we wait.
Key takeaways
Minimal Max
Max Verstappen ended his Netflix snub to feature for the first time in Season 5. But his cameos were few and far between – and rarely did he offer much to the story.
For a character whose fire and passion makes him one of the most interesting drivers on the grid, Verstappen could have not featured at all and it would have made little difference.
If fans were hoping to hear candidly from the reigning two-time Drivers’ Champion on some of the hot button topics of the 2022 season, they will be disappointed.
Even teammate Perez’s controversial qualifying bungle in Monaco – and subsequent race victory – draws only a sentence from Verstappen. That despite Monaco being reported as one of the major reasons for the pair’s heated blow-up at Interlagos later in the season.
Fans hoping to see more of the fallout from the Brazillian Grand Prix drama will be disappointed, because it is not even hinted at.
Having Verstappen on camera was a step in the right direction. But only a small one.
Limited learnings
Is it a case of chicken or the egg for Netflix and DTS? Early seasons offered up plenty of surprising revelations and inside knowledge not known prior to airing, but Season 5 felt lacking in that regard.
The documentary series has thrown a massive microscope on Formula 1 and the resulting coverage has skyrocketed, leading to fewer questions remaining unanswered by the time episodes air.
Perhaps the success of past DTS seasons has impacted the show’s ability to shock and awe with surprising twists and turns?
That’s not to say it is without revelations. Chief among them the conversations between Zak Brown and Alpine over Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo’s futures, including the suggestion of a driver swap to keep the latter in the sport.
The brief looks inside the paddock, team meetings and principal spats are always enjoyable, even if not illuminating.
DTS does well in contextualising hot topic issues and showing the other side of the polished media presentation. We get this with Christian Horner often, who seems unafraid to share his opinions on just about anyone in the paddock.
Verstappen versus nobody
The focus of this season is off-track more than on it, thanks to the dominance of Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
With Ferrari faltering and Mercedes an also-ran until it was too late, there was no genuine championship battle to get the fans excited.
If you’re someone who doesn’t follow F1 closely but enjoys the on-track head-to-head battles of seasons past – Hamilton versus Verstappen in 2021 for example – you won’t find nearly as much here.
But there is plenty of off-track excitement to unpack, and the midfield teams feature more in Season 5 of DTS than perhaps ever before.
This may be one of the better seasons for the F1 diehard to watch, because much of the storytelling is off the track.
Mercedes goes missing
It took until the penultimate race of the season for Mercedes to claim its first win of 2022 – and it went to George Russell, not seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes’ woes in 2022 meant less of high-profile team principal Toto Wolff and Hamilton on-camera and it was noticeable.
Fans of the series have become accustomed to the regular back-and-forth jabs between Wolff and his Red Bull counterpart, Christian Horner. And though they were there in early episodes, Horner’s claim that Mercedes is now just “part of the scenery” told the tale.
Aside from Episode 2, when cameras capture the different atmosphere at Mercedes after a shock poor start to the season, there is little to be seen from the silver arrows.
Ricciardo will be missed
The final episode offers a brief homage to Ricciardo’s key moments on Drive to Survive. As the face of the series, his absence in the paddock will leave a large hole in production for Season 6.
It appears as though Pierre Gasly is being tapped to replace Ricciardo as the figurehead of the series and throughout Season 5 he does a great job at being open and honest. But whether he can step into the big shoes of the show’s premiere funny guy remains to be seen.
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