Glaring issue with Netflix’s smash hit, Drive to Survive season 5

One of the streaming giant’s biggest sporting shows has garnered worldwide fanfare, but the new season missed the mark in a big way.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 19: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and McLaren prepares to drive in the garage during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on November 19, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Netflix’s smash hit Drive to Survive released it’s newest season worldwide on Friday as motorsport fans revelled in the ability to binge over the weekend.

The show has helped drive a staggering amount of new fans to the sport with the first four seasons providing endless highlights.

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Things couldn’t have been written any better for the producers during Season 4 when the final episode of the season finished with the thrilling duel between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton and the 2021 championship up for grabs.

Unfortunately the 2022 season on the track failed to deliver the same level of hype as Verstappen and Red Bull simply dominated proceedings.

Normally when talking about TV shows they’d come with a warning about potential spoilers, but Verstappen’s second straight championship was wrapped up in October.

Despite Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance, the season produced enough for the show to deliver another stellar season.

Sadly Season 5 didn’t live up to it.

I understand the show isn’t tailored for diehard Formula 1 fans, it’s entire premise is to lure in the rest of the market and build a product every individual can get on board with.

But that doesn’t mean they need to completely overlook and skip out on some of the most intriguing moments from the season.

Before I air my grievances, Frank Costanza style, here’s what the show got right.

Daniel Ricciardo’s brutal axing from McLaren was covered off well, they covered off Ferrari’s truly horror season and the constant tactical errors they produced and we even got another chapter in the long-running feud between Toto Wolff and Christian Horner.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, it’s grievance airing time.

I got a lot of problems with you people, now you’re going to hear about it. (Photo by ED JONES / AFP)

The Formula 1 calendar is a long one with 22 races that spread from March until November, but across three different episodes from differing team perspectives we watched the action from the British Grand Prix unfold.

The race saw Carlos Sainz claim his first F1 victory and saw the terrifying opening lap crash that left Zhou Guanyu trapped in his car as it rested against the fence. But seeing it three times? Come on now.

The same issue unfolded with the Miami Grand Prix, yes Netflix and F1 are trying to capture the booming American market. But the race itself wasn’t anything exciting and yet it appeared in four episodes throughout the season.

One of the most terrifying moments of the season unfolded during the Japanese Grand Prix when Pierre Gasly narrowly avoided a tractor that was parked on the track in torrential conditions. Not a single mention of it.

This is INCREDIBLY scary!! How the f*** can this happen after 2014?? #JapaneseGP#Gasly#f1pic.twitter.com/wHA7Wg3hdZ

— Silja Rulle (@SiljaRulle) October 9, 2022

Sadly the biggest issue with the new season is that they simply overlooked the most exciting and dramatic race of the entire season.

The Brazilian Grand Prix produced seemingly endless moments throughout the entirety of the weekend, but it didn’t garner any limelight in season five aside from a passing comment from George Russell.

For those unaware, Kevin Magnussen clinched pole position for the first time ever in utterly bonkers scenes.

Ferrari produced another nightmare moment, while in the race Mercedes stunned their rivals by romping away to victory.

But it was post-race that things exploded as Verstappen went nuclear on his own team. But again, not a single mention of any of it in the new season.

Magnussen (middle) stunned the F1 world. (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA / POOL / AFP)

And lastly, while I absolutely love Daniel Ricciardo and I hate that we won’t be seeing him on the grid this season.

The show was all about him during the final moments of the last episode.

He’s going to be a monumental loss to the show, without a doubt, but one of arguably the greatest drivers to ever grace the grid didn’t come into the foray.

Sebastian Vettel’s decision to hang up the racing suit left fans around the world heartbroken, but aside from a brief cameo he barely appeared.

The Formula 1 world came together in Abu Dhabi to bid farewell to the four-time world champion in stunning scenes. But nope, not for this season.

If you make it through the end of episode 10 the new season is already being spruiked, with the opening race less than a week away … let’s hope the drama ramps up and season 6 can deliver.

Originally published as Glaring issue with Netflix’s smash hit, Drive to Survive season 5