Here’s what we liked and disliked about Drive to Survive Season 6

Drive to Survive is said to have played an instrumental role in increasing the viewership of Formula 1 across the world. It presents the sport in a new light and gives viewers a chance to see the human side of the team and the drivers, which often goes unnoticed. And given the dreariness of the 2023-2024 season, expectations for Drive to Survive Season 6 (currently streaming on Netflix) were at a bare minimum. It wasn't their best season, but it did have a few redeeming moments And here's everything you need to know about the new season.

Where was Verstappen in the entire show?

The 10-episode-long series has over seven and a half hours of content. Yet, there is very little mention of Max Verstappen, and his near-perfect season that saw him obliterate the opposition with 19 wins out of 22 to claim his third successive Drivers Championship Crown. While his first championship win was packed with drama (a last race, last lap photo finish in Abu Dhabi back in 2021), his second and third win, where he stole a march over the rest, lacked any drama. And that is probably why the makers haven't given the 26-year-old Dutch driver any footage (no drama = no screen time). Fans of F1 are sure to be disappointed, having hoped to watch a pressure-free Verstappen, who faced almost no challenge from his competitors. Having broken records for fun (the highest single-season win percentage for a team and driver), it’s sad to see the series miss out on him.

Christian Horner gets too much footage

Instead of the drivers, it’s Red Bull team principal Christian Homer who hogs most of the limelight. This season, we get a glimpse of his personal life as the cameras get into his Oxfordshire home where we see his wife, Geri Halliwell (the former Spice Girl), his kids, horses, and even Santa Claus. With the current investigation into the Red Bull boss being a hot topic of debate, as we await its outcome (Horner is being investigated following an accusation of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female colleague. Horner denies the claim.), his regular presence in the series does feel badly timed. That said, it could have been a case of the makers having completed the series well before the news broke out. We’ll never know. 

Steiner on the series for the last time

Over the past five seasons, Drive to Survive has given viewers some very memorable characters, none more so than Haas team principal, Guenther Steiner whose wit, expletives, and charisma at the helm of a team that finished rank bottom in the Constructors’ Championship, are a highlight of the season. Season 6 highlights his newly published book, Surviving to Drive, which went on to become a bestseller. The episode showed some endearing moments including scenes at the book launch, where fans turned up in T-shirts of him and his quotes.

The episode ends with Steiner paying a visit to his old friend Mattia Binotto (former principal of Scuderia Ferrari) in the latter’s vineyard in Italy. The former gives viewers a hint about his plans to hang up his boots. “I don’t know if I would do this for another year. There is life outside of F1 as well. Maybe it’s time to do something different,” Steiner said to Binotto in the episode. 

A final caption reveals that his contract "was not renewed for 2024", confirming his exit from the series. Without him and his dynamic personality, the upcoming F1 season and the 7th season of Drive to Survive, might not be the same. 

The Hamilton episodes age very badly

Titled Leap of Faith, the show dedicates an entire episode to the contract negotiations between seven-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff. We see the two have an extremely frank chat about the negotiations and where the team is headed. 

Wolff tells Hamilton he doesn’t want to wait until the new regulations in 2026 to get Hamilton his 8th title. “Frick, me neither,” Hamilton replies. “You can be here for 20 more years, 30 more years. I can’t! These are precious years for me.” Shortly after, Hamilton went on to sign a new contract with Mercedes until 2025 (which we now know had an out clause). "The thought of Lewis at Ferrari in a red overall—it wouldn't suit him," Wolff tells the Netflix cameras, smiling. "There never feels like a time when I'm not going to be a Mercedes driver. It's my home. It's my family," Hamilton adds. However, this all changed in a matter of months as Hamilton shocked the sporting world, confirming his switch to Ferrari from 2025 onwards. His comments have aged very badly considering the Ferrari switch and the fact that he has to spend this season with Mercedes before the move; we can’t wait to see how things pan out between him and Wolff (something that we’ll hopefully get to watch in Drive to Survive Season 7).

Also read: 'Drive to Survive' Season 5 review: The hits, the misses and everything else in between

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