TV, whether it's traditional broadcast stuff, or the new world of streaming, can be an influential medium, but it's still often somewhat insular. A hugely successful TV show might influence other producers, networks and platforms, but it's quite rare for one to have tangible real-world results.
Still, that's a boast that many people think Formula 1: Drive to Survive can make – a Netflix documentary series that might well have transformed the sport it portrays entirely. Expert observers have decreed that it is a huge reason behind Formula 1's boom in popularity this past decade, and it's about to arrive for its seventh season.
Depending on when you read this, you might already be able to head to Netflix and watch the new season, in fact – it arrives on 7 March, but just got not only a full trailer but also a sneak peek for you to soak in. They're great ways to get a sense of what is coming up, especially if you don't already have a Netflix subscription.
The trailer gives us a nice overview of the behind-the-scenes action in what was an up-and-down season of racing. Max Verstappen may have ended up winning the championship at a canter again, but the amount of competition in the mid-season phase clearly caused enough tension for some spicy moments to have been caught on camera.
Watch the sneak peek, though, and you'll get a look at a particularly impactful moment, in the immediate aftermath of the modern legend Lewis Hamilton informing his long-time team Mercedes that he would be leaving to join Ferrari at the end of the season. It's a decision that made shockwaves when it was publicly revealed much later, and one of the sub-plots that fans were definitely hoping would be explored.
Indeed, the fact that I can use the word 'subplots' is a great example of why Drive to Survive works. The F1 paddock is so condensed and tight that a series covering it all at once can feel like it almost has plotlines, while other sports stick to one-team series instead. It's a feather in Netflix's cap, that's for sure, in the parallel race to be the best streaming service out there.
