Here for its seventh season, Drive to Survive remerges this Friday with a new cast of characters taking center stage. The departure of Guenther Steiner and Daniel Ricciardo — both of whom became household names following the early success of the docuseries — seems to signal a new era for the Netflix hit. With six new rookies joining the ranks, along with some fresh faces among key roles at teams within the paddock, we're giving you a sneak peek at who was "cast" this latest season as heroes, and the ones you'll most likely want to hate. *Warning, spoilers!*
Flavio Briatore
You don’t need to know much about Italian businessman Flavio Briatore to guess how he’s portrayed in the show. The Alpine executive advisor, who was parachuted in to save the flailing French outfit last season, is accompanied by a villainous soundtrack every time he appears on screen. “I’m strong enough, I’m wealthy enough to tell everybody to stay away from me,” he says matter-of-factly when he’s first introduced. “I don’t care. People are jealous of me because I’m not diplomatic. I tell you the truth.”
Briatore didn’t shy away from addressing Alpine’s “s**t” performance throughout the season, telling viewers he plans to save the team by being a “democratic dictator.” He also didn’t hide his disdain for Esteban Ocon, calling the one-time Grand Prix winner a “brat” for lamenting the performance of the car. “For months, Esteban was complaining all the time about the car … I don’t like that. Don’t be a spoiled brat,” he said. “I believed he’d be more focused [but] I believe Esteban has no motivation anymore to drive for us.”
Reserve driver Jack Doohan was promoted to a race seat, replacing Ocon, before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Although the 22-year-old’s dreams were coming true, he couldn’t have looked more terrified as Briatore shared the news. “No more kid s**t, no more nyeh nyeh nyeh. Now Jesus Christ you need to be in the top,” he told the Australian. “The future of the Jack, I control you every millimeter.”
James Vowles
If there’s one man Drive to Survive producers want you to like, it’s James Vowles. The softly-spoken Williams team boss is the MVP of Season 7, as he courts Carlos Sainz with humor and humility in equal measure. “I wake up in the morning and I go to sleep at night thinking of nothing else,” he says of the Spaniard.
We’re introduced to Vowles while he’s running in Oxfordshire with members of the engineering staff (he’s a team player), then a producer compliments his “very good hair” (he’s handsome), and we’re shown an entirely unnecessary clip of him telling a fan: “believe in yourself and you can go anywhere” (he has a heart of gold). Not to mention, Vowles is funny. “Signing a driver has some similarities to dating: you start with texts, then [there’s] dinner, then you end up in a hotel room,” he says, prompting giggles from the producers.
Much of his storyline is focused on his decision to sign the former Ferrari driver, throughout which he’s portrayed as an entirely stand-up guy. Of course, that’s not to say he isn’t a great person, but it’s clear the show is pushing for Vowles to become a new fan-favorite.
George Russell
I’m convinced that George Russell did something to annoy the Drive to Survive producers, because the Brit is catching strays throughout the entire season. The first episode begins with the Mercedes driver telling Ricciardo he’s starting to lose his hair. “You’re balding a little bit here,” he tells the Australian in a throwaway line that could’ve easily been left on the cutting room floor. It’s followed by a shot of Russell sitting down for an interview in shorts and a pair of flip flops, which he asks them not to show (they still do).
When US President Donald Trump appears at the Miami Grand Prix, which is highlighted in the second episode, he excitedly yells, “Trump!” before adding, “Oh my god I really want to see him.” Just a few moments later, he knocks Lando Norris’ cap off his head during the driver’s parade (unprompted) while the McLaren ace talks in a voiceover about being “bullied” as a junior driver. Trying to imply something, producers?
The third episode heavily features Russell as his team boss, Toto Wolff, struggles to decide whether the 27-year-old is ready to be a leader. “Is it harsh to say George still makes too many mistakes?” Will Buxton asks. He eventually gets Wolff’s vote of confidence, but not until we’ve spent almost an entire episode unpacking his flaws on-track.
Lando Norris
Norris is getting the Season 1 Ricciardo treatment, being positioned as the lovable rival to an aggressive Max Verstappen. While the Red Bull Racing driver is introduced as having a “f**k you mentality,” the lovable McLaren driver is seen playing with puppies and taking selfies with fans — it’s all a bit heavy handed. Their friendship, and on-track rivalry, takes center stage in the second episode, where Norris gets candid about his struggles with mental health, which can send him into a “spiral.”
The McLaren driver also addresses his “party boy reputation,” which could have easily been used to portray him as unfocused, but his nose injury in Miami as a result of a night out in Amsterdam is played for laughs. The 25-year-old clinches his maiden victory later that weekend, and is immediately seen making a sweet phone call to his mom.
The show does its best to portray Verstappen as Norris’ polar opposite, but the pair have remarkably similar lifestyles. If anything, the Dutchman’s life sounds pretty fantastic: he picks up a first place trophy, heads home on his private jet and is on his mega yacht sipping gin and tonics by the following day. When the championship is wrapped up in Las Vegas, the pair are as gracious as each other.
“Well done, lucky b*****d. Next year I’ll get you alright,” Norris says to a triumphant Verstappen in the media pen. “I told you already many times, there will be a day [when you win],” the four-time world champ replies. “Let’s celebrate. Let me know where you’re partying and I’ll join you.” It doesn’t get much more civilized than that!
Christian Horner
“You’re not portraying me as the villain this season?” Christian Horner asks Drive to Survive producers mid-way through the season. At this point in the timeline, the embattled Red Bull boss had already faced accusations of inappropriate behavior in the workplace (he was later cleared of wrongdoing). He’s never been the most likable character, but if he was ever going to have a villain arc, this was the time.
Perhaps for legal reasons, the show doesn’t properly delve into the scandal, or offer any information we didn’t already know. The most we get from Horner are a couple of cryptic voiceovers in the first episode. “The higher you rise, the sharper the knife. I reached the top of my game and I never thought in a million years I’d have a challenge like this in my career,” he says.
The controversy isn’t mentioned again after the first episode, but Horner is seen consistently taking digs at drivers and fellow team principals throughout the season. He calls Zak Brown a “prick,” mocks Vowles, says Ferrari's Charles Leclerc makes a lot of “mistakes,” suggests Russell often cracks under pressure, and even claimed not to know who Ayao Komatsu was when producers asked for his thoughts on the Haas F1 Team boss, eventually calling the new team principal “vanilla.”
Honorable mentions
The ‘friends of’
The staged conversation between friends is a Drive to Survive staple, and there was no shortage of cringe interactions in Season 7. Two of Zak Brown’s pals are roped into asking questions about the performance of McLaren; special mention to his longtime mate, Josh Abelson, for delivering his line "What’s it like having two drivers competing against each other?" like he was auditioning for a high school play. Norris’ pal Max Fewtrell also made several appearances to ask a handful of producer-fed questions, along with one of Liam Lawson’s friends. Shoutout to them all!
The ‘Kardashians’ episode
During the Singapore Grand Prix, Netflix gave vlogging cameras to Russell, Norris, Leclerc, Alpine's Pierre Gasly, and Williams' Alex Albon. I appreciate them trying a different format, but the drivers were almost always accompanied by a film crew, essentially negating the need for the vlogging equipment. “I heard they mic’d up your girlfriends … you’re becoming a Kardashian,” Sainz says to Leclerc. Aside from Norris’ candor about the anxiety he feels walking into the paddock, and the mania surrounding Albon (he’s a big star in Singapore, and it’s refreshing whenever he’s on screen), there isn’t much to this episode. It’s also noticeably missing any mention of Ricciardo, whose career came to an end that weekend.
A few final notes
The episode that centers entirely on Leclerc’s victory in Monaco is a fantastic, self-contained story that could have been turned into a two-hour, standalone documentary. It doesn’t feature any new information, but the story is told so beautifully that it’s the episode I’d recommend showing your family and friends who don’t know a ton about F1.
Claire Williams was also a phenomenal addition to Drive to Survive, Oscar Piastri is one of the most mature, level-headed drivers on the grid, and if you were expecting a Franco Colapinto storyline, don’t hold your breath, he’s barely mentioned at all!
