The next season of “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” arrives on Netflix on February 24, the streaming service confirmed on Thursday via twitter.
The fifth season of the series will focus on the 2022 F1 racing season, which saw sweeping rule changes brought about new car designs and cost caps. These changes aimed to close the gap between the richest teams and the rest of the field to create closer, more unpredictable races.
Formula 1: Drive To Survive returns on February 24th – and here’s your first look at Season 5! pic.twitter.com/17R4SAGck6
– Netflix (@netflix) January 12, 2023
However, the result was quite predictable. Despite early flashes of Ferrari’s competitiveness, reigning champion Max Verstappen won a second drivers’ title and Red Bull ended Mercedes-AMG’s streak by winning the teams’ title. Verstappen also achieved a record 15 wins.
Red Bull was later found to be in breach of the new cost caps. The team was fined for violating the cost cap but allowed to retain the league title. That could be drama for this season of Drive to Survive, along with a driver swap that saw McLaren and Alpine battle to secure Oscar Piastri to fill the spots vacated by Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso respectively.
Max Verstappen at the 2022 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix – Copyright: Getty Images
F1 management confirmed in May 2022 that Drive to Survive would continue for seasons five and six. The show relies on close collaboration between F1 and the teams to provide a high level of behind-the-scenes insight, but strong ratings for season four, which documented the close championship battle between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, won over F1 management to commit to two more seasons.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has said the future of the Netflix series is not guaranteed, saying in an interview in 2022 that “Drive to Survive” needs to add value for F1 to continue. So a lot will depend on how this latest season is received by viewers.
