Drive to Survive
I am late to the Netflix reality drama about Formula 1. I powered through the three seasons like Max Verstappen in hot pursuit of Valtteri Bottas. I cheered about how good this show is with the same enthusiasm as Pierre Gasly winning his first and only race. And I was saddened when I watched the last episode, with the same pain when Cyril lost his star racer Daniel Ricciardo to rival McLaren.
This show has it all: drama, joy, death, rebirth, betrayal, the young and the soon to be retired, the famous and the rich. It is amazing to see what happens in the paddock or behind the scenes.
I wish we could learn a bit more about the technology of the cars and in the garage. How do they monitor the cars? What data are they looking into? What do all the buttons on the steering wheel do? What does it mean when they say “put engine in position 9”? Why do they want to build a new car each year, and not reuse and improve the previous year’s car? What happens at the offices and manufacturing floors of Renault and McLaren? I have some many geeky questions.
You can also do a drama filled spin-off about the pit crews. How do they train? How do they react when things go awry? Are these the same folks as the mechanics? How pissed are they when their star driver wrecks the car and they need to spend an all nighter rebuilding the car? Do they suffer the same chair shuffling as among the riders?
I used to watch every formula 1 race when I grew up. And as a very young boy, my brother and I would play with marbles on the carpet pretending to be race car drivers, while the race was on television. The blue marble was Jacques Laffite. The red marble was Alain Prost.
The Netflix show has rekindled my interest into formula 1. Both the individual racer and constructor championship is exciting again. The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps is the next race. I’ve been on the tracks both with my bicycle and as a passenger in my parent’s car. Let’s go Max!