In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he hasn’t watched Netflix Formula 1 series Drive to Survive and revealed he had talks with the broadcaster about appearing in a show of his own.
What they say
I haven’t seen the Netflix series. I don’t really watch TV series so I haven’t seen it. The only series I’ve watched is “Stranger Things”, and I can’t wait for number three to come out. I haven’t really got into the series, maybe I need to.
I had an opportunity with them a long time ago, before that all came out and it was an individual thing. I didn’t end up doing it. And then the team were, I think, going to do something and that didn’t end up happening, Formula 1 ended up doing something.
But I’ve heard mixed reviews. More have been more positive. I think it’s been, so far, I can imagine it’s been good for the sport. People that don’t understand why would you watch Formula 1 grand prix see it on Netflix, I think it’s been good. So I hope they keep pushing it, even though I’ve not seen it, and I look forward to series two and all the things continuing on.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
Read RaceFans’ reviews of all 10 episodes – with spoilers hidden by default – here:
- “Episode 1: All to Play For” – “As an opening salvo, “All to Play For” sets the bar high”
- “Episode 2: The King of Spain” – “Proves there is ample drama in F1 even without the involvement of the two big teams”
- “Episode 3: Redemption” – “The testy exchanges between Williams and backer Lawrence Stroll are positively excruciating”
- “Episode 4: The Art of War” – “The take-no-prisoners Horner and Abiteboul exchanges make this the pick of the 10”
- “Episode 5: Trouble at the Top” – “It’s curious that McLaren’s plight is not shown against the rising form of Toro Rosso”
- “Episode 6: All or Nothing” – “I’d recommend skipping this one”
- “Episode 7: Keeping Your Head” – “If your name is Romain Grosjean, it will feel like five hours”
- “Episode 8: The Next Generation” – “The programme-makers felt the need to get creative with the facts”
- “Episode 9: Stars and Stripes” – “Contrived at best and artificial at worst”
- “Episode 10: Crossing the Line” – “Its faults notwithstanding, an essential watch for all F1 fans”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Snapshot
Takuma Sato bounced back from a crash in practice to lead a surprise one-two for RLL in qualifying for today’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsport Park.
None of the three Penske cars reached the top six shoot-out for pole position. Championship leader Josef Newgarden was eliminated in the first round.
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Had a chance to give it some for this Silver Arrow from 1937 🏁
Awesome!#MBClassic event today celebrating 125 years of @MercedesBenz motorsport history. Lucky to drive so many cool cars from the past 🙏🏼#VB77 @MercedesAMGF1 #motorsport #history pic.twitter.com/NDe61wQR9Z— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) April 6, 2019
Another great helmet swap for the Museum @CircuitoMuseoFA . Thanks @kazuki_info !! #f1 #24hlemans pic.twitter.com/Hj3HbyX5ao
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) April 6, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Twin-MGU Powertrains Set for Regulation Clarity (e-racing365)
"A hastily arranged meeting of manufacturer technical heads and the FIA took place in Sanya but little in the way of information about the Nissan situation was offered."
Verstappen changed helmet supply after test issue (Autosport)
"Verstappen had problems with the Arai helmet (in testing). It didn't fit and he didn't see properly. He felt extremely uncomfortable."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Comment of the day
Are Mercedes being ‘objectively correct’ about Ferrari’s key strength at the moment?
It’s interesting to see in the world of F1 where there is objective data that people’s abilities to live polarised realities mirrors the more subjective world of politics.
Mercedes are for sure the best team when considering car, strategy, and driver(s) all together. All they’re saying here is the Ferrari has a power advantage and will likely be the pace setter at two tracks where power is critical, there’s clear data to show that. But a fortuitous result at Bahrain where the Mercedes was clearly second best and only driver error and reliability lost Ferrari the result is enough to distort reality for some that Mercedes are still dominant and that victory is a given for them.
Philip (@philipgb)
Join in this weekend’s Caption Competition here – the winner will be featured in tomorrow’s RaceFans round-up:
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Macleod, Josie Maunders, Bob and Bob!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
[retromputoleman01]On this day 35 years ago Niki Lauda led an emphatic one-two for McLaren in the second race of the 1984 season at Kyalami in South Africa. Derek Warwick was third for Renault behind Alain Prost, the driver he replaced at the team at the end of the previous season.
Nelson Piquet started from pole position at the track where he clinched the 1983 world championship six months earlier, but his Brabham-BMW let him down. Riccardo Patrese brought his Alfa Romeo home fourth followed by the Ligier of Andrea de Cesaris.
Rookie Ayrton Senna finished sixth and therefore claimed his first point in his second start. He had to be lifted from the cockpit of his 1983-specification Toleman after the race, suffering dehydration and severe muscle cramps after hitting a piece of debris early in the race which caused his steering to go heavy.
Toleman’s lap chart originally told Senna he’d finished seventh, out of the points, but speculation Prost could be disqualified gave him a hope of a points finish. In the end Prost was not disqualified but Senna discovered he had in fact scored his first point anyway.
Victor (@mrmuffins)
7th April 2019, 0:15
This is the first time since 2005 that RLL racing got a front row lockout in Indycar.
Aussie Rod (@aussierod)
7th April 2019, 0:22
Re: COTD, I dont think its a ‘polarised reality’ triggering all the comments to the latest Mercedes press release on their chances in China.
I see it as a very normal reaction to the constant belittling of their own chances each race. In fact I think many might see it as kind of the opposite of what you describe… 5 years of (undisputed) Mercedes dominance and yet Toto is almost Trump-like in his efforts with the press to constantly paint themselves as the underdogs each race.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th April 2019, 7:23
@aussierod More like three years (2014-16) as the titles of the last two seasons didn’t come dominantly like the first three of the hybrid era.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th April 2019, 7:31
@aussierod But I get your point.
F1oSaurus (@)
7th April 2019, 13:05
@aussierod Nothing they have said was factually incorrect. Ferrari did have a huge advantage over everybody in Spain. Every pundit expected Ferrari to be well ahead at the first race. Then the second race Ferrari had their performance advantage back again.
Also last year Mercedes were the underdogs by a lonmg margin. It’s just that Vettel threw away at least 6 wins and handed them to Hamilton (or rather, Hamilton drove perfectly which enabled him to pick up the pieces) In fact Mercedes were right to be worried they wouldn’t get the titles.
Even though they had already seen Vettel/Ferrari crumble in 2017 handing them that title too, but they cannot depend on their opponents messing up so badly all the time.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
7th April 2019, 0:53
Re. COTD – I agree. I have been vocally critical of Toto and his drivers underplaying their chances when it was obvious they held the advantage. But after seeing the Ferrari’s pace at Bahrain, I’m going to keep an open mind when it comes to the next few races – maybe the Ferrari has a potential pace advantage, but can they exploit it continuously without hampering reliability? And will their car setup be on point at all circuits, or will Mercedes and Ferrari trade the advantage at different tracks?
And here’s the kicker – Mercedes have shown that they are extremely good at in-season chassis development, something Ferrari haven’t usually excelled at (most notably last season), since Ferrari’s “mid-season development” is usually the Italian press calling for the team principal’s head.
That said, I’m sure that until Q2, Ferrari are going to run a throttled engine mode on the straights, and Mercedes are unlikely to show their hand either.
F1oSaurus (@)
7th April 2019, 13:07
@phylyp The thing is that you pretend Mercedes had the upper hand when they really didn’t.
Reality is that Vettel threw it away. If Vettel had kept his blundering out of it for a season he would have had that title with a possible 50 points gap over Hamilton. he wouldn’t have had to drive a single bit faster. Just not spin off and crash ointo other cars all the time would have been enough.
NS Biker (@rekibsn)
7th April 2019, 4:55
Twin MGU Power Trains…..
If Formula E continues to heap regulation and technical restrictions on their version of the sport, at some point they might as well just let the drivers run in simulators to determine the winner. Save on travel, course set-up n tear down and of course, there is the safety aspect as well.
The “Show” could be just as good. Heck, it works for bike racing and the participants don’t even need to be on the same continent. You could have 50 cars smashing their way around any track you want. Recharging the batteries would be pretty quick too.
I mistakenly though that F-E was a technological development platform. Seems not the case.
Melchior (@)
7th April 2019, 6:04
I haven’t seen it either Lewis.
budchekov (@budchekov)
7th April 2019, 16:56
+1 Sounds like a Rolling Stones tour documentary where one only sees the support acts.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
7th April 2019, 18:04
You guys should watch before you judge.
When you do watch, keep in mind the target audience for this series is not you guys. It’s people who might have occasionally watched a race here or there (or even none at all) that might be interested to watch (more) races if they are given a reason to get drawn in. The series uses big and small narratives to draw people in and although a bit romanticized or jazzed up by clever but quality editing, they do a great job of this.
Even hardcore fans can and will appreciate the little details and intricacies in the craftily laid out storylines. Little things that the more casual fan lacks the background knowledge for but that you do have. In any case, it simply gives you a bit of a different perspective than a regular broadcast of a GP weekend can.
So, instead of reverting to the default ‘negativity-first’ attitude that so many F1 fans have towards all things F1, watch an episode or two with an open mind and then judge it. Or don’t watch, but then also don’t judge it ;-)
BlackJackFan
7th April 2019, 18:59
OK… so I watched an episode or two, with an open mind (though you’ll probably now dispute this as well…) and thought it was 90% a waste of my time… but I’m perfectly happy that others have enjoyed it… because I don’t have a “‘negativity-first’ attitude”…
Is that what you wanted…? ;-)
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
7th April 2019, 19:53
Haha, yeah pretty much! :-)
BlackJackFan
8th April 2019, 2:55
Thanks… You brought a smile to my aged ‘chops’ this morning… lol.
Melchior (@)
8th April 2019, 9:27
@jeffreyj Naw mate,not judging.I haven’t watched because i don’t have Netflix ;)
tony mansell
8th April 2019, 16:09
Yep did all that, read some good reviews and then watched it. Hard going after episode 2 and I didn’t want to see last seasons cars again anyway. Trying to move away from this era of vacuum cleaners and lift & coast not relive them. You’re right its for kids and housewives
Jere (@jerejj)
7th April 2019, 7:32
I share the same views as COTD.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
7th April 2019, 8:29
(must resist posting remark about the size of Max’s head …. must resist!)
budchekov (@budchekov)
7th April 2019, 16:57
Very good, LOL :)
ColdFly (@)
7th April 2019, 9:09
If the helmet has “aerodynamic influence” on the car, then it should be banned as moving aerodynamic part under the current regulations ;)
Maybe time for Tesla and autopilot to enter F1.
Joe (@joetoml1n)
7th April 2019, 10:03
I personally found the series disappointing. To a very casual fan or someone who hasn’t watched much/any F1, it was probably quite interesting. Some of the interviews were a good behind the scenes look, but it was massively over dramatised and not much like how I actually experienced life in F1
On the marbles
7th April 2019, 13:29
Very much like the film ‘Senna’ produced by the same people: interesting but overly dramatised and carefully edited to tell a ‘story’ (or in the Netflix examples, a number of stories) which may, or may not, be accurate. I’ve watched the first four episodes but have to admit it’s a bit of a chore.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
7th April 2019, 10:28
Asking Lewis about F1 Netflix is like asking to a lead actor that has been edited out completely from a blockbuster movie. That’s cruel.
Tom
7th April 2019, 17:21
How so @ruliemaulana ? Mercedes & Ferrari chose not to take part in the series so it’s not like Hamilton has been snubbed in or cut out in anyway. The series included footage of Hamilton winning the championship and multiple races. I fail to see how asking him about it is in anyway cruel ?
Mario (@runpower)
8th April 2019, 10:39
You think he cares he’s not featured in a documentary?
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
7th April 2019, 20:52
Why would he waste precious time watching anything? I would be running lines and nailing models 24/7 in his position.