Netflix’s F1 documentary series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” (Drive to Survive, DTS for short) can be said to be the most successful sports documentary in recent years. Audience became popular in the US market.
However, DTS’s production method has also attracted controversy. As a documentary, the content has been criticized as “fake” and a “fake competition” fabricated through editing. He once publicly criticized world champion Max Verstappen and direct boycott of the shooting film.
In the end, there is no need to suspend the release of the series, and a new contract was signed to shoot at least until 2024. Finally, “Wei Shao” returned to the series How big is the influence of DTS, and everyone finally “succeeded” ?
The first season of “Formula 1: Surviving Speed” will be released in 2019. The 10-episode documentary tells what happened in the F1 season 2018. The filming is quite detailed, and the personal life of the driver, the relationship between the driver and the team, and the competition It is presented in full in front of the audience, and the racing scenes are shot extremely exciting and full of tension, attracting fans -number. was launched in February this year.
How was “F1: Survival” filmed?
Recently, the documentary produced in Hong Kong “For My Nineteen-Year-Old Me” caused a storm, including some subjects who objected to the public screening but in vain, the filming team covering events illegally, or filming without the knowledge of the filming team. students being filmed. “Drive to Survive” does not have this problem. The main reason is that Liberty Media, an American company that acquired F1 in 2017, has been determined to repackage F1, market it to younger people and enter the market of the United States. he even asked Netflix to shoot contests. Amazon’s “All or Nothing” is a more detailed and comprehensive documentary. Therefore, since both parties signed the contract, “exclusive and exclusive shooting rights were granted to the filming team”. They can go deep into the garage, or with the permission of the driver and team leader Take them with you to your home and other personal occasions.
Although Netflix has obtained great filming rights, F1 teams and drivers have the right to refuse. In the first season, Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari refused to participate, but Red Bull Racing, which has always considered F1 as the “promotion strongest”, was quite active and benefited greatly from it. Seeing that the publicity was very effective, Mercedes and Ferrari only started to participate in the filming of the second season; the filming team will do everything in their power to film secretly and follow up. a second of the clip is used, but it makes the driver angry.
The racing media Racingnews365 has once interviewed Ian Holmes, director of F1 media copyright. He pointed out that the team has also signed a contract with Netflix. Under very clear conditions, the team is allowed to ask Netflix to delete and modify clips, such as some pictures that will affect commercial cooperation. Teams will also can watch Netflix rough clips of their own teams in advance, but never the “street version” in advance.
What’s wrong with F1: Survival?
Whether it’s F1, drivers, or team members, they also know that this album will be watched and discussed by the whole world, so naturally there won’t be any debate as to whether it should’ the album itself was released on the street. However, the most controversial part of this series is how Netflix uses the material obtained from shooting. They have been criticized time and time again for “creating” completely different stories and plots through editing. It can even even the order of events in a game was “created” as well. again.”, It can be very entertaining for the audience, but as a documentary, it is not true. Hong Kong car fans often laugh: “That Netflix is fake!”
West Dabin, who has won the driver’s world championship twice in a row, refused to take part in the filming of the 2021 season, and explained: “I am a very depressed person. I just want to see the facts, not I understand that Netflix has this. It’s necessary, it’s not to my taste.” Among them, “Wei Shao” is very displeased that the production team often exaggerates the competition between drivers by editing, or shapes the role of a “bad guy.” As early as 2020, he said: “I don’t feel like I’m the real me, the problem is, they (Netflix) already have a preconceived notion of what they want for the show drivers characters. , and whatever I say, they will make me reckless, or turn everyone into characters that suit their setting.”
“They come and interview you and then use what you say in a completely different situation. I never liked that. I just want to do one-on-one interviews with people who interested in knowing me.”
The most notorious example is McLaren driver Lando Norris, who was team-mates with Carlos Sainz in 2019 and 2020. The relationship between the two is known to be good, and their interaction is often spoken by car fans. However, in the third season episode “Drive to Survive”, Netflix “turned” the two into vicious rivals, when Sins said at the time: “They (Netflix) exaggerated the relationship between me and Norris. The competition between the fans know this isn’t true, but they also know their mistakes and won’t do it again.”
Sins may have thought too much, because in the fourth season, Norris is still the “bad guy” in the episode – in this season, Norris replaced a new teammate, Lecado, who has always been portrayed as the “main character” in the episode, however, Licardo has surprisingly poor performances. In the episode, when Norris looked at the condition of his new teammates, Netflix edited him to be indifferent and disrespectful, which caused Norris was criticized by many viewers. Many drivers complained about Norris, and “Wei Shao” said angrily, “In fact, he is definitely not such a person.”
In fact, the “victims” are not limited to the drivers, and the reporters who acted as “reporters” in the album also had unpleasant experiences. F1’s official TV reporter Will Buxton, who has appeared frequently since the first season, often uses dramatic rhetoric and tension in “DTS”, coherent “stories” in the film, or he tells audiences that they are not know a lot about F1 Because of this, he is considered by some car fans as “a person who encourages Netflix to cheat and do bad”, and even think that he was ordered by Netflix to “read lines ” and “action”.
However, Will Buxton once posted on the Reddit forum to expose Netflix’s filming techniques, and was also harmed by Netflix’s editing, “Just knowing what questions they’re going to ask after I sit down (interview) every time , and I have no right to interfere How they use what I say,” he gave an example: “For example, in the first season, I explained how important the driver’s personal sponsorship is in their career. This piece matched (Mexican driver) Perez’s Snippets, it looks like I’m targeting it…Netflix also puts very dramatic pauses between what I’m saying to fit the story they’re trying to make.”
However, he also admitted that it is still an honor to appear on “DTS”. “There have been a lot of positive reactions around the world, and what I said has helped attract a lot of people to the sport, which makes those negative reactions insignificant. .” But perhaps because of this, Netflix is also ready to “use” him, and Will Buxton took a long break in 2021 due to anxiety attacks.
Most people weigh the pros and cons, and think that even though the album itself is suspected of being fake, they may not necessarily be harmed. , but more likely to benefit; West Dabin hopes to get out of it, not even doing interviews, “then , they’ll have nothing to do. It’s in the movie.”
West Dabbing U Turn: How Netflix changed F1
However, Westabin finally changed his mind. Last year, his attitude began to soften, saying that there was room for discussion, and finally he met with the Netflix production team, reached a consensus, and took part in the filming of the fifth season. One of the reasons why he had to “change his mind” was that the impact of this documentary was too great.
According to statistics, an average of 70 million viewers will be attracted to each game in 2022, and according to Nielsen’s statistical report, most of them become interested in the sport after watching “DTS”, and 77% of new viewers among 16- to 35-year-olds, the Nielsen report noted: “41% of the “DTS” audience also watched at least the first three weeks of the new F1 season.” In the United States, where NASCAR and IndyCar race the main stream of events, F1 momentum has already begun After catching up, by 2021, tickets for both races in the United States have become difficult to find , attracting a large number of top celebrities and red stars to appear in the country that hosts the most sub-stations (a total of 3 stations), the competition seems to be more than enough.
Moreover, if the viewers watching “DTS” are not diehard car fans, they may not think too much, let alone know if it is “fake” As long as the content is interesting enough, they will watch it. That being the case, it also means that the general public’s perception and likes and dislikes of drivers are largely based on this documentary. “DTS” is undoubtedly a double-edged sword – through their lens and editing, there are opportunities to bring bad It also has the opportunity to shape the driver in the love of the public; but the most important thing is: it enables the driver, the team, and the sport to break through the level of the “fans” and enter the general public level, especially young, powerful, and good-looking .A large number of attractive drivers are coming out, and fans have a clear tendency to “search for stars” who consider drivers as idols.
Moreover, even if Westabine does not participate at all, it does not mean that all injuries can be avoided. In 2021, he and Hamilton won the first world championship with a debate until the last moment. However, in this season of “DTS”, because of the boycott of “Wei Shao” it became Hamilton’s side only to speak. After watching the audience that does not know F1, which side will they lean towards? The answer is obvious. Therefore, for him, perhaps the best way is to take part in the filming, and at the same time use his influence as a world champion to gain more voice.
