Netflix’s “Drive To Survive” is back for a fifth installment.
The hit series helped catapult Formula 1 into the cultural zeitgeist, and four years after the show premiered, the sport is more popular than ever in the United States.
Season 5 highlights Daniel Ricciardo’s fight to remain on the grid, Red Bull’s controversial cost cap breach, and marks the return of world champion Max Verstappen, who famously boycotted the series in 2021.
Executive producer Paul Martin told The Post that “politics” would be “front and center” in the latest installment.
“The battle in the paddock is as important as the battle on the track,” the Box To Box Films co-founder said. “I think the challenge is we don’t want to become too comfortable … we’re constantly reminding our crews that the show works by shining a light on things that make the teams squirm in their seats a little bit.”
Here are five major takeaways from Season 5, which premieres on Netflix on Feb. 24:
Daniel Ricciardo wanted $10 million to join Haas
Fan-favorite Ricciardo was unceremoniously dropped by McLaren, and much of the season charts his mission to secure a drive with another team in 2023.
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner was wearing a mic while deliberating who would take Mick Schumacher’s seat following his departure from the US-backed team.
“Ricciardo?” Haas’ top driver Kevin Magnussen suggested during a closed door meeting.
“We can’t afford him, Kevin. He wants 10 f–king million. Minimum,” Steiner said.
The German team boss, who is one of the series’ breakout stars, ultimately tapped Nico Hulkenberg, while Ricciardo returned to Red Bull as the team’s reserve driver.
“‘Drive To Survive’ won’t be the same without me,” Ricciardo later declared, adding, “F–k ’em all.”
Oscar Piastri has ‘no regrets’ over Alpine contract debacle
Rookie driver Oscar Piastri, heralded as one of the sport’s most exciting young talents, shocked the F1 world when he revealed he wouldn’t be driving for Alpine in 2023.
The former F2 champion was the team’s reserve driver, and the natural successor to Fernando Alonso, who announced a move to Aston Martin in mid-2022.
Nevertheless, the Australian racer had secretly inked a deal with McLaren, which left Alpine red-faced when he infamously tweeted, “I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.”
In a confessional, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said, “nobody saw it coming,” while Red Bull boss Christian Horner added, “He must have a seat. He wouldn’t do that without having a seat.”
When asked about the debacle, Piastri told producers, “I have no regrets in securing my future and fulfilling a dream of mine.”
Zak Brown tried to ‘swap’ Daniel Ricciardo for Oscar Piastri
McLaren CEO Zak Brown attempted to orchestrate a driver swap after Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer threatened to sue Piastri for defecting to their rival team.
“We can’t keep going on like this. We need to start considering what a change would look like,” Brown said of Ricciardo’s poor performance, noting the team was pursuing Piastri.
After the deal was made public, Szafnauer revealed his plans to sue the rookie for $5 million as compensation for the money spent developing him.
“It was difficult for me to understand the lack of loyalty. I was hoping that Oscar had a little bit more integrity than that,” he said.
Brown, a California born marketing pro, quipped, “I think Otmar has been caught with his pants down. If I was him I’d be very embarrassed.”
During a heated negotiation, Szafnauer said, “We think we have a good case in U.K. law,” to which Brown replied, “The downside is, you guys going after him would be a PR disaster. Is the five million worth it?”
The McLaren boss left the meeting and informed his colleagues, “Alpine want to sue Piastri which is f–king crazy. I definitely didn’t see that coming but I’ve got as plan: if we can get Alpine to do a driver swap between Daniel and Oscar that would be a great solution.”
Ultimately, Alpine dropped its plans to sue Piastri and signed French driver Pierre Gasly.
The FIA President told Christian Horner the other teams ‘want to f–k you’
Red Bull’s cost cap breach dominated headlines in the latter part of the 2022 season, and cameras caught the moment Horner learned his team had overspent by 1.6 percent.
Just hours after Verstappen secured the world drivers championship in Japan, the FIA informed the team it had breached the $145 million cost cap in 2021.
At the following race, Horner sat down with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem to discuss the team’s penalty: a $7 million fine and a 10 percent reduction in its aerodynamic testing allowance for 12 months.
‘He said, “They all want your blood, they want to f–k you. You don’t have friends. I’m your only friend,'” Horner told his colleagues, referencing the president of the sport’s governing body.
“Well I don’t need friends,” he quipped.
Christian Horner ‘regrets’ not signing Oscar Piastri
Alpine and McLaren weren’t the only teams who had Piastri on their mind: the Red Bull Racing team principal revealed he still regrets not signing the Melbourne-born athlete.
“He is an outstanding talent,” Horner said.
“We had an opportunity to potentially do something with him in his very formative years and we didn’t pursue that,” he added.
“That’s something that I regret not doing because he could be the next Max Verstappen.”
