Did Netflix ruin Formula 1 with ‘Drive To Survive’?

If you followed along with the Formula 1 season, you will know that the latest iteration of Formula 1: Drive To Survive is going to be a lot of fun.

The wait is almost over. The official trailer for Drive To Survive Season 4 was released today.

Here's the thing.

Drive To Survive has had an impact on the sport of Formula 1.

The most watched F1 season in the U.S. ever was in 2021. The sport added 73 million fans last year, according to the outlet.

Nascar is considering adding a second U.S.-based race in Miami this year because Americans are clamoring for it. In true Miami fashion, there is a beach club in the center of the track.

You can't draw a straight line from the docuseries to the growth of Formula 1, but it seems clear that there is at least a correlation if not direct causality.

There is more than one side to this coin. OG F1 fans say that the docuseries has ruined the sport, and as a new-ish Formula 1 fan, I have noticed that sentiment.

Has @netflix ruined @F1 ? The drama seemed a bit manufactured and race decisions seemed swayed to keeping the season close

— Mark J (@WendellRuns) December 12, 2021

Netflix ruined F1. More like a soap now a days. It's happened now, we wait till march 20th now.

— Kyle Snape (SGT_UK_GBR) (@Kyle_Snape98) December 12, 2021

For context, let me catch you up briefly on the latest Formula 1 season.

For the last decade, Mercedes has dominated Formula 1. For the last seven years, the team has been first in the World Drivers Championship and first in the World Constructors Championship.

With sweeping changes to the sporting regulations forthcoming, Mercedes decided to focus most of its resources and energy on the 2022 season and car, leaving an opening for its rival, Red Bull Racing, to make a play for first place. And it did.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Sir Lewis Hamilton were neck and neck all season long.

The first three races were won by Hamilton. The final race would be in Abu Dhabi. Since Mercedes took over, a nail-biter of a season is rare.

Checo Perez tried to hold Hamilton up and give Verstappen a chance to overtake, but he was unable to. A couple safety cars, one virtual and one real, led Verstappen to change to fresh tires, whereas Hamilton and Mercedes chose to keep track position and leave on the old tires.

A safety car comes out during a caution period due to an obstruction on the track. The racers are not allowed to overtake and must slow down.

Things get hairy here.

A crash caused the final safety car. The rules state that during a safety car, all the lapped vehicles should overtake the safety car and take their place in the actual order of cars. Cars can get mixed up if they go into the pits for tire changes or are lapped. The rules state that the safety car should take an additional lap after all the cars have assumed their rightful positions in line, at which point racing will resume at the starting line.

The cars between Hamilton and Verstappen were allowed to unlap themselves by Michael Masi. The safety car was brought early.

The race should have finished under a safety car, which would have been anticlimactic but also true to the rules of the sport. That isn't what happened.

With fresh tires, Verstappen easily overtook Hamilton in the last lap and won the race and the Drivers Championship.

The officials juiced the story line in order to get more people to watch Formula 1. This wasn't the first time this season that it seemed to level out Hamilton and Verstappen.

Any suggestion of tampering with the fairness of the sport would be upsetting to long-time fans.

Even if his feelings are misguided at best and misogynist at worst, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner seems happy to be enjoying the effect of the internet.

I'm a new fan of Formula 1 because of Drive To Survive, so I'm clearly biased. I think anything that attracts an audience to a sport is a good thing.

Is it right to bend the rules in order to make a better storyline? Absolutely not. Is that what happened? I have no clue.

All I know is that I will mainline this next season of Drive To Survive on Friday and then use that energy to get into the Formula 1 season. Who is with me?