We have had advance access to Series 5, which tells the story of F1 entering a brave new era with massively revised technical regulations and the shake-up that resulted. Prepare to relive the early-season title battle between Ferrari and Red Bull with behind-the-scenes insight into the dispirited Mercedes team, struggling with its radical design… And then watch Ferrari’s championship challenge unravel.

There’s plenty of previously-unseen footage from the turbulent driver market too, as Mick Schumacher lost the confidence of Haas and Oscar Piastri found himself at the centre of a tug-of-war between McLaren and Alpine, as well as a focus on Red Bull’s cost cap breach.

All the action on and off-track is captured by the series’s now signature cinematic camera shots, over the top sound effects and candid interviews with motor sport’s biggest stars, with Max Verstappen returning after a boycott last year.

More on what’s in Season 5

 

When is Drive to Survive Season 5 released? What time?

Drive to Survive Season 5 will come out on Friday 24 February, with all the episodes likely to be available just after 8am.

The series will drop in the middle of F1’s preseason test in Bahrain so fans will be able to switch between the live coverage from Sakhir and the the world championship’s latest Netflix portrayal.

 

How is Drive to Survive made?

Giving viewers the immersive feel of being at the centre of the action, Netflix crews have typically been embedded within the teams, both adhering to Covid rules in previous seasons but also making them as least disruptive as possible to each squad’s work processes.

Teams and DtS production company Box to Box Films plan out for which races camera crews will be embedded within the team and even discuss what storylines they are likely to follow, so as to streamline the whole process.

Teams then get first viewing on material which involves them, in case they might want to seriously oppose any of it being used.

In the initial series, the subjects appeared to let their guard down when being filmed, giving brilliant candid shots of the latest Haas disaster or Fernando Alonso asking why the wheel has just fallen off his McLaren.

However by Series 4, Mercedes appeared to want to control the narrative with what seemed like highly choreographed scenes, whilst Ferrari remained largely a closed shop in what was a frustrating season for the team.

Nevertheless, we still witnessed Nikita Mazepin’s painful Haas tenure up close and the Red Bull team directing its ire towards Mercedes after each controversial moment.

Season 5 does bring some raw moments, including a fiery team principal meeting and a tense weekend as Fernando Alonso negotiates to leave Alpine, but a number of scenes appear to be for the benefit of filmmakers.

 

Who is filming Drive to Survive Season 5?

Box to Box Films is the company behind Drive to Survive, headed by executive producers Paul Martin and James Gay-Reese.

Having produced successful films on Ayrton Senna, Diego Maradona and Amy Winehouse, the production company has also released DtS‘s tennis equivalent Break Point and its golf accompaniment Full Swing.

Little has changed in terms of the series’ clearly defined aesthetic. The sound effects remain obviously dubbed and the cinematic shots are still lush.

 

Will Max Verstappen be in Drive to Survive Season 5?

After opting out of Series 4 due to what he termed the “fake storylines” of previous seasons, double world champion Max Verstappen is now participating in the Netflix show.

Never one to mince his words, plus having run the full gauntlet of emotions in 2022 – from under-performing Red Bull at the start of the year to champion before the season was out – the Dutchman is a compelling subject in Season 5.

 

What will be in Drive to Survive Season 5?

F1 2022 was the year that initially promised much from the championship battle, which then faded away, but DtS has never been entirely reliant on what happens on track.

Season 3 of DtS, whilst not being the best in terms of on-track action and a compelling title battle, provided brilliant material for the docudrama, whilst Season 4 was the opposite – brilliant racing, boring Netflix show.

Series 5 benefits from a combination of the both — particularly at the start of the season where it focuses in on the Ferrari vs Red Bull battle and contrasts it with Mercedes’ struggles. We outline some of the key parts of the series below — avoiding spoilers.

Pain is where the dramatic gains usually are for DtS, and Ferrari always promised the most fertile ground in 2022.

The series shows it all starting so well with an opening win in Bahrain for Charles Leclerc, but it wasn’t long before the Scuderia’s title charge faltered with a combination of breakdowns, strategy blunders and driver errors, and this is documented Season 5.

Red Bull features heavily, including the cost cap controversy, and the producers capitalise on team boss Christian Horner’s DtS-friendly soundbites for any situation.

The magic created when team boss Guenther Steiner is put in front of a camera, has justifiably given Haas an outsized platform on Netflix and that continues in Season 5 as the cameras follow Mick Schumacher struggles in the early part of the season, resulting in huge crashes, as well as an upturn at Silverstone, which would prove too little too late for his 2023 racing chances.

Last year’s unpredictable driver transfer market comes in for plenty of scrutiny thanks to the tussle between Alpine and McLaren for Oscar Piastri’s services. There are fascinating scenes at Alpine as the team realises that Fernando Alonso is negotiating with Aston Martin, as well as at AlphaTauri where the pressure mounts on Yuki Tsunoda.

There a brief scenes of the fallout from Nikita Mazepin’s ejection from Haas before the season began, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but some key moments of the season, including Sebastian Vettel’s retirement, George Russell’s first race win, and a missile attack within sight of qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, are barely (or not at all) covered.