This year’s release may have been pushed back into March after the season opener in Australia was postponed, to give the series a two-week run-up to the season start, on March 28, as per last year.
With Drive to Survive S1, each episode was weekly, but S2 was released all at once, allowing viewers to watch it one go, which was how we got such a rapid review straight to you last year.
If they do the same again for S3, be sure to check back on our website to read the first review.
Drive to Survive trailer Season 3 — what does it show?
The teaser trailer certainly lived up to its name, showing a brief montage of clips from the year, ending with the words of McLaren Racing’s CEO Zak Brown: “We have no idea what’s going to happen” – with reverb turned up for dramatic effect.
It opens with the cars lining up on the grid for the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, but the action is unlikely to begin there: a clip of Sebastian Vettel appears to have been shot in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix that never happened, raising the prospect of a behind-the-scenes look as hopes for the race disintegrated, hours before the cars were due on track.
There are more clues in the full trailer, which shows clips of a Ferrari debrief during the team’s lacklustre year, and the drivers being told: “We can’t be too funny considering the performance”. Footage of Romain Grosjean’s fiery crash is shown, as well as a snippet from a joint interview with him and his wife, Marion Jolles.
sweary Haas boss Gunter Steiner is back and in full flow — unsurprisingly, given the team’s awful performances. There are plenty of dramatic action and crash shots, plus a scene of despair on the Mercedes pitwall, which appears to be the moment that Lewis Hamilton is penalised for practising starts in the pitlane.
How did they film Drive to Survive Season 3?
Film crews have been seen with various teams throughout the season. Strict social distancing protocols had to be observed at all times in the paddock, with camera’s zoom features likely to be working overtime.
F1 digital presenter Will Buxton’s own DtS YouTube preview emphasises how some filming staff had to become part of their requisite team, so as not to break out of their bubble.
One example he gives is cameraman James Ralph at McLaren, who could be seen wearing the Woking squad’s team uniform in Austria, and remained with them for a significant amount of the 2020 F1 season.
Who made Drive to Survive Season 3?
Executive producers Paul Martin and James Gay-Reese, the men behind DtS Seasons 1 and 2, as well as award-winning films Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona, were once again on board to make DtS Season 3.
The aesthetic and dramatic should be similar to S1 and 2, and then some. Expect more ratcheted-up Red Bull tension, DRS-assisted drama and the heartbreak of yet another Sebastian Vettel pit-strategy gone AWOL.
What’s in Drive to Survive Series 3?
DtS 3 may have some of the strongest story lines of any series so far, although the trailers have not revealed too much.
The full drama of the Coronavirus cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix will surely be covered, as F1 insisted the show must go on whilst leading lights like Lewis Hamilton called for it to be cancelled. It was called off eventually, so team members’ unfiltered opinions on the debacle will certainly make fascinating viewing.
With Covid-19 paralysing the world and its sporting activities too, who knew what would happen – would we see F1 again in 2020?
In light of the absence of a real season, the silly season got going instead. Sebastian Vettel was ejected from Ferrari, Carlos Sainz Jr became his replacement, and Daniel Ricciardo took up the Spaniard’s seat for McLaren. Renault put out a salty press-release in response to the Danny Ric’s exit and the F1 world waited with bated breath to find out Vettel’s fate and see who would fill in at Renault for 2021.
All this before the 2020 season had even turned a wheel.