This season hit some of the key events from the 2022 racing season including the dominance of Verstappen, the dangers of Zhou Guanyu’s crash, and the dramatics of the team principles debrief. That final point may have been the most entertaining part of the season for me, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff furiously explaining to his fellow team principles “I can tell that all of you are playing a dangerous game”. This alongside multiple drivers gathering to take a look at the new Mercedes livery – to George Russell’s disappointment I don’t think the car was as fast as he thought.
Despite this, there were some key moments which I feel went forgotten in the series, where was Kevin Magnussen’s pole position win? The surprise win for the Danish driver didn’t seem to exist. Likewise, it seems as though most of what happened the Brazilian GP weekend went unnoticed, George Russell did win his first Formula 1 race despite it disappearing in the show.
Drama surrounding Verstappen and Sergio Perez also went slightly unmentioned this season, the Red Bull teammates fell out from events at the Monaco GP. Verstappen stood by his position on the fallout when he didn’t follow team orders to help out Perez. “You guys don’t ask that again to me, ok?” – Max was clear on his thoughts on the matter but Drive to Survive didn’t highlight this part.
Introductions to the new 2023 rookie drivers were well covered with the likes of Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries making a debut. There was also a heart-warming departure for Daniel Ricciardo which was well covered in the show as the Australian lost his seat on the grid for the 2023 season. As much love as there is for Danny, Sebastian Vettel’s retirement didn’t get enough coverage. The four-time World Champion who spent 15 years in F1 did not get the same send off as his fellow racer. Nicolas Latifi may have often disappeared on the tracks, and that showed in this season too. The 27-year-old lost his Williams seat being replaced by Logan Sargeant, this departure went more under the radar than Vettel’s.
Overall, this season encapsulated much of the 2022 season highlights despite missing some key events and got everyone prepared for a new season of action.
