If love lasts three years, it seems, in the case of the Netflix series Drive to Survive and Max Verstappen we will rather talk about three seasons. While the American platform has amazed its subscribers and given a nice publicity stunt to Formula 1 over the past three years, it is currently filming season 4. A season that will have to do without the Red Bull driver Max Verstappen who refused to respond to interview requests from the directors, visibly annoyed by the way they reported the facts during the 2020 season.
In an interview with the Associated Press, the current leader of the world championship substantiated his reasons for saying stop. “I understand that this has to be done to boost popularity [de la F1] in the United States, but on my side, as a pilot, I don’t like being a part of it. They invented rivalries that don’t really exist. So I decided not to be part of it, and I didn’t give an interview anymore because there is actually nothing to show. I’m not really the type to do dramaturgy, I just want facts and real things, ”explained the Dutchman.
A blow to Netflix
For Zak Brown, CEO of Red Bull Racing, Netflix has indeed taken “a few liberties” on the narrative of the 2020 season. constantly ”, admitted Christian Horner, the team’s sporting director.
This decision by Verstappen is a big stone (even a rock) in the boots of the American giant since the driver is going out of his way this season with Lewis Hamilton for the title of world driver’s champion. A season 4 deprived of one of its main characters is necessarily less exciting.