However the series, which has become the fastest-watched in the history of Netflix, is not without its detractors. Some have complained about what they see as manipulated drama, Verstappen said he withdrew from S4 due to what he described as “fake storylines” and a number of people blamed the controversial ending to year’s title battle in Abu Dhabi as a result of F1’s desire to keep on pushing the ‘Netflix-feel’ of the championship.
That said, the behind-the-scenes documentary has provided insight never before seen in F1, with moments in previous series including Valtteri Bottas musing regularly on being bested by team-mate Hamilton, the fallout of Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from Renault and Romain Grosjean’s near-fatal crash at Bahrain 2020.