Last season began with the bombshell announcement that Lewis Hamilton would be moving from Mercedes to Ferrari in 2025, and unsurprisingly Drive to Survive looks to be going big on this storyline. The trailer features footage of Hamilton walking into the Abu Dhabi paddock dressed all in red and Williams driver Alex Albon commenting on the move: “Good for Lewis. Good for his bank account”.
An insider view of the move is teased with a comment from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff: “After 12 years together, Lewis tells me he’s going to Ferrari. Really?”
Hamilton’s signing meant Carlos Sainz knew that he would not have a seat at Ferrari in 2025. That looks to have set up another plot for the current series. Sainz is the first driver’s voice we hear in the trailer, saying: “This sport is tough”.
He’s also shown in hospital, which is likely to be after his emergency appendix surgery early in the season, but the narrative is likely to be balanced by his two grand prix wins in 2024, and his eventual signing for Williams.
Sainz’s initial words begin a theme — for the trailer at least — of F1’s intense pressure. It’s referenced by Lando Norris describing “the eyes on you from the outside” to former team boss Clare Williams.
Then there’s an example of what that means in reality as we see the returning Flavio Briatore: team principal during Benetton and Renault’s championship-winning days and now at Alpine as a consultant.
Slowly, deliberately, and with menace, he tells then-reserve drive Jack Doohan: “I control you every millimetre”.
Flavio Briatore appears in Season 7
Netflix
There’s a glimpse of Daniel Ricciardo, whose mid-season ejection from the RB team will surely be covered, and Franco Colapinto’s huge crash at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix could well fit into the narrative of pressure, as the young Argentine looked to prove himself worthy of a space on the grid in 2025.
Ferrari’s inner turmoil has been a regular feast for Drive to Survive and there may be another instalment in Season 7, given Charles Leclerc’s statement that: “Our biggest rival is ourselves”. Mind you, he also says: “We’re the Kardashians of F1,” so that could be an offbeat episode.
Speaking of which… fans feared that Guenther Steiner’s departure as Haas team boss would mark the end of his appearance in the series. But the last word of the trailer is given to him. Inevitably that word is “F***”.