This episode is first time Mercedes is featured in the series, some contrast to it now appearing regularly throughout Season 5. It begins with chronicling the team’s re-entry into F1 after an absence of 50 years, and how Lauda was central to the fight back to the front when he came onboard in 2012 – both in joining forces with then-new team boss Toto Wolff and persuading Lewis Hamilton to join.

For the 2019 season, Netflix first joins Mercedes at Monaco, the first race after Lauda’s death at the age of 70.

Hamilton wins on the principality streets, but it all starts to go wrong at the next grand prix Netflix gets behind the scenes for, at Hockenheim.

The team wears retro uniforms in deference of its 125th year in motor sport, but a wet race soon puts a damper on things. Hamilton goes off whilst leading under the safety car, breaking his front wing, then gets a penalty for entering the pitlane in a dangerous fashion. He later spins and moans on the radio about wanting to retire early, as Valtteri Bottas caps it all by crashing out. The champion team looks suitably chastened afterwards in a brilliant DtS episode.

S3 E4: ‘We Need to Talk About Ferrari’

You may have noticed a theme appearing: things going south in F1 makes perfect DtS dramatic fodder.

Whilst the Scuderia’s first foray into the Netflix world is little more than a bland infomercial (ironically when it was actually winning things), an episode of more gritty reality sees the famous team struggle to get out of the midfield.

Four-time champ Sebastian Vettel knows he’s heading for the exit after the team plumps for Carlos Sainz for 2021, meaning the German is unwilling to play along with PR games as team members turn various shades of Scuderia scarlet.

“We can’t be too funny considering the performance,” drivers are told by their PR people. The rest of the grid is tickled pink though.

S3 E9: ‘Man on Fire’

Romain Grosjean’s terrifying conclusion to his F1 tenure in a fiery shunt at Bahrain provided DtS with one of its greatest episodes.

With the Frenchman coming close to losing his life, the incident is covered with tact and sensitivity – but at no expense to the drama.

The production illustrates the illusion of time in such incidents – Grosjean was in the blazing car for just under half a minute, but the Netflix dramatic portrayal is ten times that length.

Hitting the wall at 56G before being engulfed in flames, Grosjean speaks touchingly of the emotions he went through in that harrowing moment, and its effect on his life outlook since.

DtS also examines the impact such a crash has on other drivers: Hamilton says he felt “vulnerable” whilst Sergio Perez highlights the mental strength needed to take on a race restart after seeing one of your colleagues come close to death.

S4 E4: ‘Mountain to Climb’

You guessed it – it’s Guenther again. This time the Haas crew has got itself into a pickle by utilising the sponsorship/driving services of dastardly father/son duo of Russian oligarch Dimitry Mazepin and his mischevious son Nikita.

Young Nikky has had a career characterised by unsavoury incidents, including using physical violence against other drivers and apparently sexually assaulting a partner and filming live it on social media.

Perhaps a little unsurprisingly, things don’t go too well. The young Russian is convincingly seen off by team-mate Mick Schumacher, but Nikita takes it out on the team, telling them his car has an inherent technical issue. He does so in very unpolite terms, with dad Dmitry threatening to withdraw the sponsorship also.

“No wonder everyone ****ing hates you!” is Steiner’s response to his driver’s antics.

S5 E1: ‘The New Dawn’ 

The first episode of season five shows the 2022 Formula 1 season kick of in Bahrain, where new technical regulations and a return to ground effect aerodynamics promises to turn the current running order on its head.

Ferrari is immediately at the fore, and after a promising pre-season, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz look set to contend at the very front from the start — hoping to set the Scuderia on the path toward its first world championship in 14 years.

Elsewhere, the attention focuses on Haas and team boss Guenther Steiner, who decides to make a last minute driver switch just weeks before the first race of the season. After Russia invades Ukraine, the team elects to drop its Russian driver Nikita Mazepin and rehires Kevin Magnussen who left the team in 2020.

Drama continues to unfold during the season opening Bahrain GP, with a shock twist lending an early upper hand to one contender in the title race.

S5 E5: ‘Pardon my French’

Midway through an already turbulent season, Alpine became the centre of a story that it never saw coming.

After Fernando Alonso decided to part ways with the Enstone outfit and head to Aston Martin for 2023, Oscar Piastri — the team’s highly decorated junior driver — was announced as his replacement. Little did Otmar Szafnauer and other Alpine management know, Piastri had already signed a deal with McLaren.

The Aussie took to social media to state that he would not be racing for Alpine in 2023, sparking a sudden rush in the drivers’ market. This episode provides a brilliant behind-the-scenes look of the chaos that unfolded, including a legal battle between Alpine and McLaren over custody of Piastri.

S6 E2: ‘Fall from Grace’

After a stormy exit from McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo returns home to Red Bull, acting as a third driver behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez — much to Netflix’s likely delight!

The Aussie makes no secret of his want to get back into a full-time seat, and after Nyck de Vries makes a shaky start to the season at AlphaTauri, Red Bull bosses are keen to give Ricciardo a shot.

This episode takes viewers behind the scenes of a famous test at Silverstone, shortly after the British GP, where Ricciardo gets behind the wheel of the RB19 — a car that would go on to win all but one of the 23 grand prix it entered — an instantly impresses.

Christian Horner plays a central role to the Honey Badger’s resurgence, and aims to breathe new life into one of his favourite drivers.