F1 Drive to Survive Season 7: Netflix trailer, 2025 release date, and preview

He may be portrayed in a less light-hearted way in Season 7, as a result of the controversy at the start of 2024. It’s not known what impact this had on his Drive to Survive involvement, but after the allegations of inappropriate behaviour became public, he took a step back from most of his media duties at race weekends — despite being cleared by two investigations. According to DtS executive producer James Gay-Rees, the controversies surrounding Horner will still be included in the upcoming season.

The decision to include the controversy was a “difficult one” Gay-Rees told The Telegraph and the story will have to be told in a way “which keeps everyone happy”. “You have to have balance,” he said. “I genuinely don’t have an opinion on it, but [Horner’s] been through it and you wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”

Netflix may utilise the story to mark the beginning of Red Bull’s downfall. After winning seven out of the first ten races to start the 2024 season, the Milton Keynes outfit didn’t have a single victory in the following ten, falling behind both McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.

Several key members of the Red Bull team have also left, including chief designer Adrian Newey, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and chief strategist Will Courtenay.

What could be in Drive to Survive Season 7?

From blockbuster silly season driver switches to the numerous wheel-clashes at multiple grand prix between championship protagonists, the 2024 F1 season has certainly given producers a few options to choose from. Here are some of the plot lines which could be in Drive to Survive Season 7.

Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari

Only a few weeks before Season 6 of Drive to Survive was due for release last year, Lewis Hamilton made the earth-shaking announcement that he would be racing for Ferrari in 2025.

He had signed a new contract extension with Mercedes midway through the 2024 season — a subject which was covered by DtS in Season 6 — but was later lured to Maranello with a multi-year deal which will reportedly be worth at least £50m per year, and potentially more than £100m with bonuses.

The newest series of DtS could reveal more of Hamilton’s reasons for leaving Mercedes, where he won six of his seven drivers’ titles, and follow his rollercoaster journey through his twelfth and final season with the team.

After a slow start to the 2024 campaign, Mercedes found form shortly before the summer break, resulting in an emotional race win for Hamilton on home turf at Silverstone as well as another victory at Spa after team-mate George Russell was disqualified from the lead. But form dipped towards the end of the season, leading Hamilton to ask if he could retire the car during an underwhelming Qatar Grand Prix.

Netflix may also delve into the ‘brotherly’ friendship Hamilton has formed with Peter Bonnington — otherwise known as Bono — who has been the Briton’s race engineer since he joined the Brackley-based outfit in 2013, but who will not be following him to Ferrari.

Daniel Ricciardo’s final farewell 

The seventh season of Drive to Survive may be Daniel Ricciardo‘s last.

The Aussie has proven popular with the series’ viewers and has played a major part in its success. But after being axed from his seat at RB shortly after the Singapore GP, it’s likely that Ricciardo will not return to the Formula 1 grid next season. And with few other options elsewhere, his mid-season exit could mark the end of his starring role in the Netflix series.

The decision to replace Ricciardo at RB with impressive Red Bull junior Liam Lawson came suddenly, leading to a strange situation in Marina Bay where Ricciardo and his team acted as if it were his last race, without any official announcement being made. The Aussie stayed in the paddock until 2am and was reportedly followed by Netflix camera crews as he said his goodbyes to fellow drivers and former team bosses.

It has the makings of a classic DtS episode, which would also serve as a farewell to the charismatic and well-loved driver.

McLaren’s rise and intra-team tussles

Lando Norris spent much of 2023 complaining about his McLaren and held nothing back in his interviews with Netflix during Season 6 of DtS: “This is quicker than our new car, this,” he says while driving a golf cart. Later, he adds: “I might just walk into Red Bull and steal their car”.

But a Miami GP upgrade last year gave McLaren race-winning pace, which Norris took immediate advantage of to win. Oscar Piastri also took advantage, winning in Hungary and Azerbaijan, and the pair began to bump heads.

In Hungary, Norris was forced to give up his leading position to Piastri in the final laps — but needed to be told to move aside on several occasions. In Monza, the pair came to blows again, as Piastri muscled his way past Norris on the opening lap. The move left Norris vulnerable, and he was subsequently pushed down to third by Charles Leclerc — who later went onto win.

Both races cost Norris valuable points in the race to catch Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings, and later led to McLaren publicly stating that they and Piastri would back the Briton — who had the higher points total — for the remainder of the season. Netflix could provide a behind-the-scenes look at some of the discussions that took place; Mark Webber’s involvement as Piastri’s manager in ensuring that his driver is not seen as the team’s second-best option; as well as focusing the team’s rise to the front.

Norris vs Verstappen

More Norris! Producers could easily justify a second episode based around his transformation from a driver without a single F1 race win at the start of the season, to Max Verstappen’s main challenger for the title midway through the year. It created a situation where Norris’s lack of experience at the very sharp end told, particularly during the increasingly heated battles with Verstappen.

The world champion’s uncompromising manoeuvres resulted in contact in Austria, putting Norris out of the race; controversy in Texas as Norris was forced off the track and then penalised; followed by penalties for Verstappen as he took a similarly robust approach in Mexico.

Any behind-the-scenes insight into the fallout — and the state of the pair’s friendship, which was seemingly strong before this year — would be lapped up by fans.

Adrian Newey’s move to Aston Martin 

Adrian Newey’s decision to leave Red Bull after a 20-year stint as its chief technical officer and join Aston Martin for 2025 is one of the biggest stories in F1 history. How can Netflix not cover it?

The legendary car designer has not yet made a significant appearance on Drive to Survive but his team move was arguably the biggest of the year, having been responsible for 13 drivers’ championships and 12 constructors’ crowns at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull. Fernando Alonso, who will be working with Newey from this season onwards, stated that Newey’s arrival at the team’s Silverstone base will be a “great day for the team” and looked forward to competing as partners “instead of rivals”.

Newey has already revealed his reasons for leaving the Milton Keynes outfit — a mixture of off-track events as well as becoming “tired” of the scenery — but there’s plenty of scope for Netflix to chronicle the fallout from the decision, which was announced prior to the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix: can the cameras reveal more abut the real thoughts of Christian Horner and Max Verstappen?

Ans will Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll manage to resist crowing to loudly?

The downfall of Sergio Perez

An increasingly dismal season in a tricky-to-drive Red Bull ended in the inevitable for Sergio Perez.

The exit was the only option after Perez’s abysmal form cost the team victory in the constructors’ championship, amid embarassing errors — particularly when he seemingly failed to spot that the Qatar Grand Prix had started and remained at a standstill for several seconds.

Charting the course of a season that began with three podium finishes in three races for Perez, but ended with him just over a third of the points of his team-mate Max Verstappen, should make for a compelling episode: especially if there’s any footage of what must have been a tense Qatar debrief.