Series 7 of Netflix’s hugely successful F1 docudrama Drive to Survive has now come out.

Shining a light on both the on-track and behind-the-scenes drama in what was F1’s most competitive season in history, the show tracks a number of gripping story lines.

From Christian Horner’s (since dismissed) misconduct allegations to the return of Flavio Briatore (and some actual racing too), here’s what in Drive to Survive Season 7.

Ep1: ‘Business as Usual’ – Christian Horner and Lewis Hamilton under the spotlight

The first episode of the new season focuses on both the Christian Horner workplace misconduct allegations and Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari.

The pressure mounts on the Red Bull team boss, with opposite numbers Toto Wolff (Mercedes) and Zak Brown (McLaren) clearly loving it.

“Zak is a p****,” declares Horner after getting needled by the American in a press conference.

The Red Bull principal then almost goes into meltdown when a cache of WhatsApp messages apparently related to the case are released to other F1 staff and journalists.

“It was obviously pre-meditated to cause me the maximum amount of distraction, the maximum amount of aggravation,” Horner claims. “It was obvious that end goal was for me to leave Red Bull.”

The team boss intimates he knows who was behind the leak, and Netflix does well to make the most of a difficult legal situation into watchable TV.

Hamilton declares the new Mercedes livery as rubbish, and says little of note about why he’s moving to Ferrari.

Ep2: ‘Frenemis’ Norris tries to topple Verstappen

Can Lando Norris challenge Max Verstappen’s supremacy now he’s got the faster car? (Spoiler: no).

Verstappen says he rates Norris, damning him with faint praise by calling him a “super nice guy,” before highlighting, of course, that the Brit hasn’t won a race up to the time of filming.

Norris finally takes that first F1 victory in Miami after his Dutch rival hits a bollard, but at most other races Verstappen continues to push his “mate” around.

Horner piles in by asking if the McLaren driver can handle the pressure of fighting at the front, as things come to a head in Austria while the two drivers battle for the lead.

They collide, continuing a theme where Norris is faster but unable to make inroads into Verstappen’s championship lead.

The McLaren driver says his rival didn’t apologise for the accident, while the Dutchman declares – newsflash – that he’s “not here to be loved.”

Norris then wins on Verstappen’s home turf in Zandvoort too, using the latter’s catchphrase to describe it as “Simply lovely.” How cutting.

Ep3: ‘Looking Out for Number 1’ – Who will Mercedes choose to replace Hamilton?

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and his wife Susie discuss who will they’ll get to fill Lewis Hamilton’s shoes – the latter amusingly grimaces as Fernando Alonso’s name is mentioned when running through the candidates.

Wolff reveals that Hamilton made him promise he wouldn’t talk to Verstappen about a prospective Mercedes move while the Brit was contracted to the team.

This changes when the seven-time champion signs with Ferrari though, and Toto immediately begins having meeting with Verstappen’s father Jos. Whispers are growing of an imminent Verstappen exit amid the Christian Horner/Red Bull controversy.

Horner then turns it on Wolff: “Why isn’t he giving George [Russell] the love?” he points out.

The episode then pivots as to whether other Mercedes driver Russell is ready to step into the team leadership role being vacated by Hamilton.

The Brit takes pole at Silverstone, but retires with a water leak. Meanwhile the Mercedes management team stages a meeting for Netflix, agonising over whether to get in another ‘leader’ driver or promote youth from within. The highlight is when they describe Carlos as a “great guy”. More faint praise.

Russell then wins in Belgium, but Netflix kindly doesn’t mention the fact he was disqualified for being overweight shortly afterwards.

In the end Merc plumps for young prodigy Kimi Antonelli — and Russell is the new team leader.

Ep4: ‘Carlos Signs’ – Which lower midfield team will Sainz choose?

Poor Carlos Sainz has been booted out of Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton. It’s Hobson’s Choice as he has Williams, Sauber and Alpine vying for his services – all teams which are underperforming.

It might have been one of the dreariest storylines of 2024 when it happened in real time, but this is one of the better DtS 7 episodes.

Sainz says being dumped by Ferrari has left him “bitter”, and his hesitation to sign for another team has caused a midfield back-up as everyone waits on the Spaniard to make his choice — while Kevin Magnussen speaks on behalf of all the other drivers by describing it as “tedious”. We have to watch it Kevin.

Horner amusingly says he can imagine James Vowles as a Church of England reverend marrying Sainz and Williams, but then the Grove boss gets stood up at the altar. The Spaniard doesn’t show up to sign his contract with Williams, Vowles having the champagne on ice and ready to go.

The latter is determined to sign his man though, as things get a bit passionate: “It would be a complete transformation of Williams to have Carlos by my side. I go to sleep and wake up thinking of nothing else.”

Sainz hesitates as family friend Flavio Briatore intervenes, trying to get him to join Alpine instead, but in the end he chooses Williams anyway. Oh well!

Ep5: ‘Le Curse of Leclerc’ – Will Charles Leclerc ever win at Monaco?

Poor Charles Leclerc – what’s a Monegasque got to do to win his home F1 race? The weight of a tiny nation (or principality rather) weighs on his shoulders.

There’s an emotional sequence where Leclerc describes the sacrifices his late father put into his junior racing career. Charles admits he lied and told his father he’d already signed to an F1 team as he lay on his deathbed.

The precedes a painful montage of all the Leclerc calamities at Monaco, several times losing from winning positions.

We’re then treated to some scenes of Leclerc at home with his family, dog and playing piano before he aces qualifying to pole – essentially guaranteeing him the race in a dry event.

The hometown hero wins, and everyone’s happy. No one mentions it was possibly the most boring Monaco GP of all time, actually forcing a rule change which means F1 drivers have to make two mandatory stops next time.

Ep6: ‘Wheels of Fortune’ – Can Zak Brown handle the pressure of fighting for an F1 world title?

After Netflix focused on questioning Lando Norris’s strength in the face of serious sporting pressure, it then decides to do the same with his McLaren boss Zak Brown as the team fights for a first constructors’ title in 25 years.

Christian Horner gets a dig in early: “McLaren is a genuine threat. Whether Zak is a genuine threat is a different question.”

He might be right actually. Strategic errors, driving blunders from Norris and a general fecklessness means the team keeps snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Brown then has to go through the pain of F1 success as Norris and Piastri fight for the lead in Hungary – who to favour?

The former lets the latter through, and gets pretty moody about it – admitting he hasn’t spoken to the team in the days since afterwards.

Things get worse when McLaren completely fluffs Monza too, meaning Ferrari’s Leclerc takes a home Scuderia win instead (we all preferred it that way anyway.)

Piastri then wins in Azerbaijan, but McLaren now leads the championship from Red Bull as a result. Seems Zak can handle the pressure anyway.

Ep7: ‘In the Heat of the Night’ – Five F1 drivers film their weekends

Credit to the Netflix directors in coming up with a different idea for an episode, where Norris, Russell, Gasly, Albon and Leclerc film themselves over the Singapore GP weekend. The race is one of the most gruelling of the year due to the temperatures and humidity it’s run in.

Unfortunately the drama is all a bit tepid – the drivers show themselves to just be, err, some young lads driving F1 cars.

It’s revealed that George Russell is too tight to pay for a private jet, despite being able to afford it – according to Alex Albon – and also takes his bedding with him to races. Gripping stuff.

The highlight is probably Albon commentating on the window cleaners outside his high-rise hotel. On a more serious note, the extreme conditions the drivers are under becomes apparent when Russell seems to have a panic attack when recovering in an ice bath after suffering extreme dehydration during the race.

Ep8: ‘Elbows Out’ – Ricciardo’s reckoning

Sergio Perez’s form has nosedived at Red Bull. So who might replace him? Not Daniel Ricciardo it seems.

The Honey Badger hasn’t been able to discover his old form, and is struggling to fend off challengers to the Red Bull seat in the form of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson.

“We need to stop the rot,” says Horner, but the team is flailing as it tries come up with a solution. He doubts Ricciardo has still got it: “His heart and head don’t seem to be in agreement at the moment.”

It’s revealed that Red Bull however is ready to dump Perez, and that the place is the Australian’s – if only he can prove himself at the British GP.

As it turns out he can’t, getting beaten by team-mate Tsunoda yet again. Ricciardo is forced to admit he questions whether F1 is still “worth the risk” of putting his life on the line.

Also revealed back in Australia is that he doesn’t even know how to cook a sausage. Post-F1 life isn’t looking good for Ricciardo.

Netflix and Red Bull then get double their money from Lawson. First the mouthy Kiwi pushes out Ricciardo from VCARB (now Racing Bulls), before clashing with Perez and giving him the finger at the Mexican GP. He then replaces poor Perez for 2025.

Lawson, unlike most of the grid, actually says what he thinks too. Refreshing.

Ep9: ‘Under New Management’ – Battle of the also-rans

It’s the battle of the old versus new at the back of the grid. Battle-scarred playboy Flavio Briatore is back in at Alpine, taking on some bloke Christian Horner has never heard of: Ay-“who?” he says.

Ayao Komatsu, Christian, the new boss of the Haas F1 team. None-more-sweary principal Guenther Steiner is out, and Haas is getting serious now – kind of. As serious as you can get while running an F1 team from an industrial unit in Banbury for about a tenner. That serious.

A cheesy Italian operatic soundtrack accompanies Briatore everywhere as his boys score a double podium in Brazil to secure the heady position of sixth in the world championship. That’ll show Haas.

Meanwhile Briatore also boots out Esteban Ocon for complaining too much, and tells his replacement Jack Doohan he’s going to control him “every millimetre”. Scary.

Ep10: ‘End Game’ – Battle for the constructors’ title

Usually Netflix has an ‘end-of-school’ feel about it in its last episode, but this time there is actually something to fight for – the constructors’ title.

Verstappen secures the drivers’ crown in Las Vegas, but Red Bull has lost its grasp on the teams’ battle due to Sergio Perez’s useless form. It’s between McLaren and Ferrari now.

The Dutchman adds his tuppence to the constructors’ in Abu Dhabi by pointlessly nerfing out McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the first corner.

Trying to be as good a sport as usual Horner goes to congratulate McLaren boss Zak Brown, a man he describes as “f****** annoying”, by ribbing him about his blood pressure – implying he’s a bit heavier than most. Say what you want about Horner, you can always rely on him to get one last dig in before the latest season DtS is through.