The hit Netflix docudrama Drive to Survive returns this year for its seventh season, with new episodes available from March 7.

We know, it really does seem just like yesterday that Daniel Ricciardo, Guenther Steiner and Christian Horner were born as reality TV stars, but now the show has become part of F1’s very fabric, massively boosting its popularity.

It’s undergone some changes through the years though. The series began as largely candid, but following the huge success of Seasons 2 and 3, the teams and drivers became cannier, adopting a PR-savvy approach to what they said and did on camera.

Max Verstappen even went as far as to withdraw for one season after accusing the programme makers of “fake storylines” (not sure what upset him, he never said anything interesting).

Therefore working out what may or may-not be in the series has become slightly more predictable in recent years. With the programme in most senses being a well-funded PR exercise, it’s a largely controversy-free zone. The Abu Dhabi 2021 episode revealed nothing despite there being a camera trained on now ex-race director Michael Masi, as an example.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be entertaining though. Here are seven themes we think will appear in Netflix’s Drive to Survive Season 7.

Max Verstappen under pressure

There’s no need for Netflix to hype up the 2024 F1 season: the reality was exciting enough as Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s supremacy came to an abrupt end, bringing McLaren, Ferrari and sometimes Mercedes swarming to the front of the grid.

There was friction between the McLaren team-mates, who suddenly found themselves fighting for victory, and an explosive championship rivalry as Verstappen defended aggressively against a pacy Lando Norris.

Drive to Survive looks sure to focus its gaze on the new rivalries, given its season 7 poster, which features Verstappen looking in his rear-view mirror at the pursuing McLaren and Ferrari of Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz.

Perez in peril

Red Bull loves to dump on its drivers via the medium of Netflix, and what better way to take the heat off team boss Christian Horner and his alleged misconduct allegations (since dismissed) than to really dig into what makes Sergio Perez quite so rubbish?

The struggles of Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have all been well documented in DtS, so it would foolish to change a winning formula.

Perez’s form took a spectacular nosedive from Miami onwards in 2024, so expect a whole swathe of sad Sergio shots, pithy putdowns from Horner and Helmet Marko just looking generally menacing before the Mexican is eventually given the boot into F1 oblivion.

Alpine’s redemption

A team with an apparent HR strategy based on Squid Game (except no one gets physically hurt in our real life hypothesis, we stress), it was no surprise Alpine started the year by being pretty terrible.

Then Flavio Briatore got involved. The old grand prix ‘cheat’ – Singapore ’09 eh, what’s he like? – was brought in as the man with a plan, and what a plan.

The ‘Flav’s Back’ episode will likely focus on one of F1’s great wheeler-and-dealers aiming to get Enstone working like it’s 1995 (or 2005, depending on your vintage), ushering in thrusting new team boss Oliver Oakes, binning off Renault engines for Mercedes and generally bringing back that winning vibe.

Like Haas, Alpine often appear to be fall guys for DtS’s benefit, and Flav loves the limelight, so the team is likely to feature. Alpine also needs all the exposure it can get as, let’s face it, compared to Ferrari/McLaren/Mercedes, no one cares about them.

Lewis leaves Mercedes

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton didn’t get involved in DtS when it first appeared, feeling it would be a distraction.

When they realised the useful exposure it gave to their respective brands though – and saw all the fun Christian Horner and Red Bull were having – they eventually joined in.

It’s not been all laughs though. Hamilton normally provides anodyne quotes at best, and team boss Toto Wolff often appears in skin crawling set-piece scenes as the team makes the decision on driver choices.

Previously it’s happened with George Russell and Valtteri Bottas. Expect Hamilton and wunderkind Kimi Antonelli to get the treatment this year.

The Ferrari episode

After the 2020 Scuderia-focused effort made all at Maranello looks slightly clownish in the midst of its terrible performance, there’s been a strict lockdown at Ferrari – all must be beige from hereonin.

The same is likely to be true in Season 7. It’s possible we’ll see some Netflix crocodile tears over ‘just how great and lovely Carlos Sainz is, but we’re still getting rid of him’.

More Yuki Tsunoda pain

The trials and tribulations of Yuki Tsunoda have become useful – and pretty entertaining – fodder for Netflix in recent years.

Early appearances saw him lament his living situation, describing Milton Keynes as “the most boring place in the world”. It’s no Tokyo, we’ll admit.

His story has been wrapped up with fellow Red Bull colleague Liam Lawson, who in their formative days was filmed helping Yuki sort out his laundry.

In Season 6 they were pitted against each other as prospective candidates for a 2024 AlphaTauri/VisaCashApp/RB seat. It went to Yuki, and the punchy Kiwi was left fuming.

This year though, the racing boot will be on the other foot. The two were serious candidates for 2025 Red Bull seat, with the nod going to Lawson.

Cue sad Yuki shots.

Boring Haas gets its turn

More so than grin-on-wheels Daniel Ricciardo, former Haas boss Guenther Steiner – plus the ups and more so downs of his beleagured Haas team  –became wildly popular via DtS.

For 2024 though, Steiner got moved on (boo!) with his technocrat deputy Ayao Komatsu (more boos) promoted in his place instead.

However, in 2024 the Banbury-based team proved that boring works, finding itself in the fight for sixth place in the championship.

Will DtS rely on F1 funny man Gene Haas (we’re being sarcastic) to bring the laughs? Let’s hope not.