By Marta Markes

The 2020 Formula 1 season was a strange one. 

Starting off with the confusion of the Australian Grand Prix (which only got officially cancelled after thousands of fans had been camping at the gates on Friday), followed by factory shutdowns and mass-production of respirators, only to begin racing in July in Austria. 

Because of the pandemic, the whole business of the sport had to be restructured and built  from scratch, leading to the creation of ‘safety bubbles’ and regular testing. The calendar was scrapped and scheduled again. This time without the fans present during most of the races. 

All of the changes caused people to wonder what will be the future of the popular Netflix documentary - ‘Drive to Survive’. But, thankfully Box to Box Films which produce the series, were keen to continue. 

The third series, led as always by producers Paul Martin (responsible for Diego (2019)) and James Gay-Rees (who produced Amy (2015) and Senna (2010)), is set to debut on Netflix on March 19th before the start of the 2021 season. 

One might ask how could it have been filmed with the tight Covid-19 restrictions imposed on the Formula 1 paddock and personnel? 

It was certainly not easy. First of all, like everyone living the ‘2020 life’, the production team within the paddock had to stick to social distancing. That meant using a longer boompole and staying on the periphery of groups of people, while still keeping an eye (or ear?) out for the more intriguing conversations going on. Hopefully, all of those precious nuggets have been caught. 

When it comes to the content that is responsible for immersing the viewers in the world of Formula 1, other measures had to be introduced.

As Will Buxton, the official F1 journalist often interviewed for the Netflix show, disclosed in his YouTube video, the crew had to join the team ‘safety bubbles’ in the paddock. This way they had access to a chosen team for the whole Grand Prix weekend, and were able to interview the drivers and personnel of choice.  The ‘price’ to pay was having to travel, eat, and sleep with the team for the span of a week or more. And wear an official team kit to avoid confusion.

There were always two crews immersed within their chosen teams and one roaming crew responsible for the general paddock ‘drama’. This way of approaching the filming meant that Box to Box Films had to hold early discussions with the teams regarding the scheduling of the season and who they were going to spend each of the races with. While the arrangements were commonplace for the two previous series as well, this time it was all the more crucial. 

While there is no way of knowing which events from the rather unusual F1 season will be included in the series, a few ‘sneaky’ pictures online and teasing scoops from sources like Motorsport suggest that the content might once again be chosen to spark debates (and controversies). 

Luckily for us, Mercedes and Ferrari have once again agreed to participate which might bring some more drama onto the table. As well as the chance to hear from seven times World Champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton. 

The wrap on the editing happened on the 11th of February. From that one tiny sneak peek we can deduce that an episode will be devoted to the disastrous Bahrain Grand Prix which made the whole world wait with an anticipation for Romain Grosjean to emerge from the hellfire. 

It should not surprise anyone that in the era of Formula One drivers being part-time Twitch streamers, one of the recent confirmations of the third season of the popular documentary-style drama being near completion came via a Twitch stream with Lando Norris. The McLaren driver, whose online presence results in millions of followers, gives a ‘tongue in cheek’ review of the third series: “The first two [seasons] are not as good as what season three is gonna be because they don’t include me”. Well, that boast from the British driver will be tested by everyone else soon. 

Recently, Netflix confirmed the release date for series three as the 19th of March. Conveniently timed for a week after the official pre-season testing in Bahrain, and a week before the first race of the 2021 season in the Sakhir desert, the series is expected to kick off the new season with a bang. 

To quote Zac Brown, McLaren Team Principal, from the trailer - ‘We have no idea what’s going to happen’. And perhaps that is the reason to count down the days until the 19th.