Why Max Verstappen is not the star of the new season of Drive To Survive

Last Friday, March 11, the long-awaited fourth season of Drive To Survive, the series broadcast on Netflix's digital platform that shows how the Formula 1 world championships are experienced from the inside and the problems behind the scenes of the teams and their drivers.

This new installment, which has ten episodes of 40 minutes on average, focused on a good part of the articles in the title dispute between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton throughout the tournament. However, before its premiere it was surprising that the Dutch pilot announced that he was not going to be part of the project. “They faked some rivalries that don't really exist. So I decided not to be a part of it and didn't give any more interviews after that because then there's nothing you can show,” explained Mad Max in October during an interview with the AP agency.

“I'm not really a dramatic show person, I just want real events and things to happen,” said the 24-year-old in what had been the preview of the United States GP, a country in which Formula 1 increased its popularity among American citizens in part thanks to the series in question.

“I understand that it had to be done to increase popularity in the United States. But for my part as a driver, I don't like being part of it,” continued the current world champion. “I'm a normal kid and I grew up in a small town. All this stuff, the drama, it's just not for me. It's not my world,” he acknowledged.

The truth is that in previous editions, Drive To Survive showed some rivalries that gave a lot to talk about, such as the one that Esteban Ocon and Sergio Checo Pérez starred during their time as teammates in Force India (former Racing Point and current Aston Martin), or that of Verstappen himself with Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull.

Finally, after the premiere, the young star of the Austrian team returned to the BBC: “I only watched two episodes, but I wasn't very impressed. It's just not my thing, pretending rivalries.”

Within this new installment there is a chapter that focuses on the US McLaren team with the struggles between Daniel Ricciardo and his British partner Lando Norris to reach the speed limits. “Lando and Daniel are two great people that I know, they are really great characters and immediately in the second episode it seems that they are not very friendly with each other, and for me that is not right and that is why I am not part of it either. But that effect is also exhausted. I think we have now passed that stage and, in my opinion, it is more like a reality show”, explained the Dutchman about the series, who stated that at the time it helped to capture the interest of the audience less interested in the competition.

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