“It’s lights out and away we go!”

 Formula One racing starts this weekend! I finished watching the latest season of “Drive to Survive” on Netflix. Season 6 of the series on Formula One included a lot of profiles of Team Principals, some interviews with drivers, and clips of races. Commentators included Will Buxton, Claire Williams, and Danica Patrick. 

While I was pleasantly surprised to see Claire Williams offering her perspectives as she was the Team Principal for Williams Racing and had a lot of insight, I can’t say I was wild about Danica Patrick’s commentary. Jeannie Gow had been one of the commentators, but had a stroke last year and did not participate in Season 6. Will Buxton did not deviate from his usual style and had a funny line about Haas. 

I enjoyed some of the antics of the drivers like Lewis Hamilton being amusingly annoyed by the Netflix microphones being all around. Very little footage of Red Bull Racing was shown, although there was a segment with the Team Principal, his family, and Father Christmas. Season 6 is not one of the stronger ones, in my opinion, and the viewership has decreased. What has been riveting is the news of the month: Lewis Hamilton signing to Ferrari for the 2025 season, Christian Horner (RBR Team Principal) being investigated for inappropriate and controlling behavior towards a female employee, and the Team Principal of Haas, Guenther Steiner, parting ways with Haas. 

Guenther was one of the most popular Team Principals, thanks to his visibility on “Drive to Survive”. My friend and I even purchased his book, “Survive to Drive”. I read the book quickly. While not the best one I’ve ever read, there was a lot of detail on how he helped the team get to F1, what the previous season was like, and some funny quips.

Christian Horner has been exonerated and soon the world will get to see if Max Verstappen is as dominant in 2024. Can’t wait!