'Game of Thrones on wheels': Netflix's Drive to Survive provides boost for Spark Sport

Drive to Survive has made stars out of team principals, including the frequently clashing Red Bull Racing chief Christian Horner and Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul. Photo / Netflix

Bloomberg credits the Netflix series Drive to Survive with transforming Formula 1 from a "posh, stodgy European sport" to one that finally appeals to Americans - and as boosting the competition's appeal worldwide.

Suddenly, F1 is a much hotter commercial property, with crowd numbers and ratings surging.

Local rights holder Spark Sport credits the series with a doubling of viewership (more on which below).

If you haven't already tuned in, Drive to Survive has evolved from a cult hit to a top 10 smash for Netflix since the first series - covering the 2018 season - debuted in March 2019.

It's a docuseries that covers the Formula 1 season but often pays scant attention to who wins each race, instead focusing on the behind-the-scenes human drama; the driver rivalries across the two-man teams and the Machiavellian politics that see team managers poaching talent.

The Formula One team setup of a senior driver and a junior driver in each team - with the junior driver at times required to allow the senior to pass them - has proved a rich vein of material for Drive to Survive. Photo / Getty Images

I resisted it at first - I've found Formula 1 dull in the past, and I was suspicious of the motivations behind my wife and her friends' enthusiasm for the series (there is more to men than blow-waved hair, don't you know). And sports docuseries can be dire. Exhibit A: Amazon's plodding, overly reverential All Blacks effort.

But after finally agreeing to watch one episode, I was hooked. The intrigue, the industrial-strength swearing and the race action itself are all engrossingly shot.

So on Monday, I tuned into a live Formula 1 race for the first time: The Miami Grand Prix.

I was not alone. US broadcaster ESPN has seen its Formula 1 ratings double, off a modest base, to 913,000 since Drive to Survive started.

The Melbourne Grand Prix had 295,000 attend in 2018 across its three days, pre-Drive to Survive. This year, it clocked a cumulative crowd of 419,000. Tickets to races around the world - and associated travel packages - are selling out.

The glitzy Miami Grand Prix - a first for the competition - was itself a result of the Drive to Survive boost to the sport. Next year, a race in Las Vegas will be added to the F1 calendar.

There has been a spate of media reports lately saying Drive to Survive over-eggs or even manufactures rivalries, with dark hints of pullouts.

In fact, it was Formula One itself that suggested the format to Netflix after Liberty Media bought out long-time F1 owner Bernie Ecclestone in 2017. And F1 and Netflix have just agreed to renew the series for seasons five and six in a deal extended to at least 2025.

Drive to Survive copped criticism for its lingering coverage of French driver Romain Grosjean's 2020 crash, which saw him trapped in a fireball for two and a half minutes after his car was sliced in two when it crashed into a barrier. Remarkably, the Hass driver escaped with just burns to his hands and feet. Photo / Netflix

The series' founder and producer Paul Martin is open about trying to capture a new generation of fans with a story-telling approach.

"It has young, good-looking guys, driving fast cars in amazing locations," he recently told the Guardian. "Behind it all you have powerful people and brands fighting it out. We used to joke in the early days that it was Game of Thrones in fast cars."

Formula One says its races are now watched by some 70 million worldwide, while Netflix says its ratings increased from its third season, and that the latest instalment clocked 28 million viewing hours across its first five days. Overall, Drive to Survive has made Netflix's top 10 in 56 countries, with a cumulative audience of some 50 million.

One weak point of the first season, for Kiwi viewers, was Drive to Survive's failure to feature Toro Rosso's New Zealand driver Brendon Hartley - despite a Netflix-friendly melodrama that saw him dropped from the team. Photo / Photosport

One weak point of the first season, for Kiwi viewers, was Drive to Survive's failure to feature Toro Rosso's New Zealand driver Brendon Hartley - despite a Netflix-friendly melodrama that saw him dropped from the team.

"After a few races, there were some people, it appeared, who didn't want me there. I'll be honest, this was a bit of a shock," the rookie from Palmerston North said in early 2019, as he recalled the beginning of the end of his brief career in F1, that turned out to as much about politics as braking and cornering.

Game of Thrones on, um, the putting green

Box to Box Films - the production company behind Drive to Survive - is now working with Netflix to create docuseries with a similar feel for PGA Tour golfers and ATP/WTA tennis players, according to the New York Times-owned The Athletic.

For the PGA effort, the initial group of featured golfers is small - but that was the case for the first couple of seasons of Drive to Survive too, before it started to gain momentum and Mercedes and Ferrari decided they wanted in.

Spark: Unique viewers doubled

Spark Sport is, as ever, cagey about specific numbers.

But the streaming service's head Jeff Latch offers: "At Spark Sport, we've seen significant growth in the cult following of F1 since we picked up the exclusive broadcast rights for Aotearoa in 2019. The popularity of Drive to Survive has no doubt played a part in attracting new audiences to follow F1 on Spark Sport live and on-demand.

"The scintillating action of last season culminated in record F1 viewership which saw average unique viewers more than double in the final few weeks of 2021.

"Spikes were also seen in on-demand consumption of F1 as different time zones for each round came into play, although it was evident that many fans were willing to face the early mornings to catch the live-action as it unravelled."