Drive to Survive: 8 things to watch in season 5

Netflix announced the fifth season on Thursday, ending weeks of speculation. drive to survive It will premiere on the streaming service on February 24th. His first 4 seasons in the series brought the curtain down on the world of F1, introducing new fans of the sport to his F1 personality and giving existing fans a closer look at their favorite drivers and teams. .

The series is coming to an end with one of its biggest seasons yet. Last year, 4 million viewers tuned in to watch the series during its opening weekend. drive to survive It’s in the top 10 list for the streaming service’s first week.

somehow drive to survive Whether or not Season 5 will match those numbers is an open question. Season 4 has the added benefit of covering the title race between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, which culminates in the final lap of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a source of controversy in the F1 world. .

However, the 2022 F1 season fell short of the final lap of the year.

in anticipation of the next season of drive to survivehere are six stories to look forward to in Season 5:

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Many fans and F1 teams drive to survive, one of the sport’s biggest names has expressed a different point of view in the past. said he would not participate. Please continue my life.” Verstappen said last spring.

But that seems to have changed.Following Verstappen’s comments, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said: reportedly sat with the driver about the series, and it may have changed Verstappen’s view. The Red Bull driver and world champion is featured in the Season 5 trailer. :

Happy moments for Haas?

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As drive to survive Introduced new fans to the sport of F1. One of his early stars in the series was Haas his team principal Gunther Steiner. While the race team struggled to find success on the track, Steiner became its star. Thanks to the bombing in the paddock during Season 2, Shirts are now available in the Haas Team Store Steiner and his exclamation point “He won’t fork-smash my door!”

(Santa, I’m still waiting for mine).

But underneath all Haas coverage, along with Steiner’s star turn, was their struggle.The team has found it difficult to gain a foothold in F1 in recent seasons.

However, 2022 brought a bright spot for Haas as Kevin Magnussen took pole position for the sprint race at Interlagos. It was the first pole position for both the driver and the team. After everything Haas has gone through over the past few years, expect the first episode dedicated to it for the team.

Danke Seb

Jerome Milon – USA TODAY Sports

2022 will be legendary driver Sebastian Vettel’s final F1 season. Vettel won his fourth consecutive title with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013, but his move to Ferrari in 2014 coincided with the rise of Mercedes and Lewis his Hamilton.

Vettel struggled to return to the top with Ferrari, but was unable to return to the top of the F1 world. After the 2021 season, he left Ferrari and moved to Aston Martin. Last July, Vettel announced that he would retire after the 2022 season.

The end of a legendary career will undoubtedly be a big part of next season. Drive to survive.

Mattia Binotto’s final season at Ferrari

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Another big storyline during the next season of drive to survive It will be the year seen from Ferrari. The Scuderia started his 2022 on a high note, placing him first in the Constructors’ rankings after the first few events of the season. But then the team was plagued with missteps and missteps in the middle of the season, and instead of challenging Red Bull for the lead, they were dodging late-season bills from Mercedes by the end of the year.

result? Team principal Mattia Binotto submitted his resignation after the season ended.

Trouble with Mercedes

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Speaking of silver arrow season 4 drive to survive It ended with a focus on team principal Toto Wolff. It’s no secret that Wolff and Mercedes were furious at how 2021 ended, with Verstappen’s controversial win in Abu Dhabi clinching the Drivers’ Championship and a fourth straight win from Lewis Hamilton. .

The final moments of last season focused on Wolff, and his declaration of how the year ended set Mercedes poised for a major comeback in 2022.

There was a resurgence, but it was too late for Mercedes to seriously challenge Red Bull. The physics and design of the car struggled early in the season, forcing the team to make adjustments as the year went on.

It will be interesting to see how the team adapts, adapts and sets the stage for a late season assault and George Russell’s first F1 victory.

Impact of cost caps

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To level the playing field, the FIA ​​has imposed a ‘cost cap’ from the 2021 season. Similar to salary caps in other sports, there were limits on how much money teams could spend on certain categories such as parts, personnel, and garage equipment.

Nearly the entirety of the 2022 season was looming over the expected announcement of cost cap violations by teams in 2021. Perhaps it was due to the ongoing ramifications surrounding the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but every week during his F1 season in 2022 saw new rumors of ‘huge offenses’ by certain teams.

Most rumors center squarely on Red Bull.

Finally, Survey results announced The FIA ​​found that Red Bull violated the first cost cap. The team will be fined and face testing restrictions during the 2022 season as a result.

The story of Oscar Piastri

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Driver transfers, or ‘stupid seasons’, are a huge part of F1. With only 20 seats, the competition for these spots is fierce, a huge underlying theme of the series.

is named drive to survive Why, my friend.

With that backdrop always in place, the battle between Alpine and McLaren for Oscar Piastri’s services will likely get some attention. Won the F3 Championship and the F2 Championship in 2021. Alpine driver As a member of the Academy he served as Alpine’s reserve his driver at his F1 level. During 2022 he will also be able to drive for McLaren in reserve capacity due to an agreement between the two teams.

However, in June 2022, reports surfaced that Piastri would drive for Williams in 2023 under a loan deal with Alpine. At the time Alpine hoped to take Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon as their two drivers for another year ahead, and when Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement at the end of the season later that summer, Alonso He decided to move to Aston his Martin for 2023 and moved to Alpine.

As a result, Alpine announced that instead of driving Williams, Piastri would slip into Alpine’s empty seat. But the announcement seemed to be missing something.

Confirmation from driver himself.

Perhaps there was a reason for it, as Piastri revealed something on Twitter.

The matter was brought to the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board (CRB), which ruled in September that Piastri was not under contract with Alpine and was free to sign with another team. Almost immediately, Piastri signed with McLaren as his reserve driver, contingent on the team ending the contract with one of his current drivers, Daniel his Ricciardo.

That agreement has been reached and Piastri will be at the wheel of McLaren this season.

We won’t see him racing this season drive to survivethe series will likely dive into controversy.

Daniel Ricciardo’s life comes full circle

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Speaking of Ricardo.

first season of drive to survive We covered a variety of stories, but Ricardo was a big focus. It would be his final season at Red Bull as the Australian decided to leave Red Bull for the 2019 campaign and sign with Renault (now Alpine).

Since leaving Red Bull, Ricciardo’s F1 career has taken a big hit. He spent his two years with Renault and finished with his best result of 3rd at his Grand Prix at the 2020 Eifel. Ricciardo then moved to McLaren for his 2021 season, finally winning the 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, but it was the only win he won in his two years at McLaren.

Now, as mentioned, he is away from McLaren and back at Red Bull for the 2023 season.

in reserve.

Not only does his career come full circle to some extent, it might Drive to survive.