The Prestige TV Podcast - 'Formula 1: Drive to Survive'

Episode Date: May 14, 2020

If you like sports and reality TV, you'll love 'Formula 1: Drive to Survive,' a Netflix docuseries that follows Formula 1 racers, managers, and team owners as they compete in races. Hosts: Chris Ryan and Juliet Litman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to TV concierge, a daily podcast where Ringer staffers help you navigate the crowded TV landscape. I'm Chris Ryan, and today I'm joined by my homie Juliet Litman to discuss the Netflix docu-series, Formula One Drive to Survive. Juliet, why should I watch a show about rich guys driving cars? Chris had so much more than that. Formula One Drive to Survive has single-handedly turned me into a Formula One fan. It basically takes this extremely rarefied international sport, combines it with the real housewives, and spits out this incredibly compelling docu series. It takes you behind the scenes of a sport in kind of real time, but like plus one year. So basically there's two seasons and each season follows a year of Formula One. So season one is the 2018 season, season, season two is a 2019 season.

and each episode is structured around one of the Grand Prix that comprises the season. And it introduces you to all the major characters. And I would have been in so much sooner had I known that this was the sport of the Uber wealthy. This is like there's yachting and there's Formula One and there's the Principality of Monaco. And the three all really go together and they spit out this great show.

And it's just I learned so much and I love it. I love the fact that you. Europeans still love sport. Like, it's not, like, they still appreciate track. They love cricket. They love racing. They love all these different kinds of sports in America. I think we tend to get a little bit more clustered around the big four.

But in Europe, like, they really do enjoy a variety of different kinds of sports. But are you going to F1 Drive to Survive for the sports or the drama? I'm going for the drama, for sure. But that's sort of how I view sports in general. Like, obviously, I love the NBA. and I like the NFL, I like all American sports. And I like them because of the personalities.

And what the show does is it really harnesses the different big personalities. And there's a couple of like really fascinating, interesting people. In season two, you get a real window into a celebrity in his own right. And probably the best Formula One driver of all time, Lewis Hamilton,

who dated Nicole Schorzinger for seven years. And like if you read the Daily Mail like me, he is just like a staple and he has been for many years. he's like super mega famous. He's like a cool celebrity. So like Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union are friends with him and the Kardashian-Generes are friends with him. But then you watch this show and you find out that he is the best driver of his generation

and maybe ever. He's incredibly humble and like everyone likes him. And the other thing that you learned about Formula One is that like it's a sport that while the drivers are famous like hundreds of people work on each team. There's engineers who are making the cars. And it's such a specific and like frankly unfair sport. that it's pretty compelling and lends itself to drama. Do you think that it is giving you an appreciation for any of the more American-based

car racing activities like NASCAR or Indy, or are you just, is it the European glitz and glamour for you that's the draw? I have no interest in NASCAR and indie. Here's why Formula One is so unique. And the show really plays this up. It's basically a lot of really cocky and, for the most part, affluent young guys who are like just from the beginning, computer. heating with each other. It's sort of like if Richie Rich met James Bond and became a sport of some

kind that involved like car racing, I don't really know why it's so popular. Like, do you understand why Formula One as, because I've learned Formula One as a sport is wildly popular. Yeah, I don't, I mean, I think for one thing, the Grand Prix's wind up taking over cities. So I think it's almost like the same way in New York, you know, the New York City Marathon is such a huge deal. The Boston Marathon, the L.A. Marathon's even a big deal. In Philadelphia, there's a couple of cycling races that are really huge. I wonder whether or not the fact that it's almost like a holiday for that city because when it comes to Monaco or when it goes to one of these European countries

and takes over a city, it's pretty much like the Grand Prix's in town. That's what's happening. Yeah, it's sort of like the Kentucky Derby. That's what I seem to realize. Like when each city works towards it. Like obviously I knew about the Monaco Grand Prix. That's probably the most famous one. And for many of the drivers, their favorite course.

But it becomes like, you're right. It defines like a city's sort of calendar in many ways. And then there's just so, the reason the show is so great, though, is there's so many characters that really, like, ham it up for the cameras. And, like, they both acknowledge that they're on camera and, like, hoping that things, like, get cut.

But then they also kind of can't control themselves. So, you know, a lot of the main characters are the principles of each team, like essentially the GM. So, like, Jerry from the Spice Girls, Ginger Spice, her husband is Christian Horner and he runs Red Bull. And he's, like, a major part of the show. And he is great television. And then Mercedes is sort of like the best team.

It's Lewis Hamilton's team. And the guy who runs their team is named Toto. And he's like incredibly charming and dashing and like everything you want out of an Austrian. And there's just a lot of characters that, frankly, like, I guess it's because of the Monaco connection. But like I really think about they could all make great James Bond characters. And then there's just this like incredible access. Like if you like Hard Knocks, this is even more unvarnished and even more of a look inside how these teams work. That's what I was going to ask you is like whether or not, what's like a more traditional reality show that you would compare this to?

Like is it more like Vanderpump? Is it more like Hard Knocks? Is it? It's like the male version of Real Housewives, which with a lot of Hard Knocks sort of production style. And I say Real Housewives because the characters like kind of like very slyly and very wryly insult each other, which is a real hallmark of at least the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. And they definitely do that. And there's just so much competition, but they're also proud that they don't want to acknowledge how much competition there is. And then there's like the other thing about Formula 1 is that there's two drivers per team. And so they're both teammates, but also like always in competition with each other. Yeah. So there's all this built in animosity. It just formerly one operates on so many levels. And F1 is a little bit in the news these days, right?

Yeah. So I was actually, I wanted to do this episode this week because it's announced that one of the drivers from Ferrari is leaving his team, Sebastian Vettel. And I'm so bum that Netflix won't have access to it. Like, it's, it's funny because I, you know, I don't know much about the sport, but like now I care so much about it through this lens that I'm bummed out that Netflix can't be there to capture what's happening. That's so funny because it would be almost like talking to somebody from like Germany or whatever. And they're like, I'm so concerned about where Kyrie Irving is going to play next, but like they never watch games or something like that. All right. So Formula One Drive to Survive. It's on Netflix. There's two seasons. It's

pretty digestible, I imagine. How many episodes per season? There's 10 per season. Half hour episodes or hour? They're an hour. Okay. I think if you like reality TV and you like sports, it's just, it's for both. And like so if you have a household where one of you likes sports and one of you likes reality TV, you'll both be into it. I think it's a great watch for couples.

Yeah, I think it's also like, you know, it's a perfect vehicle to get into a sport because it's sometimes like I've tried to explain European soccer stuff to people and I can feel their eyes kind of glaze over because you're trying to tell them so much information in one sitting. But if you can get it in this kind of delivery system, that's the thing I like. so much about this show I just started watching off your recommendation. It's just, I feel like very immersed in the sport, even if I only have like a superficial grasp of it. Totally. It's easy to get into it. Check it out, everyone. Okay, we'll do. Julietette Lipman. Thank you so much. This has been TV concierge. We'll have more TV recommendations for you tomorrow.