Coulthard: Netflix series has helped Formula 1 tremendously

David Coulthard will drive the champion RB7 through the streets of Dublin this weekend. Before the start of the show, the Scot spoke about the release of the next season of Drive To Survive on Netflix and the change in the generation of Formula 1 fans…

David Coulthard: “Netflix got an audience at a difficult time for the whole world, in a pandemic, but it has helped Formula 1 a lot. The series gained a large audience, including in America, where our sport is rapidly gaining popularity, and in Europe, where until recently the younger generation was considered lost to Formula 1, because in our races there is no intrigue in every round – they are more like a game of chess.

There are less and less “hardcore” fans of the previous generation, and more and more a young audience. And it’s great for sports. Formula 1 is not the TV series “Crown”, which you need to see from the first series to understand everything – the essence of our sport is that you can join at any time.

I see a continuing interest in films that are not based on a script, but on a slightly edited version of reality. Many riders were not happy about this, thinking their comments had been taken out of context. But otherwise it wouldn’t be so much fun. This is part of the performance. Honestly, most racers are just plain boring and Netflix makes them interesting.”