Mercedes open minded to F1 Netflix for second series

Mercedes is “open minded” about participating in the second series of Formula 1’s Netflix fly-on-the-wall documentary, having opted out of the first season. 

The reigning world champions feature little in the 10-episode ‘Drive to Survive’ series offering a behind-the-scenes look into the world of F1, with the title triumphs of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes only loosely followed. 

Following a positive reception to the series, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the team will consider taking part in the second series which will document the 2019 F1 season. 

“I am open minded and I watched the first three episodes on my way over [to Australia] and liked some of the things in there and certainly the production is great and on a very high level,” Wolff explained. 

“The competent people in the team tell us it’s good and it shines a completely different light on Formula 1. The narrative is interesting and it creates stories that are not the obvious ones, it’s not about Ferrari against Mercedes and the sport is maybe not the primary narrative but there are interesting other stories. 

“I get feedback that are not normally interested in Formula 1 and they say it is great. So therefore we need to make up our minds and we will stick our heads together and evaluate whether we want to do this or not.”

Rivals Ferrari also snubbed the first series of ‘Drive to Survive’ and Wolff explained that decision partly influenced Mercedes’ call. 

“I think we had some good reasons not to join last year,” he said. “The main reason was that I felt it could potentially be a distraction, especially also if our main competitor was not doing it. 

“There is a different environment when you have the inner circle in the team and you need to protect it. When you have a microphone swinging over your head and a camera pointing at you, the media work already, as much as it makes Formula 1 and we must be grateful, has become a very big part of the race weekend. 

“I felt that doing more of it would harm us in our performance and this is why I decided it was not for us.”

Wolff also insisted Mercedes’ sponsors backed the team’s decision not to be involved. 

Asked if Mercedes had received any backlash from its sponsors, Wolff replied: “No. In a certain way I got good feedback that we weren’t in. 

“Some of our sponsors and followers were saying it makes sense because you’d never get to see some of the other teams. 

“They felt that it was on purpose from our side that they understood that the distraction was a risk, this was the line and I still think that it was the right thing to do. Now it is about deciding whether we are in or out.”