Don’t ‘block, ignore’ – Verstappen’s solution to ‘unfortunate’ Drive to Survive clips

Plagued by clips of himself looking glum after Lando Norris’ Miami victory in Drive to Survive, Max Verstappen says it is best to ignore, not block, the posts as then “no one knows” you’ve done it.

Debuting in 2018, Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ has offered viewers behind-the-scenes footage of the F1 season, including interviews with the drivers, team principals and other key figures.

Max Verstappen on Drive to Survive: I’m not surprised

One driver though, was notably absent from the series for a few seasons – Max Verstappen.

“From my side as a driver, I don’t like being part of it,” he said in 2021. “They faked a few rivalries which don’t really exist. So I decided to not be a part of it and did not give any more interviews after that because then there is nothing you can show.”

Two years later, he sat down with Netflix and made his point abundantly clear to the producers.

“I’m a guy who finds it also very important that you’re portrayed well, and that they do not start to copy comments on the different kinds of footage while it didn’t happen like that.

“I had to explain it to them that that was my view. Otherwise, I didn’t want to be part of it. But yes, they understood.”

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He added a “let’s see” onto that only to once again voice his displeasure when Season 7 came out earlier this month and he was portrayed as being glum about his good friend Lando Norris’ debut Grand Prix win.

As Jenson Button stated that “Max is a winner, he comes to win, everything else is a failure” and that he personally would have a “meltdown” and “would be in a bad place right now”, the footage showed Norris on the phone with his family and celebrating with McLaren while Verstappen had his head down before leaning back against a wall with a glum expression on his face.

Once again Verstappen was not impressed with the show, saying on a Twitch stream: “Apparently I was very sad after Miami… I literally had the best time ever Sunday night, so I don’t know what I was upset about.

“Probably better not say anything.”

He was asked more about that and the ‘drama’ of it in the build-up to the Australian Grand Prix but the driver, who had previously admitted he’s watched maybe two episodes of the show, revealed he just blocks it on social media.

“I’m not surprised,” he told the media in Melbourne. “I didn’t watch it.

“It’s just unfortunate you see these things pop up on X, but you just need to quickly ignore it so it doesn’t come up again in your feed.”

Told by Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan to block the clips, he quipped: “No, not blocked, because they see that. If you ignore it, then no one knows.”

But he wasn’t the only F1 driver portrayed in an unflattering manner with Drive to Survive depicting George Russell as having a panic attack after suffering from the extreme heat and humidity at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver revealed he had never watched a full episode of the show, nor did he particularly care about how they portray him.

“No, I’ve got to be honest, I’ve not seen the episode in full,” he said. “I did hear and I was fed back that it was like two extremes from the first half to the last half.

“But ultimately I don’t really care how I’m portrayed there. I care how I perform in the car and how I work with my team, to be honest.

“So, there’s always an agenda for the best storyline possible, and that’s just the way the world is with these entertainment programmes. As I said, I haven’t even seen it and it’s not something that concerns me.”

Speaking specifically about his interaction, or lack thereof, with the Netflix crew in Singapore, the Briton said: “To be honest, I didn’t even notice they were there. I’m just sort of so used to it now that they’re here, there and everywhere.

“Singapore was an exceptionally tough race for me last year. I think the body temperature was almost 42 degrees last year and when you think a fever is 40 degrees, 42 degrees in a race car is pretty exceptional.

“That was a tough one for me, and you know we’ve made some changes to try and make dealing with the heat better on the personal side but also from the cockpit side with the suppliers now working with Adidas – a huge help in that regard.”

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