Lewis Hamilton’s boss Toto Wolff and rival Max Verstappen slam F1’s Drive to Survive on Netflix ahead of new series

MAX VERSTAPPEN and Toto Wolff have expressed concerns over Drive to Survive with the hit series days away from its fifth season release.

The fly-on-the-wall documentary series follows all 10 teams and provides fans with an insight to the drama that is missed by standard TV coverage.

Drive to Survive is widely believed to have boosted F1’s popularity among younger audiences

It has proven to be a huge hit and is often cited as a factor in F1’s popularity boom in recent years.

But the series is not everyone’s cup of tea, including those at the centre of the drama.

Verstappen, 25, initially refused to do any talking head interviews despite his boss, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, being one of the series’ main protagonists.

But the Dutchman has dropped his boycott this year despite the unflattering review he provided ahead of the fourth season’s release previously.

He said: “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.

“I am not really a dramatic show kind of person, I just want facts and real things to happen.

“The problem is they will always position you in a way they want, so whatever you say, they will try to make you look reckless or trying to make you… whatever fits the story of the series.

“So I never really liked that. I prefer to just have a one-on-one interview with the person who would like to know me.”

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Lewis Hamilton‘s boss Wolff revealed similar misgivings last year.

He said: “It’s scary how much we let them in. You hate to see yourself in there. They create a spin to the narrative – they put scenes together that didn’t happen.

“I guess you’d say as an insider, ‘well that’s different than how it was’. But we’re creating entertainment, and that is a new dimension of entertainment.”

The most recent series of Drive to Survive followed F1’s most dramatic and explosive title race ever with Hamilton and Verstappen’s rivalry resulting in huge crashes and unprecedented last-lap drama.

The upcoming series – which is released on February 24 – will review the 2022 season which saw Verstappen dominate, Mercedes struggle and Ferrari unravel.