Drive to Survive, Season 2: Our episode-by-episode guide to Formula 1's Netflix show

Season two of the Netflix documentary series 'Drive to Survive' debuted on Friday and here is our handy episode guide.

Season one of the 'Drive 'to Survive' made a star out of Haas team principal Guenther Steiner and opened backstage doors in Formula One that had previously been locked tightly shut.

The second season promised more of the same and GPFans Editor in Chief, Sam Hall, give his thoughts on each episode.

Episode One: Lights Out

The second season gets off to a bumpy start. Immediately introduced to viewers are the key players at Ferrari and Mercedes, save for Charles Leclerc who featured in season won when he raced for Sauber, but none of the episode focuses on these two teams which leaves the introductions feeling slightly redundant.

The chief story lines of the episode, which centers around the Australian Grand Prix, are the new Red Bull-Honda relationship and Daniel Ricciardo's move from the team to Renault.

Haas also feature although, with little story to their appearance, their inclusion seems to have been based solely on the marketability that team principal Guenther Steiner brought to the first season of the documentary series.

Episode Two: Boiling Point

Enter Haas and Guenther Steiner properly. This episode focuses on the Haas team with a large focus on the Austrian and British Grand Prix weekends as well as their relationship with then title sponsor Rich Energy.

The episode shows the pure emotion of the sport and brilliantly highlights the feelings within the Haas team when, firstly, things were going well at the season opener in Australia and secondly, when a team hits rock bottom.

A well structured, honest Formula One story. Safe to say however, this episode does feature a large amount of explicit language.

Episode Three: Dogfight

This episode focuses on Daniel Ricciardo's move to Renault and the resulting move of Carlos Sainz from the French manufacturer to McLaren.

Speaking at the Spanish Grand Prix, Sainz says, I see the yellow car as my car with someone else driving it." While not engaging in a personal battle with Ricciardo, the episode makes clear the feelings that being bumped out of a Renault seat gave him.

It is also interesting to see how Ricciardo coped with a difficult start to his time at Renault, with various problems coming in each of the early season races.

A slower paced episode than the previous one, but a welcome change.

Episode Four: Dark Days

The episode that everyone has been waiting for. Mercedes and the German Grand Prix.

However, while this episode does center around the chaotic action of that particular race, the whole episode is unexpectedly framed by the ghost of former multiple champion Niki Lauda.

The death of Lauda, just prior to the Monaco Grand Prix, rocked the Mercedes team massively and to use Lauda as a bookend for the episode provided an emotional beat that made this unmissable episode even more of an event.

Episode Five: Great Expectations

Red Bull take center stage in this episode with Pierre Gasly making the step up from Toro Rosso to Red Bull.

The entire episode is dedicated to the struggles faced by Gasly and the frustrations of the Red Bull team as he failed to live up to their 'Great Expectations'.

In what is a first for the series, this episode is somewhat of a two-parter with the next episode.

Episode Six: Raging Bulls

While the main narrative of the episode focuses on the first grand prix of Alex Albon in the Red Bull team, the core feeling here is of loss and sadness - this particular weekend in Belgium having also seen the horrific F2 crash that cost Anthoine Hubert his life.

The entire episode is dedicated in the Frenchman's honour and, with Albon and particularly Gasly having grown up racing Hubert, the affect that his passing has on these two drivers makes for a compelling story of it's own.

Episode Seven: Seeing Red

Centering around the U.S. Grand Prix, the episode quickly flashes back to the events of Monza where Charles Leclerc took the win and embarrassing individual errors saw Sebastian Vettel trundle home in P13.

The controversial moments from Russia and Singapore are quickly highlighted before a return to America for the main portion of the episode.

The weekend featured is not the most entertaining, especially compared to the Mercedes episode, and the Brazilian Grand Prix does not feature.

more to follow

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