Heir to Ricciardo's Drive to Survive throne revealed

Netflix Drive to Survive producer Paul Martin has outlined Pierre Gasly as the driver to pick up Daniel Ricciardo's mantle as the face of the series.

The fly-on-the-wall docuseries has been credited with helping promote F1 to a new audience, providing the platform for the viewership boom in recent years.

Ricciardo's outgoing personality suited the show perfectly but having been dropped by McLaren for the coming season, next year's series of the show will likely feature very little of the now Red Bull third driver.

READ MORE: Drive To Survive Season 5: Release date, episode titles and how to watch

“Without Daniel, I think there probably wouldn’t have been a Drive to Survive,” producer Paul Martin told The New York Post.

“He was the first driver that we talked to about it, the first driver that invited us to his home in Australia. I felt very emotional with him leaving.”

Gasly to step up

Explaining why Alpine driver Gasly is the driver that could fill the void left by Ricciardo, Martin said: “For me, Gasly has always been in that role as well. The show’s been on this amazing journey with Pierre and I feel quite emotionally attached to him,

“We’ve seen him go through some incredible lows: the season where he was demoted [from Red Bull Racing] and Anthoine [Hubert] died. So to see him finally get a chance again in a competitive car is going to be great.

“He’s grown on screen as a driver and as a person, so I think he’ll be someone who will really fill the gap that Daniel leaves.”

Season 5 of Drive to Survive will be released this Friday (February 24).

READ MORE: Christian Horner has chilling Newey message for Red Bull rivals

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

F1 champion lost his seat after winning world title and says Michael Schumacher's influence played a role

• 1 hour ago

Lightning McQueen set for grand prix debut as F1 confirm 'significant' Disney deal

• 2 hours ago

Max Verstappen to McLaren, Sainz mega offer and Checo statement - F1 Transfer Roundup

• Today 12:27

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton gets title boost as ex-FIA steward addresses accusations of bias

• Today 11:30

F1 standings and remaining race schedule as Lewis Hamilton chases title number 8

• Today 11:00

Red Bull 2.0: Meet Max Verstappen's new F1 confidants after Gianpiero Lambiase exit

• Today 09:45