F1 champion Max Verstappen hints fresh Drive to Survive swipe with cryptic reference

Max Verstappen

Verstappen hints fresh Drive to Survive swipe with cryptic reference

Max Verstappen stars in season seven of Drive to Survive

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 9 March 2025 19:58

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Max Verstappen has hit out at the dramatisation of a particular moment in 2024 by the Drive to Survive crew, hinting at inaccuracies.

Netflix's hit show recently released its seventh series on the streaming platform, focusing on the blockbuster off-track news stories of 2024, including the turmoil surrounding Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, and Lewis Hamilton's stunning switch to Ferrari.

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Drive to Survive also focused on the on-track championship battle between Verstappen and Britain's Lando Norris, with Red Bull's decline in performance allowing McLaren into both championship fights.

While McLaren ended up toppling Red Bull and winning the constructors' title, Verstappen managed to cling on to secure his fourth drivers' championship title, with Norris only managing to win four races in a season in which McLaren looked to have the fastest car for large periods.

Max Verstappen won the 2024 world championship

McLaren won the 2024 constructors' championship

Verstappen and Norris' championship fight

That was still Norris' best ever season in the sport, however, and it got off to a spectacular start when the McLaren star managed to claim his first career grand prix victory at the Miami Grand Prix in May.

He beat Verstappen to the victory following a fortunately-timed safety car for the McLaren team, which allowed Norris to get in and out of the pits and still maintain his lead.

Drive to Survive covered the drama of the race in full, and showed Verstappen and Red Bull rather angered and disappointed by the result, despite their hefty lead in the championship standings at that point.

Now, Verstappen himself has pointed to the fact that it may have been slightly dramatised, suggesting he had the 'best time' after Norris' victory around the Miami International Autodrome.

"Apparently I was very upset after Miami," the Dutchman said on a live stream with his Team Redline sim racing team. "I literally had the best time ever on Sunday night, so I don't know if I was upset."

Verstappen has a history of making his feelings known about the Drive to Survive programme's dramatisation of key events, with the show having been filming drivers' lives since the 2018 season.