The greatly anticipated Netflix series has now been out for 48hrs. Here are the top quotes from the series.
This quote comes from the first episode and was also seen in Lewis’ press conference interview prior to the Australian GP that went on to be cancelled. This is a prime example of Lewis speaking honestly about FIA decisions, suggesting the reluctance to cancel the race was linked to the money that inevitably would be lost.
The first of many Christian Horner moments from the series. He featured heavily in the series and had a lot to say about the other teams. At the beginning of the season the Racing Point was hailed as the pink Mercedes and Horner was one of its key critics.
That maiden podium. Lando returned for his second season in style and collected his first podium place in the Austrian GP. Upon reflecting, Lando went through his thought process and came out with this gem. It shows how he was able to keep a cool head and get that key result.
And we’re back to Christian. Much of the conversation surrounding the series has commented that if anyone is going to make a complaint to the FIA, its Christian Horner. Could this show just how desperate Red Bull are to cinch a title away from Mercedes? Undoubtably it has been a tough 7 years for the team after their successful campaigns, but Horner has started to get down in the dirt, to find scraps to complain about.
This quote came immediately after Horner’s comments as an attempt to show a contrast between the team principles. Toto Wolff suggests that Mercedes finds their success from focusing inward. It’s hard to disagree with this as their performance last year just shows that this model works.
Now whilst the team set up may be great, Bottas is clearly shown as hard done by in the series. Episode 3 shows the Finn’s attitude towards his position in the team and is further dramatised through flashbacks to occasions where he was overtly asked to help Lewis out. It does seem like there is an unconscious bias in the team, Lewis has been there for a long time and has contributed a great deal to their success. But, Lewis won’t be there forever and Bottas is a future world champion.
To continue on with the woes of Bottas, the episode showed that the Finn has got some guts. Back in 2019 we saw the rise of Bottas 2.0 with that famous ‘To whom it may concern, ***k you” message. Bottas brought it out again as he wins the Sochi GP, and importantly this comes after Bottas admits a troll’s message social media gets into his head. Valtteri is beginning to think for himself now. He is making decisions that will benefit him and placing the team second at times and its good to see.
Nico was back! Episode 3 really dug deep into the past issues of Mercedes and began to challenge that well-oiled machine persona that has come to be associated with the team. Toto admitted that the rivalry between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton was ‘impossible to manage’ at times. Perhaps Bottas will start to adopt some if Nico’s techniques in order to secure a world title.
This was a bit of a sneaky moment caught by the Netflix team as they overheard a conversation between Christian Horner (hello again) and Helmut Marko. The ‘he’ they are referring to is Lewis, as he was penalised for a practice start infringement. It shows the clear distaste Helmut has for Lewis.
Sneaking about once again Netflix caught a conversation between Charles Leclerc and a group of people discussing the disappointing result at Monza. The episode took a sympathetic look at the 4 time world champion and showed the clear cracks in the team at Ferrari.
This was quite a poignant moment in the season last year as Sebastian Vettel spoke about the penalty Ferrari received for engine violations last year. This was the nail in the coffin of their relationship and as it being said the PR department have their heads in their hands.
This quote could easily have been missed as it was said by Seb in a brief conversation with Christian Horner. He is clearly stating his interest in returning to Red Bull, perhaps even expecting it. With hindsight now, we know that he is moving the Aston Martin, which is praised as a very exciting partnership.
Could any one envy the decision Gunther Steiner had to make to sack off both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean? The series captured that sense of family within the Haas team, but that means little in a sport where sponsorship is make or break for smaller teams. This quote illustrates the thought process behind the decision to take on Mick Schumacher to satisfy their new German sponsors.
BBC reporter Jennie Gow is referencing the decision made by Alfa Romeo to keep on Antonio Giovinazzi. There’s mixed opinions on the Italian driver, but perhaps he deserves a second shot at F1 as he holds the most positions gained on the opening lap last year. What that does tell us is that he’s not so great at qualifying. But the ability to make that up does stand for something, and he worked hard in a car that didn’t give much back.
This series saw an emotional Cyril Abiteboul as he came to terms with losing Daniel Ricciardo to McLaren in 2021. It was great to see Cyril be honest about losing Daniel and what impact that has had on him. Often we don’t see that more vulnerable side of team principles and showed that F1 is not purely business, but personal too.
This was the quote to end the series. It was good to see Netflix acknowledging the discussions had as a result of George Floyd’s death. On the whole, the series did not present Lewis in the best light (more to be discussed in a blog post coming soon), but he got his moment here. Netflix top and tailed the series with Lewis making controversial comments that went against the wishes of the FIA. Lewis’s comments were shown alongside him wearing a top in support of the campaign to arrest the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor, something the FIA clarified would not be accepted again in trophy ceremonies. This was a really personal moment with Lewis, and hopefully the next series sees more of it.
And there is your round up! Look out for the next blog post were we get into deep detail about the key issues raised by the series.
