Drive to Survive
Review: F1 Drive to Survive – Season 5 abandons winning formula
Previous seasons of Netflix’s hit F1 series Drive to Survive have been massively successful – can Season 5 do the same?
'Dead man walking' — Why Mick Schumacher's Haas F1 career was doomed from early 2022
F1
The new season of Drive to Survive illustrates the struggle Mick Schumacher went through to keep his F1 race seat
Schumacher found himself axed after only two points finishes in 2022
Haas
The new Drive to Survive Season 5 has revealed how early in last season that Mick Schumacher was put under serious pressure to keep his Haas F1 seat.
The young German struggled for performance throughout the season, with team owner Gene Haas saying early in the season that the son of F1 legend Michael was in “dead man walking territory” courtesy of his poor performances.
Schumacher easily had the measure of his 2021 team-mate Nikita Mazepin, but the following year found a new challenge in in the shape of the a new car and team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
Haas and Steiner are seen debating Schumacher’s position
Haas
Whilst the Dane scored points on his F1 return with fifth in Bahrain, Schumacher lagged behind.
He then suffered huge crashes in Saudi Arabia and Monaco, at great expense to the team, as well as losing a relatively straightforward points finish in Miami by crashing into friend and mentor Sebastian Vettel.
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“****ing hell,” is team boss Guenther Steiner’s Saudi reaction when talking to owner Haas in the latest instalment of Drive to Survive. “We give him a year to learn, what does he do on the second day? He ****ing destroys the car, just because the other guy is faster.”
“Do you know how much I have to listen to Gene?” Steiner later says during the Azerbaijan weekend to a Haas team member as he also feels the heat. “Gene doesn’t hate anything more than someone crashing a car.” The team boss’s colleague then suggests “getting rid” of Schumacher.
Haas says he thinks Schumacher is “in over his head,” with things coming to a crunch in Baku, with the German running dead last in qualifying and the race.
As a clearly-rattled Schumacher runs round at the back, he frets on the team radio about overheating the brakes.
“He’s going so ****ing slow doesn’t need the brakes,” is Steiner’s reply, with even Schumacher’s mechanics exasperated with the situation.
Magnussen’s is captured suggesting Schumacher replacements
Haas
Come the British GP near the mid-point of the season, the German is yet to score a top-ten finish, while Magnussen already has three.
This prompts Haas to consider other options for the second seat, with DtS capturing a meeting with Magnussen putting forward who he thinks should get the drive.
Come the race though, Schumacher puts in one of his best performances coming home eighth and impressively duelling with reigning champion Max Verstappen.
The Haas driver would score points again next time out in Austria but, as we now know, it wasn’t enough to secure his place for 2023, with Nico Hülkenberg joining Haas and Schumacher heading over to Mercedes to fill its reserve role instead.
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