Wright College Fondness of Formula One: Drive to Survive

By Sammie Vasquez

Formula One is widely regarded as the pinnacle of motorsports. For the past six seasons of the sport, an accompanying reality television season was released, Formula One: Drive to Survive.  

The seventh season of Formula One: Drive to Survive, covering all of the action of the 2024 season, is set to release on Netflix on Friday, March 7th. 

Previous seasons have covered a wide range of stories from the rivalry between world champions, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, which came to a controversial close at the final race of the 2021 season to the miraculous outcome of Romain Grosjean’s crash in 2020 where his car was split in two and in flames yet he walked out by himself.

There are many different types of racing in the world of motorsports, with some athletes switching from different sports. Switching is common within Formula One as well. One of the topics highlighted in the upcoming season is the driver market. 

The 2024 season began with the shock of the announcement that Lewis Hamilton, 7-time world champion, four of which were with Mercedes, would be leaving Mercedes and joining Ferrari for the 2025 season.

With this drastic change, other teams were in a frenzy of planning their future lineups. Many athletes were let go to make room for rookies for the 2025 season. 

The driver that Lewis Hamilton would be replacing, Carlos Sainz, signed with Williams Racing for the 2025 season.

Wright student, Bruno Redican, said, “I’m looking forward to Williams a lot. Just seeing how that team does.” The Williams team already had replaced one of their drivers mid-season. 

Fans also had to say goodbye to a long-term fan favorite, Daniel Riccardo, who had been racing since 2011. He was one of many drivers who were replaced within this single season. 

The show dramatizes aspects of the sport to cater to a television audience but the 2024 season was jam-packed with drama and action without the editing of Netflix.

Wright College engineering students viewed Formula One for its aerospace wonders. Kit Man Chan, a second-year aerospace engineering student, discusses aerodynamic science, as the force pushes the car down to the ground, sticking to the ground, for the car to turn corners faster. 

“It's interesting, you don't pay attention to the air, you can’t see it. Using air to turn it into performance is cool,” Chan expressed. 

The addition of editing will make for an exciting, nail-biting season coming to you on March 7th.

Illustration by Sammie 

For The Uninitiated

When first being introduced to the idea of Formula One, some people’s first reaction is “Oh, like NASCAR!” 

While both NASCAR and Formula One are motorsports, they are quite different.

For one, NASCAR is an entirely American sport, Formula One is international. Additionally, NASCAR uses typical cars that have been modified to race at high speeds, while Formula One cars are engineered to be marvels of aerodynamics, with little tying it to the build of a typical car. NASCAR also exclusively races in ovals, while Formula One races in many different configurations including some street circuits, such as Monaco and Las Vegas.