Toto Wolff says he will never say that F1 is trying to use Netflix and Drive to Survive influence to spice of things for entertainment purpose.
With the success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive show over the years, the chorus throughout the 2021 F1 season was about its influence on racing where entertainment quotient was raised more often than not by the fans who called themselves traditionalists.
As the popularity of Drive to Survive grows and the fans it is bringing in, there are many who think F1 and the FIA does try to indirectly create dramatic situations, much like how the makers try to dramatise some of the happenings in their episodes.
The shout post the Abu Dhabi GP finale largely centered around ‘conspiracy’ and also ‘done for TV’. While the decision seemingly was taken with the idea of a photo finish among the F1 title rivals for one lap, Wolff doesn’t think it was done for the Netflix show.
While he notes that sport should come before entertainment, but in the same vein Wolff back the work of Stefando Domenicali from marketing perspective. He categorically put down the sayings that things were specially done for the show.
“I would never want to put such thing in…I would never, how could I say, I would never say such thing,” said Wolff when asked if the popularity of the Nextflix show and good TV ratings, F1 and the FIA were trying to dramatise situations. “Because at the end, we provide entertainment and it is entertainment which needs to follow sport and not the other way around.
“And the rules are the rules, the consistency of the application of the rules is important. And no decision making should ever happen contrary to the rules just to spice up the action. We love Netflix and Drive to Survive, Stefano Domenicali is doing a phenomenal job in marketing the sport and Stefano as a true racer would have no interest in interfering into racing, just for the entertainment.
“I could never judge the pressures of a race director but in any case, we are so credible as a sport because it is sport and it is not wrestling,” summed up Wolff, who added above that he doesn’t think Michael Masi was just the medium, with the real idea coming from the Formula One Management, who controls the world feed.
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