The third season of "Formula One", a documentary series on Formula 1, is released this Friday on Netflix.
Thanks to a scripted scenario, an unprecedented access to the wings of a sport until now very closed and a gallery of colorful characters, the program has (r) brought many spectators to the Grands Prix.
DECRYPTION
For many French families, even those who do not go to mass, Sunday is a day of ritual.
Some have opted for the roast chicken, always cut the same way (the best of which, starting with the sot-l'y-leaves), others for the digestive walk, others still for the television news.
And for years, among the homes rocked by the voice of Claire Chazal on TF1, there were some who left the television on in the wake of a Formula 1 Grand Prix. and of which Marianne, 26 spring on the clock, has not kept flamboyant memories.
“There wasn't even the sound,” she recalls.
"I knew Lewis Hamilton, and that's it"
Years later, Marianne swallows all the Grands Prix, or almost, on Canal +.
The encrypted channel reclaimed the rights to F1 in 2013, and gained the young woman's attention only last year.
The silent torpor of family Sunday gave way to excitement over the comments of star presenter Julien Febreau.
And if, today, Marianne "turns up the volume" and is at the "rendezvous at the first corner", it is thanks to a documentary series.
Broadcast on Netflix since 2019,
Formula One: Drive to survive (
Drivers of their destiny
in French), whose third season comes out this Friday, has won over thousands of spectators.
The program, which follows the ten teams and twenty F1 drivers over an entire season each time, has converted many neophytes to the joys of screeching tires and dangerous overtaking.
And put some lost spectators on the path of crazy races.
"
You want to see them win just about all, except Max Verstappen.
"
Juliette readily admits that her level of motorsport knowledge was "nonexistent" before watching
Formula One
with two of her roommates.
"I knew Lewis Hamilton and the word Grand Prix. And that's it."
After two sunken seasons, she is able to cite several drivers, aware of the various strategies, and very emotionally invested.
"You want to see them win almost all, except maybe Max Verstappen [pilot for RedBull, note]. You want the shitty team to finally do better than the last time", explains the youngster. 28-year-old woman, "super sad" when the French Esteban Ocon was fired from the Force India team at the end of 2018.
"They manage to keep you going, like Game of Thrones back then"
The fate of the drivers is what motivates many
Formula One
aficionados
.
"When you watch F1 on TV, you just see cars that make noise, go very fast, and change their tires even faster," recalls Marianne.
"What I liked about the Netflix series is that it humanizes the sport. You really know who's under every helmet."
And what it looks like.
"My chauvinistic side pushes me towards Pierre Gasly, my groupie side towards Daniel Ricciardo, who has a very nice smile."
Elsa, 31, also melted for the Australian, successively at RedBull then Renault.
"He gives off something super nice, super close, I liked it."
Juliet's verdict: "These people are still physically above average."
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But Elsa also admits having been seduced by the "very scripted" aspect of
Formula One
, with episodes centered on a driver or a team, and not chronological.
"It's super well done," points out the thirty-something, a big fan of sports documentaries.
"They manage to keep you going, like
Game of Thrones back
then."
Your ruthless universe
If the series transforms athletes into characters, and their relationships into narrative arcs worthy of the best episodes of
Dallas
, it especially succeeds in the feat of highlighting almost unknowns.
"Where it is strong, it is on the secondary characters", launches Rémi, 42 years old and a solid knowledge of F1, who had "completely let go" this sport by dint of seeing Mercedes crush everything in its path.
"On Netflix, I got to know the other drivers, like Nico Hülkenberg, or the team managers."
He who discovered the series thanks to a colleague "hyper enthusiastic when she knew nothing about it" ended up being the "binge-watcher to death during the first confinement" and fell in love with Christian Horner, at the head of RedBull.
"He's a ruthless shark dating ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, he's amazing."
"
I imagined it more muffled as they really bump into each other.
"
Seeing his battles with Cyril Abiteboul, Renault's general manager, about engine purchases, is one of the intense moments of
Formula One's
first season
.
Likewise, Günther Steiner, their counterpart at Haas, with a sharp accent and strong character, has established himself as a recurring character.
"The series taught me a lot of things, not really about how F1, which I knew, but about the ruthless world that it can be", testifies Rémi.
"I imagined it more muffled, when in reality they really bump into each other."
Unprecedented access behind the scenes
"It's the casting that works well. The engineers, the team leaders, all really express themselves, let the camera run," says Daniel Ortelli.
The journalist has covered F1 for Agence France Presse for years and is preparing to publish
Lewis Hamilton, the road of the champion
(City Editions), a biography of the muse of Mercedes.
The fact that neophytes are passionate about the series does not surprise him.
"The authenticity surprises people. For the general public, F1 was showmanship, glamor. As you see in
Formula One
, it's a lot of work, not just money."
Because between the best laps, Netflix shows endless briefings, eyes riveted on statistics to try to understand why such and such a car drives faster than another, why such and such an engine is disappointing.
"They had access to teams that no one had ever had before," admits Daniel Ortelli.
"We journalists have never listened to discussions between managers and pilots. There, we really have shouting downs, interesting comments."
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What good series also share with fascinating sports are the magnificent losers.
"At the start of season 2, we see behind the scenes of the Haas team, a historic American team," recalls the reporter.
"And we understand that they will never win, because they cannot afford it."
The clashes and misfortunes of Haas, Renault, or even Williams, another American team which has experienced a long descent into hell throughout the two seasons, convinced Jonathan to find his way back to the Grands Prix.
"It completely revived my interest in F1", explains the young man, whose memories of the famous Sunday rituals in front of TF1 were "distant".
"It reminded me of the sporting and strategic interest. Because beyond the fact that Lewis Hamilton wins everything, you remember that even the fourth place is very important for the teams."
"Do not follow the news so as not to be spoiled"
Like Rémi, Jonathan started watching almost every Grand Prix.
To follow the pilot accounts on social networks.
"We have a dedicated messenger conversation with two friends."
Elsa, she can't resist the idea of live-tweeting a race from time to time, when Marianne has undertaken to convert everyone around her.
"Of the ten people that I convinced, seven are girls," quickly calculates the one who, for the release of season 3, plans a dinner with two new friends to catechize.
"
The love of F1 took precedence over the series.
"
But do we appreciate the series as much when we follow Formula 1?
Not everyone has the same religion.
"I try not to follow the news, because I do not want to be spoiled", slice Juliette, who "heard" about the accident of Romains Grosjean on the Grand Prix of Bahrain, at the end of 2020 , but wait to learn more about Netflix.
Conversely, Marianne assumes: "the love of F1 has taken precedence over the series. I know that some prefer to keep the suspense, I went to the other side."
So much on the other side that the young girl bought tickets for the Grand Prix du Castellet this summer.
"When you start watching for real, you might have fewer surprises," admits Elsa.
"But at the same time, we haven't seen everything. I can't wait to hear Romain Grosjean's testimony in season 3."
The same goes for Rémi, who is also hoping for "strong streaks" on Pierre Gasly's remarkable victory at Monza, Italy.
"It's a new era for F1"
What is certain is that the series has changed the way of seeing and consuming this motorsport.
A strategy assumed by Liberty Media, the American company that has owned F1 since 2017, and which found itself under fire from critics by agreeing to collaborate with Netflix.
"On social networks, the figures are on the rise," points out Daniel Ortelli.
Views jumped 48.3% in 2019 compared to the previous year, with F1 being the sports brand that grew the most in terms of number of followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Formula One is part of a larger strategy, but it has made a big contribution to it.
For Daniel Ortelli, "this creates a new category of spectators who, even if they do not have pay TV, will follow the races in a different way. It attracts new customers. It is a new era of the F1 and I find it fascinating. "