“He’s always struck me as a very smart driver”: Max Verstappen is Great, but ‘Drive to Survive’ Season 7 Must Shift Its Focus to F1’s Genius Strategist

Netflix’s Drive to Survive has gifted the sport some of its best head-turning moments. Slowed down and highly dramatized for mass entertainment, the show exists more as a version of Real Housewives than a high-adrenaline sport that involves cars flying down the track at 300 miles per hour.

With each season, Drive to Survive has only opened itself up to more controversy as it grows bolder in its manipulation and fabrication of facts. The Netflix series has now become infamously renowned for manufacturing fake rivalries and imposing quotes over unrelated video clips to instigate drama.

However, for those who exist outside the realm of Netflix’s fantasy bubble, some iconic moments from F1 live rent-free in the fandom’s collective memory without a television series having to constantly drill misinformation from the sidelines.

Carlos Sainz makes a mark in F1 as underrated genius

Carlos Sainz Jr. has been one of Formula One’s most underrated drivers. With a rally racer as a father and some of the most competitive drivers in F1 history as teammates and rivals – including 4-time world champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s project, Charles Leclerc – Sainz has evolved into a master racer himself, with an innate sense of the track and technical workings of the car.

Although a relatively young racer in Red Bull, Sainz’s evolution through the years in Renault and McLaren honed him into one of the most brilliant drivers on the grid. Consequently, he peaked during his 4 years in Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc – a strong teammate and an even stronger competitor who challenged him, kept him on his toes, and always had him delivering his best.

Despite being overshadowed by his overachieving teammates, Sainz has consistently worked hard and risen to the occasion more than once. However, one of his strongest suits lies in his ability to outsmart his rivals – not by speed or dexterity but with sheer wit and strategy at crucial moments in the race.

A much-talked-about maneuver that he executed during the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix goes on to prove why Carlos Sainz is an underrated genius behind the wheel and a master of tactical strategy under pressure.

Drive to Survive should break down Sainz’s DRS play

For over a year, Carlos Sainz has kept the world spellbound with his tactically brilliant DRS move at the 2023 Singapore GP. To defend his pole position, Sainz made a split-second decision to slow down and back into Lando Norris to bring him within DRS range. The move not only allowed him to hold off two Mercedes cars at bay but also secure a 1-2 win for himself and Norris.

The sheer brilliance of this strategy was put on display when Sainz’s race engineer warned him over the radio about Norris closing in with only 0.8 seconds between the two cars. Sainz simply replied, “Yeah, it’s on purpose.” With the DRS assist, Sainz secured a glorifying win with his older hard tires despite both Mercedes blazing down the tracks on fresh new mediums.

To this day, fans speak about Sainz’s risky yet genius strategic win that landed him his career’s second Grand Prix win at Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit. A fan went on to break down the technical aspect of the DRS play on Reddit, while another appreciated his quick thinking on the tracks, saying:

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The strategic move not only put the spotlight on Sainz but his unique bond and friendship with former teammate Lando Norris as well. Later, the McLaren driver went on to thank Sainz for the “very generous” DRS boost that helped him secure second place on the podium. Drive to Survive would be remiss to not have its audience relive this iconic moment on the tracks.

Drive to Survive Season 7 premieres on Netflix on 7 March 2025.

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