As Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes prepared to defend their World Championships ahead of the 2019 season, the docuseries Drive to Survive aired on Netflix for the first time – and the popularity of Formula 1 soared.
Formula 1 struggled to stay in the sporting mainstream for much of the last decade as TV rights were acquired by Sky, placing the pinnacle of motorsport firmly behind a paywall.
Tim Fullbrook, the creator and founder of The Racing Blog, suggested that the Netflix show owes its creation to the fact that Formula 1 is only available via pay-TV.
“I think the TV paywall fuelled the fire and the need for Drive to Survive.”
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