Esteban Ocon Comments On Drive to Survive Inaccuracies: "I Never Said That!"

The Alpine driver calls out the show for twisting situations.

Formula 1 teams may need to take into account how Netflix constructs Drive To Survive for the sport.

Season 5, which includes Max Verstappen after his previous boycott, was intended to satisfy the more traditional "purist" F1 fans, but Esteban Ocon's comments dashed those hopes by stating that Drive To Survive "strangely" reflects reality.

The Alpine driver explained:

"I found it strange when I finished P8 in France and I said 'this felt like a win today'. I never said that!

"I think I probably said it when we finished fifth in Austria or fourth in Japan, but not when I finished eighth in France."

Verstappen and Ocon are not the first to blast the show for this. Lando Norris said in a recent YouTube video that they made it seem like him and former teammate Carlos Sainz were "enemies". 

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has also said about the show to the Ekstra Bladet newspaper:

"I think we have to be careful with these kinds of details.

"We do have the opportunity to check the episodes before the final version, so we probably just have to be better at telling them that it was never said."

The fifth season of Drive to Survive was released last week as fans were getting into the 2023 pre-season testing in Bahrain. The fifth season was filmed throughout 2022 and gave an overview on some of the biggest moments from the season, including the Red Bull cost cap saga, Mercedes' performance struggles with the W13, and Ferrari's many strategical errors which affected Charles Leclerc in his running towards the championship win. 

Drive to Survive gives fans additional insight into the sport as well as behind-the-scenes access to conversations happening off track.