EXCLUSIVE: ‘He embraced the series’ – How ‘charismatic’ Ricciardo took on a starring role in Drive To Survive

Staff Writer

Mike Seymour
Share
ricciardo-drive-to-survive-feature-header.png

With countless wheel-to-wheel battles, bold overtakes and hilarious moments in the paddock to choose from over the years, Daniel Ricciardo left an indelible mark on Formula 1. But he also played his part in bringing a legion of new fans to the sport as one of the most prominent characters in Netflix’s blockbuster Drive To Survive series. Following the news of his RB exit, F1.com sat down with Executive Producer James Gay-Rees to look back on the memorable journey…

Embracing the concept

“Hi, I’m Daniel Ricciardo, and I’m a car mechanic.”

A grinning, full-of-life Ricciardo started as he meant to go on when Drive To Survive hit our screens back in 2019.

READ MORE: Ricciardo reacts to RB departure as he reflects on ‘wild and wonderful’ F1 adventure

Fiercely competitive on the track and full of laughs off it, the Australian endeared himself to viewers from the very first episode – enhancing his fun-loving reputation with existing fans and taking F1 newcomers along for the journey.

“I think Daniel just became everybody’s favourite straight away,” reflects Gay-Rees, who oversees the Box to Box production team with fellow Executive Producer Paul Martin. “He’s been an amazing part of it, there’s absolutely no doubt.

F1 Netflix | Official Trailer | Drive to Survive

“I went back to watch the super-tease video for Season 1 the other day. I hadn’t watched it since we made it, probably – it’s a long time ago now. Then I ended up watching a bit of the first episode and obviously it’s the Danny show!

“He embraced the series when a lot of people weren’t really embracing it and gave us a lot of his time. He’s a hugely likeable bloke and just had an infectious energy from the get-go.”

EXCLUSIVE: More access than ever, ‘brutal’ edits and sub-plots aplenty – How Season 6 of Drive To Survive came to life

Honest and authentic

That “get-go” was a meeting with Box to Box heads in London’s East End during the build-up to filming Season 1, which would cover the twists and turns of the 2018 campaign.

Given that two big-name teams in Ferrari and Mercedes initially opted not to take part, Red Bull found themselves as the only front-running force offering full, behind-the-scenes access to Netflix’s cameras and mics through the year.

As a result, Ricciardo took centre stage.

“Funnily enough, I really vividly remember sitting in Shoreditch House with him and some of the Red Bull team, just discussing the idea of the show and what we’d like to do,” continues Gay-Rees. “It was a nice, long, lazy afternoon, having a few too many cocktails!

james-paul-drive-to-survive.png

Left to right: Drive To Survive Executive Producers James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin

“First meetings are always pretty pivotal and seminal. I really liked him then, so we just got into things, and it all started to happen – that was the origin of it.”

When the cameras started rolling, following Ricciardo at the track, his European base in Monaco and with family back home in Australia, the production team knew they were onto a winner.

READ MORE: From his Monaco magic to ‘licking the stamp and sending it’ – Ranking Daniel Ricciardo’s 8 Grand Prix wins

“Daniel’s just very relaxed in front of a camera, isn’t he?” Gay-Rees comments. “He’s very relaxed with himself, he doesn’t overthink it, he’s charismatic, and he’s a very genial human being, so I don’t think he found it particularly problematic being filmed.

“I’d hate to be filmed! I can’t pretend that I would particularly like it, so hats off to anybody who can just roll with that stuff. He totally can do, so it was a really easy win to kind of find him and then to develop that relationship with him over the years.”

Amid all the joking, pranking and iconic one-liners, at no point did Gay-Rees feel that Ricciardo was putting on an act and trying to become somebody else.

ricciardo-drive-to-survive-feature-2.jpg

Ricciardo’s grin reached new audiences when Drive To Survive arrived on the scene

“If you’re Daniel Ricciardo, it’s pretty straightforward – you just be yourself and it kind of works for people,” he adds of the Perth native’s personality.

“You can’t say that about a lot of athletes. That’s a huge generalisation, but a lot of athletes either don’t want the distraction, or they can’t be bothered, or they’re not particularly extroverted or whatever it might be. He was the right guy at the right time, wasn’t he?

READ MORE: How one-of-a-kind Ricciardo left a permanent mark on F1 – both on and off the track

“Daniel became a major part of the show. He was a cornerstone, and still is, in some ways. It was meant to be. He continued to let us inside whatever happened in his career in a really amazing way, so it worked for both parties, I think.”

A career captured

A lot has happened in Ricciardo’s life and career since that very first Drive To Survive episode.

Season 1 covered the then-late 20s driver weighing up whether to stick with Red Bull – where team mate Max Verstappen was growing stronger by the race – or move to a rival outfit and become their main man.

This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your

After those deliberations, Ricciardo settled on a lucrative Renault switch, which would see him out-perform team mates Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon in 2019 and 2020, and bag a couple of podiums, but not add to his tally of seven Grand Prix victories.

Then, for 2021, he made another big decision – one that would change the course of his career.

F1 QUIZ: Daniel Ricciardo special – how well do you know the Honey Badger's F1 career?

Ricciardo was determined to get back to winning ways when he swapped Renault for McLaren, and while he did so with a memorable triumph at Monza in that first season, the rest of his time in papaya left him with more questions than answers.

Struggling to find the same rhythm and consistency as rising star Lando Norris across two different rulesets, Ricciardo would be replaced by countryman Oscar Piastri at the end of 2022 – meaning he was without a seat for the first time since debuting in 2011.

While Ricciardo impressed Red Bull in a test filmed by Drive To Survive to secure a comeback with AlphaTauri (now RB) midway through 2023, his journey was dented by a hand-breaking crash during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, and just over a year on he found himself out of favour once more.

Drive to Survive | Season 6: Ricciardo's test run at Silverstone

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster ride of blood, sweat and tears, every drop documented by Drive To Survive and one last blast to come when Season 7 arrives in 2025 to tell the story of – what appears to be – his final F1 stint.

“I’m sure it’s not necessarily how he would have wanted it to play out, and it’s hard not to ask the question of what would have happened if he’d stayed at Red Bull,” Gay-Rees ponders.

GREATEST RACE: Daniel Ricciardo on the unexpected battle that earned the respect of a champion

“It would have been really interesting, because he was pretty competitive in that car and winning races. I think he would have given Max a run for his money. But who knows? We can all look back and go, ‘Coulda, woulda, shoulda’.

“It’s been an eventful journey with massive highs and some pretty big lows – but that’s modern sport. He won’t be the last driver who has a complicated journey through their F1 career as told by Drive To Survive.”

“The end of an era”

And so, for now at least, the F1 world is adjusting to life without Ricciardo.

ricciardo-drive-to-survive-feature-1.jpg

Plenty of Netflix cameras and mics have followed Ricciardo over recent years

Eight wins, 32 podium finishes, more than 250 starts and 1,329 points scored, along with hours of Drive To Survive footage that added context to his “wild and wonderful” adventure.

Ricciardo’s own suggestion of calling the show ‘Daniel To Survive’ might have taken it just a little too far, but there’s no denying his impact across the six seasons to date.

READ MORE: Horner hopes to keep ‘brilliant character’ Ricciardo in Red Bull family as he hints at F1 lifeline

“It’s the end of an era, isn’t it?” Gay-Rees sums up. “I think it was just a really happy union. We have that with a number of drivers now, which is good. We’re not trying to replace him. We’ll miss him on a personal, professional and sporting level, but nothing lasts forever – for any of us!

“If it is the end, it’s sad. We’ll be sad to lose him in that capacity, like we were sad to lose Guenther Steiner, in a way. But he’s a young man, he’s got a lot of time ahead of him. Who knows where it’ll take him? I’m sure he’ll have a pretty rich and storied life going forward.

“He’s going to be around in some capacity… I wouldn’t necessarily mind trading places with Danny Ric going forward, do you know what I mean? He’ll have a lot of fun!”

Head to Netflix to watch every episode from the Drive To Survive archive.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Coming Up

Coming Up

News

Dan Fallows to leave role as Aston Martin Technical Director ahead of Newey arrival