Max Verstappen has spoken further about his dislike for the way Netflix choose to represent the narrative of driver relationships and their own personalities as part of a creative licence with the Drive to Survive series. Reigning World Champion Verstappen has made it very clear that he has no interest in appearing in the show again, having publicly voiced his displeasure at how he was portrayed during the very first season. In that season, Verstappen was shown as an antagonist alongside Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull during the 2018 F1 campaign, despite having largely experienced a good working relationship with the Australian. His absence from the fourth season of the show is particularly conspicuous, given that he won the title after a year-long battle with Lewis Hamilton, but Verstappen says his mind is set on not wanting to take part.
Verstappen "surprised" to still be featured in the series
"I watched a few episodes of the last [season], and I was surprised to suddenly find myself talking in it," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365.com , during the recent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend. "It's probably stuff from 2018, or something [that] they picked up and used again, about fighting and what I like to do, but that already is not correct. I could hear that my voice was a bit different. "I realised also... a lot of times I was saying stuff and they were around with this [boom microphone] and they pick up a lot of stuff, so I have to be a bit more careful with that as well." Summing up how he feels about the show, he said: "It's just not my thing."
Verstappen picks out an example with Norris
Expanding on his thoughts, Verstappen explained that he was particularly unhappy with how friends of his from the grid had been portrayed. "Throughout the whole season, they try to pick moments and fabricate it in a way and for me, personally, what I didn't like is not even about me," he said. "It's about Lando [Norris] and Daniel [Ricciardo], who are two great guys. They're really nice, first of all, and they made it look like Lando was a bit of a d**k, which he isn't at all. "I know Lando and I think many people know Lando [as a] funny guy, [a] great guy – he has a great character. When you look at that episode, you really think,'Who is this guy?' and, 'What the hell's going on?' "I think when you're new to the sport, and you've never seen a racing car or Formula 1 car in general, they don't like him. Why should that be? He is a great guy. "You just immediately get the wrong picture of a person. That's exactly what I think happened to me in the beginning. "I think I'm someone who, when you ruin it from the start, you don't fix it. That's it, you've ruined it. So that's my stance and let's all go forward."
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