What’s on this week
Sky Sports F1 has often faced trial by social media. Whether it be Johnny Herbert joining Sergey Sirotkin in a Russian banya for a natter, a segment constantly replayed whenever the channel needs some filler, or opting to show delayed support series coverage, the commentariat are always close behind. But the channel’s latest offering might just force the mob to abate and instead absorb a new seven-part docuseries reflecting upon the “high-octane drama” provided since the world championship’s inception.
Race to Perfection, produced in-house at Osterley, breaks F1 down into what talking head Peter Windsor describes as “the moments that make us feel why we love the sport called Formula 1”, ranging from championship deciders to controversial moments.
One strong decision taken by Sky has been to buck the recent trend of dumping an entire new series in one go and leaving viewers to it. Rather, the weekly release of new episodes keeps the conversation going longer.
Episode one, Living The Dream, is a 90-minute microcosm of the series itself. Key themes are planted here, including great cars such as the Brabham BT46B (complete with the observations of Gordon Murray and Bernie Ecclestone in fresh interviews), rivalries in the shape of the disagreement between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, and Michael Schumacher’s ruthless aborted qualifying lap at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.
Drips and drops of such topics left Autosport wanting a little more detail, but the length of time on each subject is just about enough to whet the appetite and ensure you come back next time. Juan Manuel Fangio’s championship-winning charge at the Nurburgring in 1957 – complete with footage of the Maserati’s battle against the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins – is a solid base with which to start. But episode one is at its strongest when the journey of the Hesketh team in the mid-1970s is explored.
Lord Hesketh, team manager Anthony ‘Bubbles’ Horsley and chief mechanic Dave ‘Beaky’ Sims detail how they went about running a team as it separated on and off-track antics to the extreme with driver James Hunt. “We spent our time going into a state of terminal depression if we were on the fourth row of the grid,” says Hesketh.
Despite many good anecdotes in this episode, in places it is a little jumbled. For example, Emerson Fittipaldi and Felipe Massa are describing the Brazilian Grand Prix before it jumps to the Hesketh segment, returning to two-time champion Fittipaldi once again, with some Jody Scheckter thrown in.
It can make the episode hard to follow, which is not a problem in the second offering, focusing on final-race title showdowns. It is admirable that Sky opted for some older options with its selections: Japan 1976, Portugal 1984, Australia 1986, as well as Brazil 2008.
Patrick Head and Ron Dennis are among those who offer their reflections, with Dennis suggesting that Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 title win was not down to luck, but a “calculated risk to be in a good position on tyres at the end of the race…”
The obvious comparison for Race to Perfection is Drive to Survive on Netflix. Based on the first two episodes of which Autosport was granted a pre-release viewing, the differences are stark. It does not seek to sensationalise F1, or dumb it down to try to attract new fans. Rather, as the world championship celebrates its 70th anniversary, the series is faithful to history, and offers something to both the long-term fan or the newbie stumbling across it while channel-hopping.
Criticism of Ferrari’s Formula 1 season has rightly been widespread. But for 2021 and drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, what should be expected of the Maranello team to turn around their fortunes? Autosport has its say. Go to bit.ly/fixf1ferrari