Russell defends F1’s Netflix ’fakery’

George Russell has leapt to the defence of the official Formula 1 Netflix series Drive To Survive, as the newly-released season 6 continues to divide opinions.

For years now, despite the series being credited for contributing to F1’s soaring popularity, the sport’s ’purist’ elements have blasted Netflix for on-screen fakery.

But instance, one scene in the new series depicts Lewis Hamilton in Toto Wolff’s office for his contract extension signing - but Bild newspaper claims the actual signing "never happened that way".

"It was filmed specifically for Netflix," the major German publication declared.

The producers also add car, tyre-screeching, crash and crowd sound effects, while faked ’live’ commentary is inserted throughout the action sequences.

For those reasons, world champion Max Verstappen has been reluctant to take part at all in recent years. The Dutchman recalls one season in which they used statements he made from years earlier was included.

"It was stuff from 2018 that they used," he declared. "My voice sounded completely different - younger. You’re supposed to get the impression that it’s from now, which is not right."

Mercedes’ George Russell, however, says Drive To Survive is now "so important for all of us in Formula 1" that he accepts the Hollywood tactics.

"We’ve seen how the sport has changed for the better over the years, how interaction with the fans has increased, how new people have come into the sport," he told Bild.

"People are upset that everything is dramatised, but at the end of the day, like any documentary, you want to shine the best light on your sport and its history.

"As long as it has a positive impact on Formula 1, I don’t think there is a real problem with it," Russell added.