The Netflix series Drive to Survive has transformed Formula 1, taking it to entirely new audiences and used by F1 bosses to ignite a burgeoning support base in the United States. With season six looming early next year, interest in F1 shows no signs of abating, despite Max Verstappen having long since romped to a hat-trick of drivers’ titles long before the 2023 season’s end.
Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story looks unlikely to have any impact on F1’s ongoing fortunes but that makes it no less compelling as a spectacle. It tells a sporting David v Goliath story, the tale of a team whose owners Honda pulled out of Formula 1 entirely on the eve of the 2009 season in response to the global financial crash. The resulting phoenix from the Ashes saw the team bought for a token pound from Honda (the manufacturer’s boss still proudly possesses it) by its former F1 technical director, Ross Brawn.
