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Mercedes followed Ferrari's lead with Netflix series absence

Mercedes followed Ferrari's lead with Netflix series absence

19-03-2019 17:45
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Jake Williams-Smith

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has revealed why Mercedes did not appear in Netflix's new F1 series: 'Drive to Survive'. The series instead focused on the sports smaller teams down the grid.

During the Australian Grand Prix weekend, Wolff explained that the decision to not take part in the series was partly due to their rivals for the 2018 world championship Ferrari not agreeing to be a part of the filming process.

“We had some good reasons not to join last year,” Wolff told media in Melbourne.

“The main reason was that I felt that it was a big distraction and could potentially be a distraction especially also because our main competitor was not doing it.

“There is a different environment when you are within your inner circle in the team and you need to protect it, and [then] you have a microphone swinging over your head and a camera pointed at you.

“The media work already, as much as it makes Formula 1 and we must be grateful, has become a very big part of the race weekends. And I felt that doing more of it would harm us in our performance and this is why I decided that it was not for us.”