Feel a bit embarrassed, to be honest, because it took me fa while to subscribe to Netflix and start watching Drive to Survive. But in my defence, I have not been the most loyal F1 fan over the years.
I would call myself a Michael Schumacher-era F1 fan. Back then you could watch F1 in Latvia without paying for a subscription – you had LNT, and every other Sunday you had your race. I still remember the voices of our Latvian F1 commentators like it was yesterday. And after Schumacher retired for the first time, I think that is when I stopped watching. Can’t tell if it was solely for that reason, or because my father also stopped watching Formula 1, or because LNT stopped broadcasting the races. You know, writing this down, the latter seems the most likely.
Nevertheless, I kept one ear open. I followed who became the new champion, I watched F1 race highlights on YouTube, but that was it. Only recently did I re-ignite my interest – I started listening to podcasts such as “F1: Beyond the Grid“, I kept watching practice, qualifying and race highlights, and I bought a few F1 biographies (see below). But even after all that, I still had not watched a whole race.
Now, when I moved to Brussels, I subscribed to Netflix, and only two months later I decided to start watching Drive to Survive. So I have only one question to ask myself. WTF was wrong with you? The series is great. The emotion, the engineering, the race highlights, the interviews. It is everything you would want from a sport that you truly enjoy. Yes, next season I will probably not join any of the F1 teams, but I will definitely subscribe to F1 race streams. That is done. But. I am also seriously considering going to my first F1 race. And it is most likely going to be the Belgian GP at Spa. The ticket is not yet in my pocket, but I am seriously thinking of pulling the trigger.
And one more thing. Being a watch guy, I noticed the watches on the wrists of the various F1 drivers and team principals. Richard Mille sponsors Ferrari – and McLaren too – IWC is with Mercedes, and TAG Heuer has been with Red Bull since 2016. Before Richard Mille, Ferrari had Hublot. And you can’t leave out Rolex when you talk about sports sponsorship, although even that has changed: TAG Heuer took over as F1’s official timekeeper in 2025. When you look at wrists in Drive to Survive, Richard Mille is dominant. But the one wrist that caught both my eye and my memory is that of Claire Williams, with a beautiful Rolex Daytona.
Amazing. When people around me said they were watching Drive to Survive and that I should too, I just shrugged and said no. But now. Now I’m a fan of both the series and, most probably, the sport itself.
Stay passionate (as Kym Illman likes to say).
Kind regards,
Olaaf
