The Netflix documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive was a huge success and, in some ways, changed the sport forever. Now that the summer break is over, the first comeback race, The Belgium Grand Prix, happened on August 27th. The fans can feel a bit more relieved that they will be able to see their favorite drivers fight for the podium more regularly. However, a race a week may not be enough for sports fans to enjoy.
Exciting sports documentaries are a great form to present a new sport to someone who otherwise wouldn't watch or follow a specific sport. And even though some sports may be extremely different, the pressure, athleticism, and high stakes are just some of the many shared elements of every high-performance sport. There has been a new wave of productions like Drive to Surviva mostly due to the impact that a successful documentary can bring. An example is the upcoming NASCAR documentary, Race for the Championship, which is set to premiere on September 1st.
While Drive to Survive fans eagerly await what appears to be a very interesting season, they can enjoy other documentaries and maybe fall in love with other sports. Here are a few documentaries, some movies, and some series, for fans of the Netflix sensation.
Hard Knocks
Hard Knocks follows a new NFL team each season. The series already has 17 seasons, so there are plenty of episodes to binge-watch. This show may be better suited for fans that already know a bit about the sport since it doesn't waste time explaining the rules of how the game works, but is nonetheless a visually gorgeous show, with some extremely crystal-clear camerawork and great slow-motion, along with some very intimate scenes. A strong factor of the show is that it exposes the relationships between athletes, coaches, and the other people involved in the teams, as well as insights in a way that may be not available even to long-time fans.
Senna
Ayrton Senna is one of the most popular pilots in Formula 1 history. And, for various drivers featured in Drive to Survive, he is one of their biggest idols and inspirations. The documentary Senna focuses on the life of the Brazilian driver (with such topics as his relationship to religion and fanaticism for the sport), as well as his career. This is a perfect watch for fans of the Netflix docuseries since they are already familiar with the rules and language of Formula 1, which are not fully explained in Senna.
The Price of Gold
The Price of Gold examines a big, if not the biggest, violent attack that occurred in the history of figure skating: the incident between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. The documentary focuses a lot on the pressures that come from a sport that demands the such high performance of its athletes. Kerrigan decided not to participate in the documentary. The production is more successful in exposing what happened rather than answering questions, especially about such a complex person as Harding.
Schumacher
Schumacher's name is so iconic that you don't have to be a Formula 1 fan to know who he is. Schumacher, deep look at the pilot's career and real life, tends to be a bit in favor of his acts, even the ones that were considered reckless on track. The unfortunate skiing incident in 2013 is mentioned, but there isn't any new information about it.
Regardless, this is a very well-constructed and moving compilation of archival footage, new interviews, and beautifully filmed sequences. Beware, this movie might make you cry, but it will also make you cheer for the seven-time World Drivers’ Champion. Also, his son Mick Schumacher is currently a driver for Hass: one of the teams featured in the Netflix series Drive to Survive.
The Last Dance
The Last Dance is a Primetime Emmy Award winner that focuses on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s. The series has interviews with Jordan himself, as well as special guests such as former president Barack Obama. The series received some backlash since Jordan's own production company was a part of the development and production of the series, a fact suspiciously omitted from the credits. This can lead to misleading journalism and a not-so-clear factual point of view of what happened, but if you're a fan of Michael Jordan and agree with his perspective already, the series is a beautiful manifestation of his point of view. Nevertheless, is an entertaining watch about one of the biggest modern athletes.
Icarus
Icarus is an Oscar-winning documentary about a scandal that covers multiple incidents that dictated today’s Olympics regulations: Russia's state-sponsored doping program. The film follows the amateur cyclist, Bryan Fogel, as he tries to beat the doping system to perform better at a race he had trouble in the past. For that, he asks the help of several people, including someone who would be, months later, in the midst of one of the biggest scandals in the Olympics history, Grigory Rodchenkov. It's a tense, disturbing, and eye-opening documentary.
Athlete A
Athlete A is about one of the most shocking revelations in the sports world: over 500 women gymnasts came forward as victims of sexual assault by the doctor Larry Nassar for over two decades. The documentary starts right after Simone Biles won numerous gold medals in the Olympics, and for her to be a part of this group was eye-opening for many people about the brutal reality of such a famous sport and the tactics applied to cover for abusers, such as Nassar.
Le Mans: Racing is Everything
Le Mans: Racing is Everything is an intense series about the even more intense 24-hour race, the oldest endurance race in the world, which happens in France. In the same sense as Drive to Survive, it dives deep into each team and the pilots. It has been said that the show has somewhat of a reality TV style narrative, which the Netflix Formula 1 series was also criticized for, but if you're already a fan of Drive to Survive and racing, this would pprobably just be a benefit. The show premiered in 2017 and has only one season.