Netflix confirms Drive to Survive season 9 will cover the 2026 F1 campaign

Netflix has officially renewed Formula 1: Drive to Survive for a ninth season, confirming the behind-the-scenes docuseries will return to cover the 2026 F1 season.

The show, which first aired in 2019, has granted viewers paddock access and a window into drivers’ lives away from the circuit. Executive producers James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin of production company Box to Box said they are eager to push further with the new run. “We’re so excited to be making Season 9 of this iconic show,” the pair said in a joint statement. “This year we’re going to go deeper than ever before into the hidden spaces of this fantastic sport.”

The series has drawn criticism over the years for creative editing that heightens drama in the style of reality television, but its influence on the sport’s growth is widely acknowledged. It has been credited with significantly expanding F1’s fanbase in the United States and drawing in a younger audience with a higher proportion of women.

Gay-Rees reflected on that impact in a 2023 interview. “Genuinely, we are enormously proud to be a part of it,” he said. “Bringing such a big new audience to a sport — which obviously was deserved, it just needed somebody to open it up — is massively satisfying. The fact that it wasn’t a fluke, the fact that it’s grown… It’s a real honour and we love it.”

Fans responded enthusiastically to the announcement, with one commenting on the official Netflix UK Instagram post: “The Aston Martin episode will be Absolute Television.” Others expressed anticipation for what promises to be a turbulent season, with sweeping regulation changes set to reshape the grid in 2026.

Season 9 is expected to release in 2027, following the established pattern of the show dropping in the year after the season it covers.