Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019) s03e10 Episode Script

Down to the Wire

1 Welcome to the season finale.
It's the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
I can't believe you've recovered so quickly.
Yeah.
Me too, man.
Only just made it.
Lewis Hamilton is back.
He's tested negative for COVID.
It's been a year like, like no other.
The World Championship record is equaled.
Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time champion of the world.
I think what we've done as a team is It's very special.
It's seven consecutive Constructors' Championships for Mercedes.
If you're gonna take on Mercedes, you've gotta be firing on all cylinders.
Oh dear.
That's Max Verstappen.
- Fuck! - Something broke.
Max Verstappen is out of this race and out of the car as well.
You need to see that gap reduced.
Can Red Bull put down a marker for next year? And who will prevail in this epic battle for third? We're in a very good position.
It's gonna go down to the wire.
Who wants it more will probably do it.
The battle for third in the Constructors', it's absolutely incredible that we should be at the last race of the season 'Sup? and still have this massively important fight.
I think we've got a good plan.
It's all coming together.
And now it's going down to the wire.
We have come to the final of the pre-practice sessions in 2020.
The battle for third is Racing Point The key is I don't want to overheat the tires.
Renault It's gonna be hot again.
I think 30 degrees or something.
and us.
All right, let's fucking win this thing.
It's a game where you want to make the most of other people's misfortunes, but, uh also realize that, at any point, things could happen to you.
If anything, we thought Racing Point would be quite convincingly third, so we brought a very good fight to them.
And we knew it was gonna be a very tough fight with Renault.
You think we should be competitive there? I've never been so probably excited about finishing third in a championship before.
It's been a hell of a battle.
I mean, at times, Racing Point's been third, McLaren's been third, we've been third.
It's gonna be tight, but all we can do is focus on this weekend and end the season on a strong note.
That's, uh, you know, the hopes.
To fuck shit up in all the good ways possible.
That's what I'm hoping to do.
On board with Daniel Ricciardo.
Nice job, mate.
Two or three more laps like this would be great.
Okay, this is about my pace now.
Very classy performance.
He's absolutely flying.
Yeah, I think 'cause I'm, uh, I just have amazing natural abilities, uh, I'm the epitome of human high performance Daniel Ricciardo is having a very good final sector here.
It's just hard.
It's just hard to be humble.
It's really hard! I'm just kidding.
Daniel Ricciardo absolutely aces the final sector and goes second fastest.
I honestly feel I'm getting better each year.
There's things I'm still internally, I know I'm doing better, even if it's controlling the pressure, controlling the emotion.
It's also experience, you know.
It's it's my tenth year, I think, in Formula 1 and I'm at that, probably at that nice balance now where I've got, still got the desire and the, let's say, the will to push the car to the limit, but I've also got now the knowledge and experience of being a tenth-year driver.
Is that a podium, boys? Is that a fucking podium? It's a fucking podium! He's here.
Woo! - Mega, man, mega.
- Oh! Daniel Ricciardo comes home in third place and gives Renault their first podium since Malaysia in 2011.
A fucking podium, Daniel! Thank you! Well done.
Every single lap that we see Daniel performing, a moment of uh, of joy and satisfaction, of pleasure, but at the same time, it's negative emotion because we also measure what we'll be missing, what we'll be losing.
It feels like the first podium again.
The joy and, uh, the feeling was missed, so yeah, I'm very happy.
For him, it was so important to make the point and to show that until the last lap of the last race, he will be loyal to his decision that he made a few years ago.
I'm sorry, but yeah, it's it's not complete.
It's not over yet.
So, we made the bet.
It was if I get a podium, uh, he has to get a tattoo.
I probably threw it out there because I've got more than a tattoo or two.
I was like, "Why don't you get one? Do you have any?" He goes, "No.
" I was like, "That's it.
Tattoo.
" So he was like, "Okay.
" Well, you know what, if we do a podium, I'll do a tattoo! - You've got to.
- I can't It's not We've achieved the achievable and it's time to get it done.
Have you done this one before? - The buffet? - No.
- For lunch? - We had it for dinner, it was cool.
It's good to get something healthy, eh? Sometimes, I give up, I'm like It's the first time I didn't check the dessert menu.
- Says the Dyson! - What's that book? One of the boys gave it to me to give to you.
Look.
There's some of the most, like, horrific tattoos.
- Oh my gosh! - It's for Cyril! Oh no! I've never seen someone so excited to get a tattoo, so That Homer Simpson one's awesome.
Have you seen the Judge Judy one? I spoke to him the other night about it.
He reckons he's gonna get it on his ankle.
- Yeah.
- That's the most painful spot! - But I think he feels it's like Yeah.
- It's hidden.
We can pass this on to Cyril.
It's the worst tattoos.
I was not betting against my own luck, I was not betting against my own team, and I'm extremely happy to have to honor this this obligation now that we've done this podium.
Oh, yeah, a bit of sun! There you are looking at me On the elevator Fruit platter? For you? Thank you.
No, it's not for him.
No, no, no.
It's for us.
No, leave it here.
I am the athlete.
I need to hydrate.
What do you mean he's a very important person? - He pays.
- He pays.
But leave it here.
Yay! So, battle for third, we are behind our friends there in Racing Point.
A few more than Renault and a few more than Ferrari.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
We've gone all of a sudden from being the underdog to having a chance to win that midfield battle.
We are doing a good job of making it to the points with both cars.
I think it's time for There you go.
With Carlos's podium last season, a lot of people saw him as, you know, the driver within the team.
That hit me hard because it's something I'd want more than anything, but then it switched, I think, quite heavily, as we came into the season.
I started the year with a podium, then a lot more people saw me as being able to deliver when I need to.
How's it going, dude? I'm quite sore after, um - Golf? - After golf.
- Are you? - Yeah.
- What kind of golf were you playing? - Men's golf.
We're very tight in the championship.
I think, you know, before the last race, we were split by one point.
I was behind.
Now, I'm one point ahead.
- What do you play off, 12? - Uh, 16.
- Carlos is pretty good.
- Yeah.
We want to beat each other, but we also need to do a good job for the team.
We don't have one driver doing really well and one doing not well.
We're pushing each other, and, uh, I think that's why we're probably the closest pairing or closest teammates on the grid consistently in qualifying and races.
Gonna be tight.
- Gonna be tight.
- Yeah.
Racing Point have been third best the whole year.
We'll miss Carlos.
We've enjoyed our time racing with him, but, you know, we're we're excited and, uh, in a couple of races' time, we'll be, uh, thinking all about, uh, Daniel and and Lando, and hopefully, that'll take us yet to another level.
I wanna know what Daniel thinks when he drives it.
What he brings, you know, why everyone says he's so special, why they say he's a better driver than the majority of the grid.
Learning from him, you know, a multiple race winner, a guy who's worked with multiple different teams and so on, I just look forward to that next chapter of the story.
Welcome to the Yas Marina circuit.
It's time for one final blast around the track ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It is the last qualifying of the season.
Renault have been quicker than Racing Point and McLaren all week.
It's a Grand Prix for which pole position is crucial and the last five races have all been won by pole position here.
A tenth and a half covers the top four.
It's very much Red Bull versus Mercedes.
Something is changing a bit for a Mercedes team this evening that have been one and two in qualifying here, uh, for the last six Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
So, pressure then, on Daniel Ricciardo of Renault, just to get into Q3.
Also pressure on Lando Norris' McLaren.
As we watch Lance Stroll.
Can he get into Q3? That'll do nicely.
Lewis, then, really treating his tires extremely kindly on the out lap.
Hamilton crosses the line.
He's back on pole position.
Who can deny him now? What about Max Verstappen? He's gone best of all in the middle sector.
He was only a tenth down in the first.
Max Verstappen's taken pole in the season finale.
Pole position.
That's a statement.
- Excellent job.
- Yes! Come on, boys! Come on! Well done, Max.
Mega lap.
Well done! Ah, this feels good.
Well done, boys.
Amazing.
Amazing.
Great lap by Norris, powering his way.
Gets to about 200 miles an hour.
P4.
Get in.
Fuck yeah! Nice.
Daniel Ricciardo can't get into the top ten and he misses out by just four hundredths of a second to his teammate.
That's a shocker.
I fully expected him to clear the bar and get into Q3.
Both Renaults are out.
Lance Stroll takes eighth place on the grid, sadly for him.
That's going to make Racing Point uncomfortable.
You know, I want to do well, so I I'm frustrated, but overcoming tough times and getting through them, that's something that, um, I've improved at as I've matured.
Fucking surfing! Nice one.
I look back and there's been quite a few, uh, highlights this season.
It's great when you do well.
I was on pole a few weeks ago.
Here comes Lance Stroll.
Stroll crosses the line and he does go pole! 1:47.
7.
It was just such an amazing achievement.
Yes, boys! Let's go! You dream about things in the sport and one of those things is to stand on the podium, to win a race, and, you know, to be on pole.
Brad, I wanna hear you say it, mate.
That's pole position! I wanna hear you say it! That's pole position, Lance, pole position.
Let's go! I love my job.
Lance did a great job putting it on on pole, which just shows what talent, uh, he has.
And then after that, in Bahrain, we scored a significant amount of points.
Sergio Perez comes home to win the Sakhir Grand Prix! And it's the first ever double podium for Racing Point as well, as Lance Stroll takes third place.
Well done, Lance.
P1 and P3 for the team.
Well done, guys.
But you know, sometimes, um you love the sport and it just don't love you back.
Here comes Dani Kvyat down the inside.
Oh, there's contact! Massive accident.
Are you okay? Yeah, I'm okay.
Definitely wasn't a normal race after that happened.
There's Sergio Perez.
Oh, puffs of smoke! That's Sergio Perez very much out of this race.
You know, it's racing.
Some weekends are good and some weekends are bad.
For sure, it sucks.
Uh, none of us were happy walking away from that race, but I'm still learning.
I think we learn every day.
You catch that six-meter wave? - You were killing it out there.
- Yeah.
I definitely wanna work on my consistency, get better and, you know, be there more often.
Um, I just turned 22, so, um, I do see myself getting better, hopefully.
As we bring to an end the Formula 1 season in 2020, 17 races and 3,249 racing miles, it is down to this to decide who gets that third spot in the Constructors' Championship.
There are a fair few million reasons why you'd wanna fight for third in the Constructors' Championship.
It's not just about pride.
It's big bucks.
Big, big bucks.
Racing Point are ten points ahead of McLaren with one race to go.
That's an easy swing.
I would have said a few races ago, it was Renault.
However, McLaren are the ones that are right behind us.
Arguably, Racing Point have been the third-fastest car of the season.
Anything less than third in the Constructors' could be seen as a failure.
We're on this journey to get back to the front of the field, and we've been ninth, sixth, fourth, and here we are, fighting so hard to finish third in the championship.
Renault's a bit further back in the race for third, 12 points behind McLaren, who are in turn ten points behind Racing Point.
Given all the water that's gone under the bridge this year between Racing Point and Renault, there's no way Cyril wants to lose third in the Constructors' Championship to that team.
Racing Point this season, uh, clearly, uh.
no one was expecting a team of this size to to be operating at that level.
So, clearly, finishing, uh, on that podium of P3 for the Constructors' would be, uh, quite something for us.
It's a race that could just conjure up anything and you can feel it, the pressure in the air.
With a ten-point lead over underdogs McLaren, Racing Point must be favorites.
And in his last race for the team, only a fool would bet against Daniel Ricciardo and Renault.
- This is what it's all about, Tom.
- Yeah.
Normal start.
Let's have a good race.
I think we can pull it off.
I think we can pull it off.
All right.
Whatever happens today, thank you for everything.
Fuck some shit up.
Give everything.
Yep.
Thank you, boys.
Fifty-five laps.
Everything we got.
And for the final time, we're racing in 2020.
Verstappen ahead of Bottas.
Norris getting a good start, but behind Lewis Hamilton.
Into the first real big braking zone we go.
Daniel Ricciardo on the Ferrari at the hairpin and he's got himself ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
Currently, your pace is faster than anyone up to P4.
Understood.
Here comes Lance Stroll.
Two points in it at the moment between McLaren and Racing Point, now that Lance Stroll has moved up into seventh place.
Sergio Perez still right at the back.
I'm losing power.
I lost the fucking engine again.
I'm off.
That is absolute heartbreak for Perez and the Racing Point team.
You're fucking kidding me! What could that do for the team's ambitions to finish third in the Constructors' Championship? - What happened? - Perez engine failure.
That's what I want to hear! Go on, Carlos! Daniel Ricciardo in fifth, stayed out and got track position.
- Car behind is Norris.
- Okay.
We should naturally be quicker than Ricciardo ahead.
Yeah, confirm.
This is looking really good.
A good bet for fifth place, McLaren.
202 points as it stands at the moment will be taking that third spot in the Constructors' Championship.
Nice job.
Stroll, the one remaining Racing Point car left in this race.
Ah! Brakes are shit! Big lock-up there from Stroll.
We've got a tire problem.
We have no traction.
I'm trying to brake, but I lock up.
You can understand Racing Point's concern there.
Pierre Gasly has gone down the inside of Lance Stroll.
He's gone past the Racing Point.
They did touch as Gasly went through.
It's unbelievable how bad we are at maintaining temperature.
Stroll's gonna have to look out behind him because Esteban Ocon's catching at a rate of knots.
Verstappen, starting from pole, he's led every single lap of the race.
As he rounds the final corner, the checkered flag's in sight.
Verstappen wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and rounds off the season in perfect fashion for himself and for Red Bull.
Norris crosses the line to finish in fifth and his teammate Carlos Sainz, home in sixth position.
Yeah! Yeah! Daniel Ricciardo will be seventh.
Awesome job.
Thank you.
Ocon is really hustling the Racing Point now in the battle for ninth place.
Ocon has DRS.
Brad, leave me alone.
Go! Yeah! Esteban Ocon left his good work right until the last minute.
It's gonna be Esteban Ocon to finish in ninth place.
Yes! Until the end there.
Oh, well done, mate.
Good effort.
Stroll couldn't score the points that Racing Point wanted and needed.
Oh, fuck.
Thanks, guys.
That was a nice way to send it off.
Thank you, Daniel.
And, uh, we look forward to racing against you next year very much.
Thank you.
We can have a beer tonight.
Two.
Congrats, everyone.
- Lando, great job.
- Great job, Lando! - Cheers, Zak.
- Yo, dude! We all know you would've won the race, but, you know, we did our best.
Great job! Woo! Well, luck is, uh, definitely a part of sport.
I think you create your own, uh, luck by working very hard and having great people.
I think this year, there's more hard work and grit and determination that's gone into it, which is another step, a lot more money for the team.
Getting that third spot's part of that story I'm trying to make with McLaren.
Getting back to that, winning races and winning championships again.
We only did it in the last race, so it was close, but, um, as long as we improve some races, my engineer does a better job, um then I look forward to another season next year where we can hopefully do a bit better.
Come on, man.
Congratulations.
Leaving a team, moving on, I think kind of breaking any relationship is is never easy.
I look back now, and I look back at the start of 2019 and where we are now and yeah, we really did build something.
I'm stoked that we can part ways knowing that it was it was a really nice two years.
Daniel is a fantastic driver.
I cannot not love Daniel.
I love Daniel.
We all do.
Everyone's life has sort of uh, these moments where you know you should be doing something and waiting and pushing, but procrastinating a bit.
Daniel is the one that has pushed us into doing the changes.
I'm not convinced we would have done those changes without Daniel.
Credit to Cyril, he actually called me 'cause he obviously, he really wants to honor the bet.
And I said, "With lockdown, the way Europe is at the moment, it's difficult, so it'll probably have to wait 'til next year.
" Who's paying? You paying or I'm paying? He gets to choose a design and I think he's done that, and I get to choose the size and location and I've done that also.
Not too visible.
But a Mike Tyson thing, no.
I guess the base of it will be something quite traditional and then maybe with, like, a little bit of, uh, a honey badger involvement in there.
But I don't wanna make it too, like, cheesy or anything, but it should also be something that maybe he looks at and giggles, uh, for for the rest of his days.
We should have come third, but it's not easy to do.
Next year, our driver line-up is, uh, Lance and Sebastian, four-time world champion, a veteran.
We wanted to bring in a driver who had the experience of working with world-championship teams.
To have a young, up-and-coming driver with an experienced driver is the right thing to do, and who better to learn from than Sebastian Vettel, who's a four-time world champion? Lance can learn from Seb and, uh, and hone it such that he too, in the future, can aspire to become a world champion, so I think we got a great combination.
Next year, Lawrence has big ambitions for the team.
Any moment, guys, be ready.
Aston Martin is coming in, a great name for Formula 1.
Ultimately, it's all about contract performance and there's a lot that goes into that.
And that's what Lawrence wants to do, that's what we're gonna focus on in the next two, three, four, five years.
Good morning.
The heart and soul of this company started with its racing.
This is the factory where the cars are built.
And then, to support its racing, built the most luxurious bespoke automobiles.
- Looks really good.
- Yep.
So, it was natural to be able to take Aston Martin and align it with these great bunch of guys that is currently today Racing Point.
It's, I believe, the most exciting thing to happen in Formula 1 in decades.
- That's a great color.
- Yep.
Aston Martin are seen as the British Ferrari.
That link with James Bond, that 1960s chic.
It's very, very cool.
You get so excited, seeing all this luxury product, bring Formula 1 to market it and put it on track next year, it's very beautiful.
This is where we have our design center.
Marek Reichman, our chief creative director, and his people Hello, Marek.
are about to show me the visuals of what our cars will look like for next year on the grid.
- How's it going? - Good.
You? Yeah, good.
What we have developed is a very modern green color, which has a dichromatic effect over it.
What does that mean? It means it really sparkles in the sunlight.
That's spectacular.
This looks like it's going faster standing still.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
We gotta make sure it's fast on the track.
That's great.
So, if there's been a lot of jealousy on track of our performance this year, there's gonna be a lot more jealousy from our competitors when they see how good and quick we are next year.
It's a difficult year.
When the pandemic started, we didn't know if we were gonna be still here or not and we needed to do tough decisions about the drivers.
Thank you to all of you and thank you for the time we had here with Kevin.
There is obviously ups and downs, but that's life.
- All right, Kevin.
This is for you.
- Thank you.
Next year, we'll have Mick Schumacher.
This year, he was first in the F2 Championship.
Mick Schumacher, Michael's son.
- This is the race helmet from 2012.
- Thank you.
It's such an honor.
I really appreciate that.
Thank you.
- And Nikita Mazepin.
- Yeah! His father has come to invest in the team.
It's a family which loves racing.
That is what, uh, Nikita loves and what his dad loves.
For the future Haas F1 team, I need sponsors, uh, uh, to survive.
I'm very happy to have him on board.
I'm really excited to start as soon as possible in 2021.
Now we've got a lineup of young drivers, which is great.
Carlos did very well through the 2020, and he's bringing some know-how and experience.
He will fit very well with Charles.
Both young, but already experienced drivers, so I think it's solid foundations for the future.
The plan for 2021 is try and take off where we left off.
We've beaten Mercedes at, arguably, one of their most dominant venues.
It wasn't a lucky win.
It was a pole position and a straight fight against the two Mercedes.
Mercedes produced the most competitive car they've ever done this year.
They are the benchmark currently in Formula 1.
They have dominated the sport for the last six years.
To beat them, you've got to be at the top of your game.
We got ahead of them by the end of the year.
It took a monumental effort, but we've demonstrated it's possible.
With Sergio and his experience alongside Max next year, it's achievable.
We've just got to do it over 23 races rather than over one race.
We've been unbeatable again in 2020 as a team and, um, it doesn't happen for no reason.
Time after time after time, Mercedes create an absolute monster of a machine.
I think, when you reflect on the seventh consecutive title, you have that moment of satisfaction, but that passes quickly.
You think about the next race and you think about the next year, what you need to do in order to stay competitive.
There is no sense of entitlement or complacency within the team.
Breaking news: Toto Wolff has signed up for Mercedes for another three years.
I've led this team now for seven years, which means traveling to all Grand Prix.
I've spent 250 hotel nights last year.
More than 700 hours in an airplane.
And you start to ask yourself how much longer can you do that? But on the other side, I'm a co-owner with Mercedes of the team.
I'm not gonna walk away.
Especially if you like to keep an overview of what's happening.
So, in a way, you need to decide whether you want to be on the dance floor or on the balcony and I'm on the dance floor at the moment.
But one day, I'd like to be on the balcony and oversee the whole situation.
I don't think we're done yet with seven titles.
There's more to come.
This year has been about more than just racing.
Relax.
I can't breathe, my face.
What are you on? I can't breathe! What happened with George, it brought up a lot of emotion.
All of a sudden, things that have been suppressed over my lifetime bubbled to the surface.
And I was like I can no longer stay quiet.
Every Black kid in the world will, at some stage, experience racism.
It's just a fact.
When people call you names and the N-word's thrown around, you're told to go back to your own country when you're in your own country.
There are literally millions and millions of people who will have experienced much, much worse, and that needs to change.
I had it so many times.
In the past years, I've had racist names being called to me, but lately, um, if anybody has said anything to me, I just ignore them.
I was just eight years old.
For someone to look down at a young eight-year-old and tell them they're not gonna achieve anything in life, they must be in a really bad place.
As Lewis began to win, the fact that he was the only Black face on the track became an issue.
My dad would always tell me, "Tread carefully.
Be careful what you say.
" We don't get involved with, um, people who have problems about whether we win or whether what color we are.
We go out on the track and we do our best.
What's it been like for you to be the only Black Formula 1 driver? Sometimes I wonder why.
Why me? Why am I the the only Black driver that's come along and had the ability, not only to get in the sport, but be at the front of it for so long? That's okay.
I mean, I've been built for this.
People probably don't won't know that I grew up, like, on my dad's couch, so we didn't have any money.
I remember the struggle.
I remember how hard it was for my mum with the multiple jobs she had to keep a roof over mine and my two sisters', uh, heads.
I remember how it was for my dad to keep me racing.
So, I I know how hard it was.
And then, on top of that, that other struggle with acceptance and not fitting in, that's all bubbled up into, hmm, you know created the beast, I guess, that you see on the track.
Lewis Hamilton wins! Hamilton has more wins than any other driver in Formula 1 history.
The way I'm wired, I I don't really have a filter.
I say what's on my mind and I'm not always too bothered about upsetting someone if it's gonna make a difference.
And the winner, Lewis Hamilton! What I think this year's shown was when you do have that success, what are you gonna do with it? I'll be damned if I'm gonna win all these championships and have all this success and not, um, use it to make change.

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