Breaking news
Formula 1
Netflix series would have been "distraction" for Mercedes
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Mercedes did not take part in the Netflix series about the 2018 Formula 1 season because the team viewed it as a potential distraction.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Mar 16, 2019, 6:56 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Mercedes and Ferrari were the only two teams not to open their doors for extensive behind the scenes filming, and Wolff conceded that the decision by the Italian team not to taking part influenced his own.
The sport's two frontrunning teams are featured in the 10-part series only in generic race and paddock coverage, with no behind-the-scenes insight.
"I think we had some good reasons not to join last year," said Wolff.
"The main reason was that I felt 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're within your inner circle in the team and you have to protect it and you have a microphone swinging over your head and a camera pointed at you.
"The media work already, as much as it makes F1 and we must be grateful, has become a very, very big part of the race weekends and I felt that doing more of it would harm us in our performance.
"This is why I decided that it was not for us."
Wolff admitted that after seeing the finished result he might now have second thoughts.
"I'm open minded. I watched the first three episodes on my way over. I liked some of the things in there. Certainly the production's great, how it's made is on a very high level.
"It shines a completely different light on F1. The narrative is interesting. It creates stories that are not the obvious ones. It's not about Ferrari against Mercedes. The sport is maybe not the primary narrative but interesting other stories.
"I get feedback from people that are not normally so interested in F1 and they said it's great. So therefore we need to make up our minds. Some of us will still our heads together and evaluate whether we want to do this or not."
Asked if his sponsors had questioned why Mercedes received so little coverage, he said: "No, I think in a certain way we got good feedback that we weren't in.
"Some of our sponsors, and FOM was the same, said 'Yeah it makes sense because you never get to see some of the other teams'.
"They felt that it was on purpose from our side and they understood that the distraction was a risk.
"This is the line that I still think it was the right thing to do. We've seen the result and it's good and now it's about deciding whether we're in."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Australian GP 2019: What to look out for
Next article Australian GP: Bottas takes dominant win as Ferrari struggles
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Mercedes
Max Verstappen stars with 15-place charge in 45 minutes: 'I learned a lot and had fun'
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
Portimão
15 h
Max Verstappen stars with 15-place charge in 45 minutes: 'I learned a lot and had fun'
Latest news
Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
14 min
Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season
Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
17 min
Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons
Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
1 h
Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss
NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
1 h
NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe