Race to Perfection

This is mostly a collection of archive materials. Nothing new, no fresh angles. And absolutely no sense of direction. Pointless.

This is an F1 production to mark their 70th anniversary. Yes, it's rich in material but as @rvdave-86603 pointed out in his review, it is a promo piece that can't decide its target audience. For those who follow closely there's precious little new but for those who this piece would act as an initiation and introduction, it lacked structure and a narrative. Looking at it, you'd think F1 is not 70 years but F1 somehow only really started in the late 80's.

To me, it felt like it tried to cram everything in an episode without either going into depth or following a narrative arc. I wish it followed the timeline more closely as there is no shortage of stories to cover from before 1990.

From the silver star domination which introduced organisation and professionalism in F1 and Le Mans tragedy in the 50's, Lotus and the focus on aero and light weight of the 60's/70's to the turbo era ushered by Renault 70's/80's before more modern times covered here.

CAVEAT: I write this after watching Episode 1 only.

I've only been following Formula 1 for the past twelve years, so I'm unfamiliar with the great stories and drivers of F1's past. Although this mini-series could've been organized better, it does have interviews with the people who were a part of these great stories, people who knew these great drivers, and so in these ways, it is certainly worth your time if you are a fan of the sport.

OK, it's a vast subject to cover with just 7 episodes, so maybe I was expecting too much, but I was a bit disappointed with the first episode. I'd think this series would be mostly of interest to 'beginners to F1' wanting to learn more about its history, but alas I think it would confuse rather than educate. It was somewhat disjointed, with some important events shown out of sequence. Important characters featured (such as Bernie Ecclestone) should have been better 'explained' to the viewer. So it's really going to appeal mostly to those who already know the majority of the history, which kind of defeats the object. Maybe later episodes will get better?

It's strange how a series on the history of F1can be made without covering the brilliance of Bruce McLaren and the team he created.