I’m a former Nascar driver and Sky Sports F1 presenter, now I’m set to become a Netflix star
NETFLIX’S hit Formula One show Drive to Survive is set to feature a new face who will be recognisable to Sky Sports F1 and Nascar fans.
The sixth season of the popular documentary will feature Danica Patrick, a former Nascar and IndyCar driver who has become infamous for controversial statements.
Patrick, 41, first appeared on Sky Sports F1 for the 2021 US Grand Prix, and has become a regular sight for viewers since then.
And now she will be a feature on Netflix‘s F1 docuseries, which has been credited with boosting the sports popularity since its 2019 debut.
Drive To Survive co-producer Tom Rogers explained the reason behind Patrick’s addition.
Speaking to the New York Post, he said: “We attempt to focus on the stories of the sport and with Danica, she brings a great perspective of … what it’s like to drive a racing car … and the challenges of the sport.
“The periphery to that is less important for us in the sense that she’s bringing a good contribution to the story.”
Dubbed the “Queen of the Brickyard” Patrick is among the most successful and recognisable women in motorsport history.
She has started eight Indianapolis 500 between 2005 and 2018 while scoring six top-10 finishes, also winning the rookie of the year award after leading for 19 laps in her debut race.
Patrick left IndyCar for Nascar in 2012, where she recorded seven top-10 finishes over her five-year spell in the series.
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
Since retiring in 2018 she has moved into punditry, where she cultivated a polarising reputation among fans.
Rodgers added: “I think she does a really good job explaining to our viewers some of the thought processes that the drivers are going through.
“Her background as a driver provides a really interesting perspective that we maybe haven’t tapped into before.”
Patrick previously dated American football star Aaron Rodgers for two years before they split in 2020.
She has previously modelled for Sports Illustrated in 2008 and 2009 and had a cameo in the 2019 remake of Charlie’s Angels.
Patrick has copped flak for a number of topics.
These include “insensitive” remarks about former competitors, alleged support of former US President Donald Trump and sharing conspiracy theories about aliens living on earth.
Comments she made while on Sky Sports during the Hungarian Grand Prix last year received particularly sharp criticism following claims from Patrick that F1 was a “masculine” sport.
She said: “I think that the nature of the sport is masculine. It’s aggressive.
“You have to, you know, handle the car – not only just the car because that’s skill, but the mindset that it takes to be really good is something that’s not normal in a feminine mind, a female mind.”
She joins the likes of Will Buxton and Claire Williams on the show’s selection of analysts.
Sky Sports F1 are also undergoing a change after lead commentator David Croft announced he would miss some F1 races for the first time since 2007.
The 2024 F1 season gets underway on March 2, with Lewis Hamilton and co beginning testing in Bahrain this week.
Complete F1 2024 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix and start time this year