India, March 16 -- Lando Norris, the McLaren driver who won the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, launched a scathing attack on the latest seventh season of Netflix's docu-series 'Drive To Survive'. The 25-year-old didn't mince his words as he accused the show's makers of falsely portraying drivers for dramatic effect.

For the uninitiated, the latest season of 'Drive to Survive' was released on Netflix in March 2025. It features Norris in a prominent role as he fights it out with Red Bull's Max Verstappen for the Driver's and Constructor's Championship.

It must be mentioned that 'Drive to Survive' has often been credited with increasing the popularity of Formula 1 worldwide. However, questions about how the drivers are showcased in the series have often been raised. The editing patterns by its production company, Box to Box Films, have also been scrutinised.

After qualifying, Norris slammed the makers for manipulating the footage, suggesting that he and Max Verstappen remain good friends. The seventh season of 'Drive to Survive' implicated tension between the two, and the friendship gave way to a heated rivalry.

"They need to show the truth about people more. I'm not a fan of fake stuff. I want facts, I don't want made-up scripts and fabricated nonsense, which there is. The portrayal of Max and how we were against each other so much. They don't need to create," Guardian quoted Lando Norris as saying.

"There's drama, they can just show the facts of the drama. They don't need to do anything more than that. They need to come back to reality a bit more, it's drifted too far away," he added.

Lando Norris won his first Grand Prix last year in Miami. In the series, this race was shown as a close contest between Norris and Verstappen when the McLaren driver won comfortably.

Verstappen was shown looking unhappy at the Miami Grand Prix result. However, it has now come to light that the footage was not taken from the particular race; rather, it belongs to the Dutch Grand Prix from that year. It has since been declared an "error" and removed from the series.

"To portray someone in an incorrect way, people are going to have their opinions of that incorrect person, it's almost lying in some ways," said Lando Norris.

"I just don't think that's correct. I don't think you can paint someone in the wrong picture when it's not the truth. I don't think it's fair for anyone in the world, especially as it has such a big following and so many people love it, people believe what they see," he added.

Max Verstappen had also been critical of the series earlier, saying he was not impressed. "I watched two episodes, but I was not very impressed. It's just not my thing, faking rivalries," he had said.

Netflix has already started filming for the eighth edition of 'Drive to Survive' at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris won the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes' George Russell also finished on the podium.

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