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The fundamental pleasures of watching Formula One are pretty straightforward.
(Often to thedetriment of historical fidelity, but lets not dwell on that.)
Drive to Surviveis a show that makes the case for these world-class sportspeople as demigods.
Many of these men clearly come across as testosteronic assholes, others not so much.
Nevertheless, its all gravy.
And then theres Guenther Steiner, inarguably the saddest character onDrive to Survive.
The line took off among theDrive to Survivefan base, endowing Steiner with a strange kind of stardom.
Sure, Steiners kind of an asshole, but hes also immensely fun and somewhat sympathetic to watch.
Things always seem to be shit for poor Guenther and constantly threaten to get worse.
Grosjean narrowly survived the disaster, suffering burn wounds on his hands in the process.
He decided to let go of both his drivers, including Grosjean.
Things are no better inseason four, which dropped last week.
it’s possible for you to see where this is going.
(On-camera, Steiner protests this characterization.
Hes not an oligarch, hes a fertilizer guy, he says, nervously laughing.
The camera lingers as he pauses, quietly gulping.)
This deal, unsurprisingly, comes with strings attached.
To begin with, the cars livery sports a distinctly Russian-themed color scheme.
Nikita Mazepin is, frankly, a crap employee.
As a result, Mazepin Sr. aggresses to become more involved, threatening to pull funding.
All throughout, Steiner labors to manage the mess.
(To a point, of course Drive to Survivesimply never touches the Mazepin harassment accusation.)
The hits keep coming for Guenther, continuing beyond the frame covered by thisDrive to Surviveseason.
Worth noting: Both Mazepins are directly targeted by E.U.
sanctions, and the older Mazepin has been identified as a close ally of Vladimir Putin.
The family is now agitatingto get their money back.
But even in his growing litany of troubles, his story still servesDrive to Survives underlying fantasy.
Is any of this shit truly worth it?
But watching Steiner push his boulder up the hill, sometimes I get where hes coming from.
