The Seat Review: A racing documentary that can resonate with all

By Sienna Wheeler

5/15/2025

After teaming up with Mercedes and WhatsApp, Netflix recently released The Seat on May 5th, a film which views the struggles and successes of Formula 1 racers.  Produced by RadicalMedia and directed by Kyle Thrash, The Seat allows the audience to have an in depth look at the life of a young, up-and-coming Formula 1 driver, Kimi Antonelli. 

Documentaries based on recent stories in the sporting world are not foreign to Kyle Thrash though.  He has directed Maybe This Year, an NFL documentary from 2021 and The Turnaround, an MLB documentary released in 2024.  Both have received praise for their raw emotion and allowed the audience to shift their views on sports and humanity.  In The Seat, Kyle Thrash clearly had a goal of educating the audience on not only inside aspects of Formula 1, but the passion felt by the racers and their teams.

The Seat dives right into the moment when Formula 1 legend, Lewis Hamilton, leaves Mercedes and signs with Ferrari at the very end of the 2024 season.  The move was shocking and left the entire Formula 1 world speechless, as Hamilton won a total of 84 races over the 12 seasons he spent with Mercedes.  While this was very emotional for the Mercedes team, they spent little time sulking over this loss as the big question was “Who will replace Lewis Hamilton?”.  Acting fast, the Mercedes team scouted a number of young racers across racing platforms as they were in need of a replacement fast.  But, taking the seat of a Formula 1 legend is a tall task, and even more of a risk when the new recruit is 22 years younger than their previous veteran.

CEO of the Mercedes Formula 1 team, Toto Wolff, took one of the biggest risks in F1 history as he signed 18 year old Kimi Antonelli, an Italian racing driver and son of former F1 racer Marco Antonelli.  There was immense speculation around this decision made by one of the most successful Formula 1 teams as they decided to let just a teenager go behind the wheel which was once the spot of a world champion.  “Lewis is my second-longest relationship as a partner after my wife Susie.” says Wolff, expanding on the close relationship Mercedes built with Lewis Hamilton over the years.  But, after preparation and testing, it was decided that Kimi Antonelli would race in Monza, Formula 1’s most iconic and historic venue, early on in the 2025 season.  

From here, we are exposed to what goes on behind the closed doors of Formula 1 as we see the pressure that Mercedes felt and the conversations the team kept from the rest of the world.  The film also clearly shows the time and energy that Antonelli spends preparing for these races and the raw emotion he feels while going 200 mph while driving next to 19 other cars.  As Antonelli’s family shows up on screen multiple times throughout the film, it allows the audience to relate to his home life even though the racing aspect of his life does not resonate with everyone watching the film.

Through the close up and first person filming on the track, we get to feel the adrenaline, excitement, and fear that these drivers face while they are in the driver's seat.  The shots around the pit stop crew also allow the audience to obtain more insight to the difficulty of the jobs of a Formula 1 team.  The appealing and closely shot visuals attract more than just those who follow the sport but also a large group of people who deeply appreciate the realism that the camera makes them feel.

Being a documentary, interviews are abundant throughout the span of the short, but action packed film.  We get to hear the thoughts of not only Kimi Antonelli, but what the entire Mercedes team is feeling, including conversations with CEO Toto Wolff, Peter Bonnington (Head of the Mercedes Race Engineering), Bradley Lord (Chief of Mercedes Communications Officer), Gwen Lagrue (Mercedes Driver Development Advisor), and more.  Being able to hear directly from these figures allows for a more accurate and unscripted view of the Formula 1 world. 

The Seat provides the world with insight into lives not normally seen through the lens of a camera and are hidden from the public.  As the film is very short in length (40 minutes), there are moments that seemed rushed.  We got to see the current life of Kimi, but got little insight into his childhood and context of why he truly wants to race for a living.  While that is a slight drawback to the eye-opening film, the other aspects outweigh its running time.  The lively visuals and first-hand accounts of some of the most important Formula 1 figures allow the audience to gain more insight into the sport.  But most importantly, The Seat puts the idea of life as a whole into a different perspective as it promotes the idea of new beginnings and the fact that risks may allow for rewards if executed properly.