The makers of the upcoming Netflix documentary about Formula One have accused Mercedes and Ferrari of doing a disservice to the championship.
The 10-part series Drive to Survive will be released on March 8, a week before the opening race of 2019 in Melbourne, the Australian Grand Prix.
The Netflix crew followed the sport throughout the 2018 campaign after being granted fly-on-the-wall access, with eight of the ten teams originally agreeing to take part.
It meant the series will not focus on the sport's two front-running teams, who fought for both championships and won 17 of the 21 races across the year. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, the most marketable driver on the grid, won his fifth world title during the season.
The absence of the two teams has been criticised by the show's executive producer.
"Mercedes and Ferrari wanted to operate under different terms to the rest of the teams, and we didn't feel comfortable with that," Paul Martin told the Telegraph. "My view is that they did a slight disservice to the fans and the sport by not taking part."
Ferrari eventually reversed its original decision ahead of its home race, September's Italian Grand Prix at Monza, although its participation was still minimal. Mercedes said it did not allow Netflix access due to its focus on beating Ferrari across the season.
"We were delighted to see that last season's compelling, year-long battle for the championship between Ferrari and Mercedes helped drive 10 percent growth in unique viewership for F1 worldwide and made the sport the fastest growing in the world on social media," a Mercedes spokesperson said. "Competing for the world championship is an all-consuming business that demands every ounce of focus from the entire team; we are driven first and foremost by performance in every decision we make."
Despite the reluctance of the championship's main protagonists to take part, Netflix cameras were present at the 2019 car launches and during the opening week of pre-season testing in anticipation of a second series focused on the upcoming championship season.