Duel: Hamilton vs Verstappen

SPS were engaged by Sky Sports to provide full post-production on Duel: Hamilton vs Verstappen – a two-part 60-min documentary telling the definitive story of the astonishing championship fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The brief was to relive the dramatic moments, huge crashes, and controversies on and off the track that shaped one of the greatest Formula 1 seasons of all time.

Following a meeting with Sky Sports’ Director of F1, we selected a seasoned team that understood the creative style, had experience working closely with the Sky Sports’ producer, and that were able to execute the objective of combining archive footage from the season with exclusive interviews with Sky’s on-screen talent and the main protagonists to add context to the epic battle.

Due to other commitments, interviews with the Red Bull team were delayed until F1 testing in Barcelona – 6 days before the whole edit had to be locked in for audio and grading. In the build-up to ‘picture lock’, our team worked tirelessly to pivot and overcome these unforeseen circumstances and the resulting time challenges to complete online, offline, sound design & mix, and colour grade ahead of final sign-off.

The docuseries was completed in around 3 months, edited in Avid, given a Baselight grade and a Pro Tools audio mix, and delivered for transmission on Sky Sports F1, Sky Documentaries, and Sky Showcase in March 2022.