Drive to Survive: Channel Nine’s Danika Mason makes a very surprising appearance on one of the world’s biggest TV shows

Channel Nine sports reporter Danika Mason is now being watched by millions upon millions of Formula One fans after landing a shock appearance on the Netflix smash hit Drive to Survive.

Credited with bringing a new generation of fans to the sport, the TV juggernaut has been one of the streaming giant’s most successful shows since it launched in 2019.

The most recent season launched last week and fans were treated to Mason’s cameo in the very first episode.

Formula One’s biggest story of recent years broke before the first race of the 2024 season as iconic driver Lewis Hamilton made a stunning switch from Mercedes to Ferrari.

Episode one of this year’s season opens with footage of how the biggest names on the grid reacted to the news, with the producers using a clip of Mason announcing the development on Channel Nine to illustrate its global impact.

‘We’ve got some huge breaking news. In one of the biggest bombshells in Formula One history…’ Mason begins, before the show switches to another news announcer revealing Hamilton’s switch.

Pictured: Danika Mason during her cameo on the seventh season of Netflix’s smash hit Formula One show Drive to Survive

The Channel Nine star appeared in a segment illustrating the global headlines made by the shock defection of Lewis Hamilton (pictured) to Ferrari

The inclusion of Mason (pictured with footy legend Johnathan Thurston) on arguably the biggest sport TV show on the planet comes after she got some big news from Nine  

The audio then reverts back to Mason as she says the seven-time world champion is ‘announcing he’s defecting to arch rivals Ferrari in 2025’.

Mason’s cameo on the Netflix juggernaut comes just weeks after she was announced as the new sport presenter on Nine’s Today show, replacing Alex Cullen after he was sensationally axed for accepting $50,000 from The Block billionaire Adrian Portelli.

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s switch to the Prancing Horse is just days away from its first true test at the Australian Grand Prix.

While McLaren are generally thought to have the fastest car on the grid going into the season’s first race, Ferrari’s new SF-25 model performed well in preseason testing and many experts think its characteristics suit Hamilton more than the cars Mercedes gave him since the last major rule changes in 2022.

The Briton will face very stiff competition from teammate Charles Leclerc but remains confident he can win a record eighth driver’s title for the Scuderia.

Hamilton blasted the crtitics who believe he is too old at 40 to break Michael Schumacher’s world record, insisting he is ‘built different’ to the rest of the field.

‘Don’t ever compare me to anybody else,’ he told Time magazine. 

‘I’m the first and only Black driver that’s ever been in this sport. I’m built different. I’ve been through a lot. I’ve had my own journey.

Hamilton (pictured with teammate Charles Leclerc) will be the centre of attention at the Australian Grand Prix as he drives his Ferrari in anger for the first time

The seven-time world champion has hit back at critics who believe he’s too old to take a record eighth title with the Prancing Horse

‘You can’t compare me to another 40-year-old, past or present, Formula One driver in history. Because they are nothing like me.

‘I’m hungry, driven, don’t have a wife and kids. I’m focused on one thing, and that’s winning. That’s my No.1 priority.’

Hamilton’s defiant words came after former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan said it was ‘absolutely suicidal’ for Ferrari to let Hamilton’s predecessor Carlos Sainz leave the team. 

‘I never, ever reply to any of the older, ultimately, white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing. How you show up, how you present yourself, how you perform slowly dispels that,’ Hamilton said.

The Italian team’s newest member showed he’s still got it when he set the fastest lap for Ferrari in preseason testing in Bahrain.

He also got some strong backing from former F1 star Juan Pablo Montoya, who backed the ex-Mercedes star to beat reigning world champion Max Verstappen.

‘Verstappen is not going to be a problem for Lewis this year,’ Montoya said.

‘I would be surprised if Red Bull came out to fight like in recent years.’

He added: ‘When he went up against Lewis [to end Hamilton’s dominance] and took no prisoners, everyone thought: “Oh, great. Finally someone is standing up to Hamilton”.

‘Now the positions are reversed.’