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Ricciardo takes production role on new Disney F1 comedy

Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo has signed on as executive producer for a new Formula 1-themed television show intended to be carried by Disney's Hulu streaming service.

He's the latest F1 figure to move into showbiz, with Lewis Hamilton playing an active role in a new F1 movie starring Brad Pitt from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski.

With Hamilton's involvement, the film has been shooting footage in the F1 paddock over several race weekends for the past year, with a brief interruption due to the Screen Actors Guild strike. It's set to be released in summer 2025.

Ricciardo's project will not be such a big budget affair, but will be a comedy about the fluctuating fortunes of a family-owned motor racing team under the control of an heiress. It has the current working title of Downforce.

According to US showbiz trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter, the show has been written by Alec Berg and Adam Countee, who were responsible for the successful Silicon Valley sit com about the world of tech start-ups.

Read also: Pulling focus - Hollywood sets its sights on Formula 1

Berg has also previously been also a writer for Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and late night talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

As is normal for the Hollywood entertainment industry, Downforce has been given an initial order for just a pilot with hopes that it will then be picked up for a full season.

What Ricciardo will be doing on the show is currently not known, with no further details available at this stage - although he'll likely be quizzed on it during media appearances for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix later this week.

As well as Ricciardo and Hamilton, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has also been approached about being an executive producer for a proposed show for US American broadcaster CBS, which is currently in early development.

Steiner himself emerged from F1's back room to become a global star thanks to his scene-stealing appearances on the Netflix behind the scenes F1 documentary series Drive to Survive..

That show is currently back filming in the paddock for its seventh series, with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali confirming that the most recent season had proved a big hit for the streaming service.

“Season 6 of Drive to Survive premiered on February 23,” Domenicali told investors this week. “It reached the top 10 on Netflix in over 40 market.

"[It] continues to have the highest completion rates - or the numbers of people watched of the series on the platform - when compared to both unscripted and unscripted content," he added.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.