UPDATE [10/5/2024]: Our wish has been granted. Daniel Ricciardo’s scripted comedy series Downforce — which is destined for Hulu/Disney+ — has been described as Formula 1 meets Entourage with shades of Ted Lasso. Even better, it’ll be helmed by legendary television writer Alec Berg (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Silicon Valley, Barry) and veteran producer Adam Countee (Community, Silicon Valley, Vice Principals).
While digging online to find out what the hell happened to Day 1s — the project about Premier League footballers created by Doug Ellin (Entourage); first announced back in late 2020 and now ostensibly dead in the water — it suddenly dawned on me. There’s another sport, one that’s been recently enjoying global amounts of attention like never before, which could potentially deliver far greater entertainment value if it were to be given the Entourage treatment: Formula 1.
Hear me out.
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In this post-Drive To Survive era, F1 drivers aren’t just athletes. They’re fashion icons. They’re Top Gun pilots. They’re movie stars — all rolled into one; especially in the case of seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, who was just a scheduling conflict away from literally ticking all three boxes.
And considering the extremely cutthroat nature of their employment — plus the high-octane nature of what said employment mentally/physically/mechanically entails — larger-than-life personalities, eye-watering contracts, and all the chicks aside… it’s territory ripe for cinematic exploration. Hence why director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick), Brad Pitt, and Hamilton himself are currently in the process of producing a feature-length love letter on behalf of Apple as we speak. Practical effects and all.
“But Garry,” I can hear the whinier of you lot saying in an exaggerated falsetto, “The grid is already so well-established. How could you possibly reconcile the fictional and reality without compromising on immersion?”
It’s simple.
Similar to how Ted Lasso approached placing the completely fabricated AFC Richmond in the Premier League — and how Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) interacted with the rest of actual Hollywood in Entourage — the narrative follows a smaller team always on the edge of AAA-list stardom, limiting the wheel-to-wheel action unless absolutely imperative for the story at hand for obvious reasons.
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Ask yourself: how much acting did we actually see Vinny get done across eight seasons of the beloved HBO dramedy? How much football have we actually seen Coach Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) accomplish on the pitch? Exactly.
But if that’s too much of a stretch for you, why not shift the focus to Formula 2? Follow the exploits of young, hungry, volatile hotshots vying for a shot in the big leagues while allowing Formula 1 as we know it to unfold in its own self-contained pocket of existence. I can do this all day, folks, somebody pay me.
Incidentally, beyond whatever negligible impact this article might have upon the media landscape, we’re on track to receive such binge fodder. Or at least, something in the same wheelhouse.
As some of you may recall, last year, it was revealed that Daniel Ricciardo was developing a fictional answer to Netflix’s hit docuseries series for Disney-backed streaming platform Hulu.
Ricciardo, who was then still driving for McLaren Racing, described the untitled project as “Ballers or Entourage” meets Formula 1.
“I teamed up with Temple Hill, they know what they’re doing in that field so I’ve got my full trust in them. I’m basically going to act as executive producer but try to steer the ship a little,” said Danny Ric (via RaceFans).
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“It is fiction but I’ll try to give as much input that it stays on course and doesn’t go too far away where people are like ‘okay, this would never happen’. So I’m going to try and give the best advice I can when I can.”
The Red Bull Racing reserve driver added: “We’re at the point of now just finding a writer. I don’t want to put pressure on the time thing but hopefully by the end of the summer that’s all established. Then it should be casting.”
But don’t expect regular appearances from The Honey Badger. If anything, his onscreen contributions will resemble something closer to Mark Wahlberg’s occasional check-ins with Entourage (and that’s assuming we’re lucky enough).
“I’m not planning to be in it, so it’s literally me from the outside or from afar. But if they need a good-looking stud to cameo…”
Here’s to bloody hoping.
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