Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves has begun preparing to host a planned four-part docuseries about the 2009 Formula 1 season, which is anticipated to premiere on Disney+ in 2023.
The four-part docuseries will feature the remarkable comeback of the old Honda team under Ross Brawn, managing director of Formula 1.
2009 saw Brawn acquire Honda team, rename it Brawn Mercedes, and enjoy immediate success. Jenson Button, the 2009 World Drivers’ Champion, and Rubens Barrichello, who finished in the third position same year, helped Brawn’s squad win the 2009 Constructors’ Championship.
At the conclusion of 2009, Brawn sold the organisation to Mercedes-Benz. He remained with the group until 2013, when he took a vacation from Formula One. He came back in 2017 to assume his current position, this time as a manager on the administrative side of the sport.
Reeves has reportedly been conducting interviews for the series and has recently been sighted at many F1 races, according to Variety. Former Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo, former F1 driver Rubens Barrichello, and both Button and Brawn are among the individuals mentioned.
“It’s been really great to be able to learn more about what was going on in Formula 1 that year,” Reeves said.
“It wasn’t just the cars, new regulations, FOTA (Formula 1 Teams Association), breakaway series… I mean, there was just so much happening in Formula 1 at that time.”
Formula 1’s popularity has been on the rise since shortly after U.S.-based Liberty Media purchased the assets after the 2016 season and started a plan to court a new, younger generation of fans.
Last season, when Mercedes’ four-time defending champion Lewis Hamilton lost the championship to Red Bull’s sensation Max Verstappen, the action on tracks across the world reached its peak.
F1 has reached a new audience thanks to the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. A Formula 1 movie that Brad Pitt, John Krasinski, and Jerry Bruckheimer are working on recently received the green light from Apple Studios.
According to Variety, an Italian studio is working on a movie about the first female driver, while a series about former Formula 1 czar Bernie Ecclestone is also in the works.
All of those initiatives will help Disney-owned ESPN, which recently prevailed in a battle to keep the rights to show races through 2025, albeit at a fee that was significantly higher than what it had been paying.
