Daniel Ricciardo to take up role of F1 pundit with renowned media outlet in 2023 - Reports

Daniel Ricciardo could find himself as part of the broadcasting team at ESPN next season, as alluded by ESPN president of programming and original content Burke Magnus.

As reported by RACER.com, Magnus told the website that it's something that has been looked at and could be on the cards for Ricciardo next season. He said about the outgoing McLaren driver:

“He’s obviously a tremendous personality that really resonates with the fans, especially in this country. So nothing specific there, but I don’t think it’s a stretch. I have no idea what he’s interested in doing honestly, but he’s certainly got the personality for our line of work, I would say.”

ESPN have signed a three-year extension for F1 broadcast in the US and are looking to broaden their coverage and presentation. According to Magnus, one of the biggest sports broadcaster in the world has not left anything off the table and is open to new ideas that could involve Daniel Ricciardo. He said:

"Nothing’s out of the question. For those who know us, we like those kinds of things. We did College Gameday from the COVID Masters that happened in November of 2020. so we’re up for anything. I think it’s critically important to see F1 drivers through the context of American sport."

He added:

“We did a feature last year where we highlighted the friendship that Daniel Ricciardo has with Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills – certainly one of the best NFL quarterbacks going right now. So trying to integrate F1 into our entire portfolio through creative ways of presenting content is definitely top of mind for us."

According to Magnus, plans to have Ricciardo in the broadcasting team next year are not set in stone, but ESPN are looking attract both the casual and hardcore fan to the sport. He said:

“We haven’t made any firm decisions but Manningcast, for example, that we do on Monday Night Football, something like that for Formula 1 would be incredibly interesting as well – an alternate presentation above the race that could help sweep in casual fans. The upside in our business is always the casual fan. The avid fans are going to be there; the upside is getting more casual fans and creating avid fans of them.”

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ESPN content involving Daniel Ricciardo could focus on beyond race production

According to Magnus, ESPN are not looking to replace the race coverage that's picked up from Sky, which will continue. There is, however, a focus on bringing Ricciardo in for pre-and post-race content to have more engagement. He said:

We’re really pleased with Sky’s production of the races themselves. We’re focused on a next step for us, which is to build around their production of the races and do more ancillary and shoulder content that has our flair to it. Especially in this hemisphere – you see what we do when the race was in Miami, you see what we’re doing (at COTA), the race in Mexico City, the race in Brazil, Vegas next year, having a more consistent presence on-site."

Such a stint with ESPN could work for Ricciardo, as he doesn't have a guaranteed seat anywhere next season. It will be interesting to see if Ricciardo takes the plunge or not.