Why secretive F1 has rolled out red carpet for Brad Pitt and Hollywood

As fans waved their flags and screamed the names of their favourite drivers as they lined up on the grid at Silverstone, they may have noticed the unfamiliar sight of a black-and-gold car behind them.
To the untrained eye it looked like the 20th Formula 1 car (Sergio Pérez started from the pitlane in his Red Bull). But its livery was different and its driver, Brad Pitt, was rather more famous than the rest of the backmarkers — and the vehicle was what insiders described as the most sophisticated ever built for a film.
The movie, titled F1, is set for release next summer. Pitt stars as a former driver, Sonny Hayes, who returns to Formula 1 alongside his team-mate Joshua Pearce, a rookie driver played by Damson Idris, at APXGP, a fictional team on the grid. The Irish actor Kerry Condon plays the role of the first female technical director at APXGP.
The film’s director, Joseph Kosinski, and the producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the duo behind Top Gun: Maverick, have teamed up again, while Lewis Hamilton, the seven-times world champion, is working as a producer. Hans Zimmer, the Oscar-winning composer, will provide the soundtrack and teams have allowed audio recordings of their cars to be used.
Hamilton told Kosinski and Bruckheimer that he had never seen a film which captured the speed and feeling of driving a Formula 1 car, but F1 hopes to be the first. The 39-year-old has gone through the script line by line, appeared on set, and been a constant sounding board to ensure the authenticity of the project.
All the present F1 drivers are due to feature in the film in some form, while Guenther Steiner, the charismatic former Haas team principal, is prominent in the teaser which was released during the Silverstone weekend.
The actors’ strike caused some delays but six locations on the F1 calendar were featured last year, while seven more, including this weekend’s grand prix at the Hungaroring in Budapest, will feature in 2024, as APXGP is integrated into the sport.
The filmmakers have received significant support and access in order to do this — a feat in itself given the secretive and political nature of Formula 1 — led by Formula One Group, which Hamilton has praised.
“I don’t know if this would have been possible ten-plus years ago when the old management was in place,” he said. “They wouldn’t have perhaps seen this as an important step in terms of the sport’s growth.
“We’ve already seen the great work and impact of the Netflix show [Drive to Survive], and I think this will take it to new heights beyond that.”
It is hoped that the combination of on-screen drama, via the film’s characters, and the insight into the Formula 1 environment will mean its potential audience will span everyone from diehard fans to those who have never watched the sport before.
Make no mistake, Pitt and Idris have taken the project seriously, training as racing drivers and doing laps at the circuits between sessions. They have become members of the paddock, with APXGP motorhomes, garage and pit wall areas, while Pitt has conducted staged interviews in the media pen, and even attended drivers’ briefings, where Alpine’s Pierre Gasly revealed they’d been quizzing him on his pace.
The car itself is fully functional, with Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, offering insight and the use of their tools to test the aerodynamic body of the vehicle, which is an adapted F2 car. Some F2 drivers have also been involved in filming a couple of the stunts.
Viewers will see inside factories and simulators which have never before been shown to the public. The advanced camera work, which is evident in the trailer and shows Pitt up close inside the cockpit, uses new technology which allows cameras to be controlled remotely and pan with the action. Formula 1 is exploring whether some of the techniques could be used in future broadcasting — although adding weight to the real cars could be to the detriment of performance.
The plot itself has understandably been carefully guarded and members of the paddock have been told to operate on a business-as-usual basis so as not to interrupt filming and disrupt the immersion of the fictional world into real life.
The teaser shows Idris and Pitt shoulder to shoulder with Max Verstappen and the other drivers as they line up for the anthem at Silverstone in 2023. The access to the real-life sport, inches away and moments before a race, is unprecedented.
Formula 1 will hope its efforts will be rewarded when the film is released and, following in the footsteps of the success of Drive to Survive, Hamilton and everyone else involved will be expecting a further boost to a sport on the rise.