When Formula One descended upon the Silverstone Circuit for the Grand Prix of Great Britain this weekend, beloved drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen weren’t the only stars spotted on the track. Brad Pitt was on hand to film scenes for his untitled F1 racing drama, which Joseph Kosinski is directing for Apple. Pitt suited up in a uniform for the fictional APXGP team and took a lap around the track in a custom F1 car before the race began.
In an interview with Sky Sports conducted at the Grand Prix, Pitt offered some new plot details about the film and praised the drivers who make the sport so exhilarating.
“I would be a guy who raced in the ‘90s,” Pitt said of his character in the film. “He has a horrible crash, kind of craps out and disappears, and then is racing in other disciplines. And then his friend, played by Javier Bardem, is a team owner. They’re a last place team, they’re 21 or 22 on the grid, they’ve never scored a point. And they have a young phenom played by Damson Idris, and he brings me in as kind of a Hail Mary. And hijinx ensue.”
Pitt praised Kosinski for shooting the film with the same commitment to technical realism that made “Top Gun: Maverick” such a thrilling spectacle. Pitt drives an F1 car at top speeds during his race scenes, with cameras mounted around the vehicle to capture every angle of the drive.
“I’ll tell you what’s amazing about it. You see the cameras mounted all over the car. You’ve never seen speed, you’ve never seen g-force like this. It’s really, really exciting. And it’s really humbling. I don’t know if you can call mine a hot lap, it’s kind of a warm lap. I’ve taken a few tours unintentionally through the grass, but it’s just been such a high.”
All eyes in the crowd were on Pitt when he drove around the track to film his scene — and the Oscar winner is well-aware that the passionate F1 fanbase would have some notes on his performance. But he asked observers to be patient until they see the film, explaining that many of the mistakes he made on the track were part of the script.
“For all the armchair experts out there, you’ve got to give us a little breathing room,” he said. “If you see any spin-outs or something that looks like it’s a stall, it’s by design.”
