Brad Pitt is joining the Formula One paddock for his new movie and as F1 welcomes the Hollywood star for a weekend of filming around the British Grand Prix, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed the help the project has had from F1 teams. Mercedes driver and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was involved with producing the movie.
“We’ve been involved pretty early and I think when we had the first discussions, we sent Brad to a driving school in France, going through the Formula cars from Formula 4 all the way up – and we tried to be helpful with the narrative,” Wolff said. “Lewis is an executive producer, so he wanted to make sure when the movie comes out, it’s as realistic as possible.”
The 59-year-old Hollywood actor’s as-yet untitled Formula One movie starts filming at Silverstone against the race backdrop, with the production having its own garage and pitwall stand as a fictional 11th team.
The driver boards above the garages, photographed in place this week, feature the unfamiliar names of Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce, also known as Pitt and British actor Damson Idris.
Pitt stars as a racing driver who steps out of retirement to compete alongside an up-and-coming rookie against the titans of the sport, according to details already divulged.
Modified F2 cars will be filming on track and pitlane, without getting in the way of the regular F1 schedule of practice, qualifying and race.
The Apple TV film is being directed by Joseph Kosinski, the director of “Top Gun: Maverick”, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Mercedes’ seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton is a co-producer.
“We haven’t got the logistics, where to put an 11th team. Here in Silverstone, we can accommodate the Hollywood people but on other circuits, we can’t,” Wolff said.
PROTEST WARNINGS
Activists representing the Just Stop Oil group ran onto the track at last year’s British Grand Prix, passing close to cars shortly after the race was red-flagged for a first-lap crash. Since then, Just Stop Oil protesters have made their mark on British events including Wimbledon and the Ashes cricket. The group wants the British government to block all new oil, gas and coal extraction projects.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton signaled he would back a “peaceful” protest but expressed concern for the safety of drivers and protesters if anyone makes it onto the Silverstone track again.
“From my perspective, and I think my team’s, we are very, very focused on sustainability, we believe in what people are fighting for and we are making those changes as a sport,” Hamilton said Thursday. “But safety is key. We don’t want to be put in harm’s way and we don’t want to put anyone else in harm’s way.”
McLaren driver Lando Norris said there should be “pretty severe” consequences if lives are put at risk.
“If it happens in the paddock and things like that, I guess that probably causes different scenarios, but it just can’t happen on a race track because you put actual people’s lives in danger,” he said.
Six activists who stormed the track last year were spared prison sentences in March. Local police said they will deploy facial recognition technology.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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