Will Brad Pitt really race an F1 car for his new movie? Not quite

Brad Pitt will play a Tom Cruise in his new Formula 1 film – which is directed and produced by Top gun: Maverick‘s Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer – by actually driving a race car, on real race weekends, starting at the 2023 British Grand Prix in July. And it sounds like Tom Cruise is pretty jealous of it – the Top gun star and inveterate thrillseeker has already offered to drive a little extra if they need him.

But claims that Pitt will be driving a real F1 car for the film are exaggerated – reports say he will be behind the wheel of a slower mock-up. And he will not compete against other drivers on the track.

Kosinski and Bruckheimer revealed the plan for filming their movie on Thursday during a panel at the F1 Accelerate Summit in Miami ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix. Panel host Will Buxton summarized the highlights of their chat on Twitterand was the one to claim that Pitt would “drive an F1 car”.

Buxton said the film production created “an 11th team” for the film in consultation with the Mercedes F1 team, who designed and tested the car the film team will use. Filming is done “on track and on event”, with the stars (including Pitt) riding in the cockpit, captured by compact camera rigs similar to those used to view viewers in the cockpit of fighter jets. Top gun: Maverick. The actors are already practicing on the track and using simulation rigs, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton working on the film as an advisory producer.

Filming on the track during actual F1 race meetings gives the currently untitled film the kind of authenticity and spectacle that was made Independent thinking person a global hit. But Buxton’s comments – specifically that Pitt will be driving real F1 machines – should be taken with a grain of salt. Variety subsequently confirmed that Pitt will not race against other drivers on the track, and that the car he drives will most likely be a much more manageable junior F2 or F3 car modified to look like an F1 beast.

It is not surprising. Driving an F1 car in a rage requires not only great skill and reflexes, but also an incredible level of strength and physical fitness; Pitt, at 59, has nearly two decades on the oldest driver currently on the grid, the great Spanish champion Fernando Alonso, who is 40. Hamilton is 37, and most of the rest of the field are in their twenties. It’s true that Cruise, at a similar age, precedes the G-forces of an F-18 jet Independent thinking personbut even he, an experienced pilot, did not try to fly it at the same time.

It is also impossible that the actors and film crew will interfere with the integrity of the racing event itself, for both sporting and safety reasons. Drivers’ racing licenses are strictly regulated and at the F1 level, they take years to acquire. It seems highly likely that special filming sessions will be planned around the rest of the race event, possibly featuring some of the actual F1 teams and drivers.

“It will be quite invasive in terms of production, it’s something we have to control in a way,” said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. told F1 investors a few weeks ago. “But it will be another way to show that F1 never stops.”

Why go through all this effort? Because the movie – which has been acquired by Apple but will have a wide theatrical release before heading to Apple TV Plus – represents a huge marketing opportunity for the F1. The Netflix documentary series Drive to survive has greatly increased the popularity of the sport, especially in the US and among younger viewers. F1 owner Liberty Media hopes the film will take it to the next level.

In the film, Pitt plays “a driver who comes out of retirement to compete alongside a rookie driver against the sport’s titans,” according to the official logline. His teammate is played by British actor Damson Idris, star of the FX series Snowfall.

Buxton said Kosinski’s “biggest touchstone” for the new film is John Frankenheimer’s 1966 film Grand prize. That film featured cameos from a number of contemporary F1 drivers and used footage shot during real racing events. World champion Phil Hill captured footage from the wheel of a modified camera car during sessions at the Monaco and Belgian Grands Prix, and star James Garner did some of his own driving. Kosinski and Bruckheimer are “determined to make the most accurate, most impressive race film anyone has ever seen,” said Buxton.