Brad Pitt has been a regular feature in the F1 paddock over the last year or so because of his lead role in the movie titled ‘F1’. In its production, Pitt has worked closely with the entire Mercedes team, including Lewis Hamilton (now a former Silver Arrows driver), as a producer, and Toto Wolff.
Wolff, one of the most popular Team Principals in F1, admitted to not being ‘starstruck’ by individuals in a recent episode of the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard. But Pitt was different.
Pitt’s crew has taken a lot of inspiration from the workings of Mercedes, which is why he spent time with Wolff. The Austrian revealed,
“As a team owner and team principal, by the way, a super guy curious, interested, we are talking about this and we are agreeing on dinner at our house in Oxford. He rings the doorbell. Brad Pitt walks into the house.”
Shepard’s co-host on the show went on to say that he wasn’t human. “It’s a different thing,” she added. Wolff agreed and added two more names — Tom Cruise and George Clooney — to the list.
While Wolff admitted to being amazed by Pitt’s presence, the American himself has a deep love for F1. And like a horde of fans from the country, he too started watching the sport because of Drive to Survive.
How Pitt decided he wanted to star in F1
Pitt loved Drive to Survive, the Netflix docuseries that aimed to showcase behind-the-scenes footage from F1 to add to the intrigue. The glamour off the F1 track and the thrill on it captivated Pitt, and he began following the sport.
In 2023, Pitt had the idea of making a movie about the sport and Hamilton‘s ‘Dawn Apollo Films’ production house started working on it in July. Drive to Survive changed F1 forever by adding a huge number of viewers, and Pitt’s movie is expected to have a similar effect.
Apple just released the first trailer for its new Formula 1 movie “F1”.
• Starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris
• Produced by Lewis Hamilton
• Directed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph KosinskiIt premieres June 2025.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 7, 2024
It is scheduled to release on 27th June 2025, with real-life F1 footage already confirmed to be part of the final product. To add to the authenticity, Pitt even drove a real-life F2 car (modified to look like an F1 car), which has been one of the biggest talking points over the last few months.
