The ‘Cars’ franchise is a huge cultural phenomenon for Pixar movie fans. With three movies done, fans often ask whether a Cars 4 is in the pipeline. While there is a lot of buzz regarding the same, the creative director of the franchise may just have dropped some hints about it. There have been numerous speculations on whether a fourth installment may be a live-action version or will it carry on the story from Cars 3. Apparently, Pixar could even bring someone like Lewis Hamilton back into the mix.
Hamilton loves to “float like a Cadillac and sting like a Beamer”, on the F1 circuit. In the Cars’ universe too, the seven-time champion has left his mark. In the second installment of the series, Cars 2, Hamilton appeared as a GT car competitor participating in the World Grand Prix championship.
Hamilton appeared in a scene alongside Jeff Gorvette, voiced by NASCAR veteran Jeff Gordon, and the film’s protagonist Lightning McQueen. There is a possibility that the Briton may return in some capacity if a Cars 4 is in the making. The creative director Jay Ward also had an interaction with the Mercedes driver back at the 2022 US GP.
Ward posted a picture with the F1 champion on his Instagram. He captioned it, “Had a great morning last week with a very special friend, between his races. The most humble and kind World Champion you could ever hope to meet…”
At this same race, Disney CEO Robert Iger was also present and tweeted a picture of Hamilton’s Mercedes W13, in the Briton’s support. One may wonder and connect the dots to speculate if the Disney Pixar stakeholders are pitching Hamilton to reprise his role in the Cars franchise.
Naturally, they would love to feature a motorsport legend, especially if they aim at making Cars 4, a live-action feature. Besides these meets, Hamilton often visits San Francisco where Pixar Studios is located in Emeryville. All in all, fans would hope that if the seven-time champion appears in Cars once again, it will be more than just a cameo.
Lewis Hamilton has featured twice in the Cars Universe
Lewis Hamilton has had two cameos in the Cars franchise so far, in each of the two sequels. The first as mentioned above was in Cars 2. The 38-year-old was a British GT car in the 2011 movie and interacted with McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson at the World Grand Prix Championship opening party in Tokyo.
Hamilton’s car was a 2009 Grand Touring Special GBG model, inspired by the McLaren MP4-12C GT3. It also had a color scheme which is very representative of the Briton in real life. The car was black with yellow pinstripes, similar to how Hamilton’s current Mercedes car is.
These are not the only resemblances between Hamilton and his Cars character. He was also involved in the process of the detailing of the car. He pushed to have the Union Jack as well as the flag of Grenada on the car, like on his real-life helmet.
After Cars 2, Hamilton also voiced the assistant of Cruz Ramirez in Cars 3, which tracked Lightning McQueen’s speed. It is safe to say that the Mercedes maestro loves the Cars franchise. Moreover, another uncanny resemblance he shares is that Lightning McQueen is also a seven-time champion in the fictional universe, as per Disney!
