Hamilton's crucial role in upcoming F1 movie

Lewis Hamilton has been lauded by the director of the upcoming "F1" movie for the "instrumental" role he played in its production, with the rest of the Formula 1 grid also praised for their "remarkable" trust during the Grand Prix weekends' filming process.

As a producer on the Apple Original Films motion picture—alongside Brad Pitt and Jerry Bruckheimer—Hamilton was involved from the early stages. The movie tells the story of former F1 driver Sonny Hayes (played by Pitt) who makes a comeback to partner rookie team mate Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) at the fictional APXGP team.

Director Joseph Kosinski discussed the extensive training Pitt and Idris underwent to drive the cars, with Hamilton keen to gauge Pitt’s driving abilities early on.

“Brad and Damson are both driving in this film and in order to get them into these race cars, it required months, literally months of training,” said Kosinski, who has directed films including Top Gun: Maverick.

“But the first day was really fun. It was me, Brad, and Lewis Hamilton at the track together, all of us jumping in cars and driving each other around in sports cars. I'll never forget having Lewis Hamilton as your driving instructor.

“But what we learned and what Lewis was really interested in was seeing, did Brad know how to drive, right? Because if Brad can't drive, this whole film wasn't going to work.

“And what Lewis was very happy to discover was that Brad had a lot of just natural ability right from the start. I don't know where he got that or if he was born with it, but he's just a very talented, naturally gifted driver, which for Lewis after that first meeting gave him a lot of confidence that we might have a shot at pulling this off.

“He's just had that natural feel for grip in the car and what we're doing on this film is dangerous. So yeah, you have to be fearless, and when you see Brad driving, that's not acting. He’s really concentrating on keeping that car on the track and out of the wall during all those scenes. So that’s something that you just can't fake. I hope the audience feels that when they watch the movie.”

Kosinski also acknowledged Hamilton’s contributions to the film's narrative, with the Briton providing insights from his experience in scenarios similar to those faced by the characters.

“Lewis was instrumental in not only the technical aspects obviously, but in the real kind of formulative stage of the movie, formulating this narrative,” Kosinski explained. “We tell the story of Sonny Hayes, who's kind of a veteran racer, and then Joshua Pearce, who's a rookie.

“Lewis has been both. He's been the rookie almost winning his first season in Formula 1 and now with seven World Championships. He's kind of seen it all.

“His perspective on shaping the narrative of these two characters and kind of giving me real insight into what it is that drives him, what makes these guys want to do this day in day out, it was really, really helpful. We couldn't have made this film without him.”

When asked about the biggest thrill in making the movie, Kosinski credited the role of the other drivers on the grid, with the filming occurring in real-time during Grand Prix weekends.

“There's so many [highlights],” the director continued. “It's hard to pick one, but I'll say working alongside Lewis and all the other drivers on the grid and having them embrace us. Certainly, asking to be part of that family and that world and to say, you're making a movie, there's going to be some reticence there.

“But when they saw how determined we were to make it authentic and represent their sport in the absolute best way we could, to have them embrace us and to be able to have them play themselves in the film, to be able to shoot on the track alongside them showed a level of trust that was really remarkable.

“So I would say that working with the drivers and the teams, there's just no way this film would exist without that. So I'm really grateful for that.

“They all tend to be very handsome, charming, and good on camera, and just great friendly guys. You can see how they all got to where they are, and we're again really gracious and they're great in the movie, so I can't wait for you to see 'em.”

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