Recording Real Formula One Racing Means Driving Brad Pitt Behind The Wheel
For Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise and his co-stars ascended into actual fighter jets and felt real skull-crushing G-forces. Pitt has been driven through comparable speeds by the filmmaker for their Formula One film since the actor drove a modified F2 car around the track during race weekend of the 2023 British Grand Prix. Pitt spoke on the experience of actual racing and wanted to be courteous of Hamilton and other F1 drivers in a July 2023 interview (via Sky Sports F1):
The footage is very amazing; you have never seen speed, nor the G-forces like this. When I was out on the course today, I was not anxious. The men truly got me ready. I could glimpse the stands at a few bends, but my attention was on the lines. When I was on the straights, I could enjoy the driving experience. This should be as real as we can produce. Lewis wants us to honor the sport and actually present it as it is. Being a civilian, I had no idea what it required to be a driver. I much like the aggressiveness and dexterity.
"Gonna Blow People Away": Lewis Hamilton Says Brad Pitt's Formula One Movie Captures "Real Speed".
F1 champion Lewis Hamilton said Brad Pitt's $300-million Formula One film will "blow people away" and catches "real speed". Returning to the danger zone in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick, a smash with $1.43 billion at the global box office, was directed by Joseph Kosinski. Using what he discovered about Cruise's thirst for speed, Kosinski will now apply it to the world of Formula One, helming an untitled racing film starring Pitt that supposedly will cost Apple upwards of $300 million to make.
Though it looks like a big gamble, producer and F1 champion Hamilton recently discussed the challenges of capturing the actual speed of racing on film and how new technology will help Kosinski and company revolutionize racing movies, so promising an experience that will "blow people away." Please find his comments below (via Hot Ones):
Hamilton's viewpoint
Hamilton's own comments pour compliments on Kosinski's efforts to really depict the speed of racing for the first time. It's also fascinating that Hamilton would mention Steve McQueen, who tried his own hand at a "real" racing movie with Le Mans, a film deemed a flop 1971. Pitt is matching McQueen's driving for Le Mans, but hopes for a bigger box office performance. McQueen drove himself.
On June 27, 2025 Pitt's Untitled Formula One film opens on IMAX. Though the promise of actual racing speed pulls hundreds of summer moviegoers to IMAX theaters, Apple's $300-million Formula One movie is unlikely to rise to the same grosses earned by Top Gun: Maverick. Although Hamilton, a producer on the movie, wants to highlight Pitt and Kosinski's work, he still finds it reassuring that someone who has ascended to the top of the racing scene supports the reality of the picture and understands what it really feels like to push the boundaries on the track.
The Racing World: Its Fundamental Nature
Racing movies, I find it quite difficult to portray. It's difficult to get the speed as you're following a truck with a camera on the back. Since you cannot have a truck filming us at 200 mph, it is all kind of staged at a slower pace and accelerated. Still, this is real time—real speed. If you return to Steve McQueen, for instance, back then they would have men laying on front of the car with the camera or have a large camera atop the helmet. We now have all this incredible fresh technology at hand. So, to be honest, I believe Joe [Kosinski's] will blow people away.
Origin: Hot Ones
The Value of Pace
F1 champion Lewis Hamilton says Brad Pitt's $300 million Formula One film would "blow people away" and catches "actual speed." Director Joseph Kosinski supervised Tom Cruise's return to the danger zone in Top Gun: Maverick, a $1.43 billion worldwide blockbuster. Now using his expertise filming Cruise's demand for speed, Kosinski will guide a racing feature starring Pitt that will cost Apple an estimated $300 million to produce.
Although producer and F1 champion Hamilton says Kosinski and Pitt's Formula One film is one that is bound to pay off, it could look like a big gamble. Hamilton recently spoke about the difficulties of accurately depicting racing's actual speed on film and mentioned how new technologies would help Kosinski and associates transform racing movies, thereby offering an experience that would "blow people away." Check his comments below (via Hot Ones):
