Brad Pitt to drive Formula One look-a-like at this weekend’s British Grand Prix

Hollywood megastar Brad Pitt is set to hit the track in a racing car during this weekend’s Formula One British Grand Prix, as filming for a new movie – co-produced by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton – ramps up.

Pitt – star of Fight Club, Moneyball and Inglourious Basterds – will portray Sonny Hayes, a retired (and fictional) Formula One driver who returns to help mentor a younger driver, Joshua Pearce (portrayed by Damson Idris).

As previously reported, the movie will be filmed in-part throughout Formula One Grand Prix weekends, with this year’s race at Silverstone providing the first glimpse at what we can expect.

Both Pitt and Idris will drive for the fictional ‘APXGP’ team – which has been given its own official-looking pit garages at the famous circuit – though not during any official sessions, instead taking to the track during dedicated filming slots.

While the cars look like the real deal, they are actually Formula Two machines, with the Mercedes-AMG F1 team – who Lewis Hamilton races for – and F2 outfit Carlin drafted in to design new Formula One-style bodywork for the chassis.

The cars are finished in a mostly-black livery with gold highlights – which some fans have likened to the Haas team’s 2019 F1 cars, which wore the black and gold colours of controversial former sponsor Rich Energy – while a number of existing Formula One sponsors have been applied to its bodywork.

The as-yet untitled film is backed by tech giant Apple and directed by Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick and Tron: Legacy), with legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Days of Thunder, Bad Boys, Pirates of the Caribbean, and both Top Gun movies) also joining the ensemble production crew.

Do you want to see the new Formula One film when it comes out? Let us know in the comments below.

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