Brad Pitt takes the wheel at Silverstone GP, shooting F1 movie

Once again, Hollywood is on track to make a “realistic” movie about Formula 1. This time, it may work.

The all-star effort, chronicled this week in The Athletic web pages, takes pains to promote the project that will begin filming this weekend at the site of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The F1 organization has heartily endorsed the filming, and with good reasons: one is the involvement of Brad Pitt as the fictional driver Sonny Hayes. Pitt may be no Steve McQueen  — Pitt is 59, ancient for an active GP pilot. But he certainly looks the part.

Another is the involvement of championship driver Lewis Hamilton as a technical consultant, and the hiring of director Joe Kosinski, who made Top Gun: Maverick.

To help ensure that the as-yet-untitled Apple original movie reeks of the real thing, an eleventh garage is to be set up at Silverstone for the fictional team and allocated track time throughout the race weekend. Eight time slots are designated for “filming activity (high speed)” for the movie.

The make-believe name of the team is APXGP. “From the outside,” writes Luke Smith in the Athletic piece, “the garage of APXGP looks like that of any other F1 team. The screens, tools and signage are all in place. The pit crew is decked in black overalls. With blue-chip sponsors including Tommy Hilfiger and IWC watches, the team has attracted some big brands, their names carried on a black and gold car design that stands out on track.

“The cars used in the filming are based on Formula 2 machinery but through work with Mercedes, they have been updated to look closer to F1 cars, featuring a longer wheelbase and updated aerodynamics,” the story says.

The producers and Liberty Media, which acquired F1 in 2017, obviously hope to capitalize on heightened interest in the sport in the United States, propelled in part by the success of the Netflix series, Drive to Survive.

According to Smith, “There is already a strong foothold with three races on the calendar in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas. But the movie gives F1 a chance to tap into Hollywood and gain even greater mainstream awareness.

The movie will seek to go where few car racing movies have gone before. Consider Grand Prix, a 1966 melodrama that was considered a worthy candidate "best car films" thanks to the savvy direction of John Frankenheimer; Le Mans, McQueen's pet project from 1971; and Ron Howard’s 2013’s Rush.

Read The Athletic story here.

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