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On June 27, Brad Pitt returned to the big screens after a few years with the movie F1, and wooed everyone with his performance as Sonny Hayes. We all know that F1 is about Formula 1 car racing, and to play a character who is an ace driver is not easy. Driving a normal car and driving at the Formula 1 track are not the same. But, Pitt made it look like he had been doing it for years. He seemed like he was comfortable and right in his zone.
For the unversed, the storyline revolves around Sonny Hayes, who returns to the track after a 30-year hiatus to save his former teammate’s underdog team, APXGP, from getting shattered. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the film has been minting quite a good amount at the worldwide box office. But, how did Pitt get into the skin of Sonny Hayes? Scroll ahead.
Brad Pitt’s Experience Being On The Set Of F1
In an interview with F1 TV, Pitt opened up about his experience working with the whole team of the movie F1, and shared how he got the role. He said, “I’ve always loved racing. I grew up with Jackie Stewart [racing in F1] as some of my earliest memories. In the ’90s, I really got heavily into MotoGP. Then I started veering into F1, and here we are. I’ve been trying to get a racing movie done for 20 years. I’ve tried bikes, I’ve tried cars, I’ve tried different disciplines, and for whatever reason, they never came to fruition.”
Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes in ‘F1’
Undoubtedly one of the best performances of the year. pic.twitter.com/DIzcfGlzRe
— MozartCinema (@MozartCinemaTR) July 9, 2025
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He continued, “We got a great push behind us [for this film], people were more and more interested [in F1], so we could get [a company] like Apple to come in and really support us. It was Joe Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, just coming off [filming] Maverick, who said, ‘[We] want to make the most realistic racing movie we’ve seen to date’, and I think that’s what we’ve done.”
Pitt further explained that they didn’t sit on a sound stage with wind machines; they actually drove the cars. Talking about it, he said, “You can’t compete with this experience. It’s almost like when we get to the acting scenes, you kind of go, ‘Oh, okay, no driving today!’ It’s really been amazing.”
How Did Brad Pitt Prepare For His Role In F1?
A month ago another interview with Variety, Brad Pitt opened up about how he prepared for the role as Sonny Hayes. He mentioned that he and Damson Idris drove for about two years, and said, “We ended up driving for about two years. I was told that we drove 6,000 miles in total in these cars. So, I’m kinda proud of that.” Apart from that, Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, had joined the project to maintain the authenticity of each of the rounds. The actors even followed the real Grand Prix and stayed around the drivers.
While talking about Hamilton’s presence, Pitt shared on F1 TV how he helped the actor get into the skin of Sonny Hayes. He said, “Lewis’s knowledge has been so immensely helpful. He’s been keeping us straight, going, ‘No, that doesn’t fly,’ right down to the sound. He can actually pick it out and go, ‘No, that’s Turn 12, not Turn 16. You need more reverb on the straight’ – he’s that specific.”
Brad Pitt on the set of F1 (2025)
Photographed by Antoine Truchet. pic.twitter.com/Xg28fF7KBd
— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) July 14, 2025
Reportedly, before the production could start, Pitt and Idris were under a strict training phase that included testing Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars at France’s Circuit Paul Ricard. The filming took place in a few of the popular racing tracks, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Monza Circuit in Italy, and Las Vegas Strip Circuit in Nevada. Even though Pitt’s car wasn’t an F1 model, it was a modified version of a Formula 2 and 3 combined vehicle.
Well, Brad Pitt really portrayed the character as an F1 driver with much honesty and realism. What are your thoughts about it?
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