Lewis Hamilton points out “call bull****” moments in Brad Pitt F1 film
Lewis Hamilton explains which film scenes he was forced to adjust
Lewis Hamilton has explained which moments of the Brad Pitt F1 film forced him to “call bull****”.
Hamilton is an executive producer for the upcoming movie which stars Hollywood superstar Pitt as a veteran racing driver trying to return to the glory days.
The move will be called ‘F1’ and will be released next year.
Hamilton was asked which aspects of filming scenes for the movie required him to “call bull****”.
He told Esquire: “It would just be racing scenarios. Technical jargon engineers would talk.
“But particularly racing scenarios and sequences between overtakes and pit stops and strategies and all those sorts of things.
“There may have been a crash that was like the car hits the wall and flips and lands on the wheels and keeps going, and that doesn’t happen in Formula 1.”
Hamilton added: “Ehren [Kruger, the screenwriter] basically did a ton of research, watched a lot of races, came to a bunch of races, and then went away and wrote up a script.
“But we would sit and talk about what racing is about. Then once he wrote the script, I would sit with him and call bullshit, basically, on the things that don’t seem real and are not what F1 is about and try to make sure that it’s as authentic as possible.
“Then at the same time, I started a production company, so I’m a producer with these guys.
“I’ve been able to be involved in all areas 0 so making sure the cast is diverse, making sure we’ve got a woman in a pit stop, which we never, ever had at the actual track.
“Hans Zimmer was someone I wanted to have doing the [music for the] movie, so we have Hans Zimmer. Joe [Kosinski, director] has been amazing at including me in everything.”
Can Brad Pitt really drive?
Actor Pitt has filmed scenes for the movie at several real-life F1 grands prix.
At last year’s British Grand Prix, he drove an adapted F2 car on the track in front of the real crowd to shoot an authentic scene.
Hamilton has revealed the truth about whether the famous actor can really drive.
“We went to a track in LA,” he said. “I took him out and sat in the passenger seat, and he drove.
“I used to be a driving coach when I was younger. It was a way of making some money part time whilst I was racing.
“So I’ve sat with God knows how many non-racing drivers. You can tell immediately the good ones, the bad ones.
“Straight away he was on it. You could tell he has it. He has it in his DNA. He’s just not been able to hone in on it like we have. But he’s got big potential.”
Hamilton insists Pitt can deliver an authentic performance as a racing driver: “Yeah, but I think obviously it takes time.
“Ultimately, the story of a fifty-odd-year-old jumping into the season and fighting against us youngsters - it’s just not the done thing.
“But then there’s discussing: How would you go about doing that? How much training would you have to do in order to really be able to come back and fight and react in the same way? Yeah, there’s a lot of detail that went into it.”