Brad Pitt’s film on Formula 1, a garage for filming at the Silverstone GP – Corriere.it

Reality and fiction will be well separated but on a Formula 1 track they have never been so close. An eleventh garage popped up next to those of Ferrari and Mercedes this weekend at Silverstone. that of the Apex team, the Hollywood team aiming for an Oscar with the most realistic film in the history of racing. This is the objective that has been given Joseph Kosinskydirector of Top Gun: Maverick, Oblivion and Tron: Legacy.

A guarantee as regards entertainment and special effects. Filming on the new film produced by Apple Studios, Jerry Bruckheimer and Lewis Hamilton begins this weekend on the track hosting the British GP. There will be Brad Pitt behind the wheel as Sonny Hayes, veteran who decides to return to racing alongside the promising young Joshua Pearce (played by Damson Idris) to challenge the champions. Very little is known about the plot.

the most ambitious film project in Kosinski’s career, to make the work as realistic as possible it was decided to film during some stages of the F1 World Championship, with real scenes from the races taken by television stream cameras, and by some dedicated cameras placed in the pit lanes where there is also the fake Apex wall (together with a motorhome, like those of real teams). And where there will also be fake pit stops.

But the most important images will be taken in the moments of inactivity of the races, when the crew will have the track available to shoot with a special Formula 2 single-seater created together with Mercedes. It is a special vehicle, with an extended wheelbase and on which the aerodynamics of Formula 1 have been mounted to make it aesthetically similar to the cars of Verstappen, Hamilton and Leclerc. From F1 they repeat that the shots, however invasive, will not hinder sporting activities.

The particular machine can house around fifty cameras, including a special 6K one that has never been used by the film industry in such a small size. The experience of Top Gun is treasured with the advantage that in the space of a few years technology and miniaturization have made great strides.

At the wheel of the car there will also be Brad Pitt who, in order to be able to drive it, took a 2-3 month course, training at Silverstone and on other circuits. Hamilton’s role in production it will be essential to suggest what may seem realistic and what may not. For F1, which in recent years has capitalized on the success of the Netflix series Drive to Survive, this is a very important project to attract new audiences. Zak Brown, head of McLaren, has no doubts: It will be a success, just like Top Gun. Anyone who doesn’t follow F1 will discover it and find it fantastic, technologies like this have never been used in a racing film.