How Lewis Hamilton kept F1 film on its toes: 'We were in the wrong gear'

“They are booked every five minutes. It’s unbelievable what their life is like, and the physical toll that it takes on them, the amount of training that they have to do.

“You never see that, but we will certainly show you some of that in the movie. I love to make what I call process movies. I’ve done it over and over again. I had a TV series called CSI that takes you behind the curtain, and shows you what the world is really like.

“And that’s what our movie does. You get inside the world of F1, and you see how it actually works. But there’s a wonderful dramatic story.”

Asked what differentiates F1 from other films he’s made Bruckheimer said: “I think it’s speed. You just don’t have the speed and the exhilaration that we can bring to an audience with this movie.

“Again, it’s an emotional path for Brad’s character, and that’s what resonates with audiences around the world. We can make things really exciting.

“We’re in the transportation business. We transport you from one place to another, and that’s what F1 does.”

Filming during grand prix weekends

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the movie is the way that the F1 organisation and the FIA have opened doors for the production, and essentially given director Kosinski anything he required.

At many races there’s been an Apex GP hospitality unit in the paddock, and two pit garages allocated to its cars.

Filming has taken place alongside the real action on the grid, on the pitwall, in parc ferme, and in the TV interview pen. Last year the movie cars were even allowed to sit at the back of the field and follow part of the formation lap at Silvestone. Without that level of access there would be no movie.

“What’s interesting is it’s always about the cooperation that you get,” said Bruckheimer. “When we did the first Top Gun, we went down to San Diego and met with the admiral there, and he said ‘I don’t want any part of this. Somebody’s going to get hurt. It’s going to be on my record. I’m done.’

“Tom [Cruise] and I went to Washington and met with the Secretary of the Navy, a guy named John Lehman, and he said, ‘Jerry, here’s my home number. I know what this is going to do for the Navy.’

“And the admiral that was there was replaced, and we made Top Gun. The recruiting went up 500%!

“It was the opposite with F1. Stefano [Domenicali] came in and he said, ‘I know what you can do for this sport. We open our arms. How can we help you make this the greatest racing movie ever?’ And F1 has been phenomenal.”

Bruckheimer admitted that it took a while to get all of the teams onboard: “The interesting part is since we teamed up with Mercedes, the other teams said, ‘wait a second, this movie is going to be about Mercedes, and we’re going to look bad’.

“Red Bull said, ‘We’re going to be the villain.’ It took us three years to convince them they’re not going to be the villain. And we finally got to a place where all the teams are really leaning into us, to really help us.”

Brad Pitt at 180mph in an ‘F1’ car

While the production enjoyed the huge benefits of being given free rein to shoot the 20 real cars, a huge effort also went into creating its own machines.

They’ve been running not just on race weekends but also behind closed doors at various circuits, with much of the action captured at Silverstone. When cockpit close-ups were required the actors were at the wheel.

“We wanted to make the most authentic F1 movie or racing movie ever made,” said Bruckheimer. “And the way you do that is first you have to have the technology. I think we have 16 cameras placed around the car at various times.

“We had our two actors, Damson and Brad trained for three months prior to filming, so they could actually be in these cars.

“We worked with F1, and Mercedes built our car. It’s an F1 body over an F2 engine, but they’re going speeds up to 180mph. What’s so great about it is the access that F1 gave us to the tracks, to the technology, to everything that we needed to make a really exciting movie.

“Not only do we have those cameras, Apple made special, tiny little cameras that we put on the actual F1 cars in races. So you have Lewis Hamilton driving a car at 220mph with these tiny little cameras.

“All this technology that we’ve created for this movie is special. We’ve learned a lot on Top Gun – we have a camera now that can remotely pan, so we can pan from Brad to Damson’s face in another car, which is phenomenal technology.”

Lewis Hamilton’s influence on F1 film

Hamilton’s role in keeping the film makers honest has been crucial.

“Lewis Hamilton is our partner in this, and he saw part of the movie yesterday,” said Bruckheimer. “And he gave us a critique of how the drivers actually do various things.

“Lewis could hear could hear with his ear we were in the wrong gear”

“The level of specifics that he gave us – like in Silverstone in Turn 3, you’re in second gear, and he could hear with his ear we were in third gear. So it’s that kind of thing that he’s bringing to the movie.

“And also he said Brad, it’s a little too easy for him. So we’re going to make it a little harder. He said when he finishes a race, especially like Singapore, where it’s very hot, these guys can barely get out of the car.

“They’re so exhausted, they lose 10 pounds. And he said that he just has to lay down for five minutes before he can get up and do the press interviews that he has to do.
“And it’s not only him, it’s all of them. They’re just completely exhausted. We’re going to show what it takes to be an F1 driver.”

Bruckheimer indicated that Hamilton’s feedback has even led to some late changes: “Everything that he has brought to this movie, I can’t even express our thanks to him and all the folks from F1 who made this all possible.

“The authenticity that he brings, and we just can’t imagine what goes into what a driver does, and what the sport brings to an audience, and he gives it to us.

“Sometimes we don’t like to hear some of the things he says, because it costs us more money to fix things! But we’re all in, we want to make it great, and he’s certainly helping us.”

Film premieres and screening for F1 insiders

The movie is financed by Apple and destined for its streaming service, but you will have a chance to see it at your local cinema – in IMAX format if you have such a facility nearby. However the sport’s insiders will get to see it first.

“I think in Monaco we’re going to show it to the drivers and to the F1 teams, and then we’ll have premieres in New York and London and a bunch of other cities,” said Bruckheimer.

“Warner Brothers is releasing the movie worldwide. We’re going to be on IMAX screens throughout the world at the end of June.

“I think what they found out is when a movie gets released in theatres, it does much better on streaming, because the audiences understand that it’s really special if it goes to theatres.

“Just the visceral feeling you’re going to have when you sit in the theatre and you hear that sound, that Dolby and Atmos of these cars, and the dramatic story that we have, because it has emotion to it.

“When you walk out, you’re going to feel better, like when you watch Top Gun, you’re going to have a great feeling. And this permeates everywhere, because they’re going to have a huge campaign over the month before the movie comes out.

“In fact, the hit that we’re having on social media, just every time Brad goes to the track, you look at social media, he’s everywhere. And it’s all branded F1.”

Will F1 join the great racing movies?

Bruckheimer is confident that the film will be a box office success, and will give the sport a further boost in the USA.

“There’re so many fans around the world – the only market that has not found F1 as much is the United States, and I think that’s going to expand it, because Brad’s reach is enormous, and he’s got so many female fans.

“So that’s going to bring the female audience in. We’re going to get the guys, because they love racing, and we’ll get them. It’s going to be a great date night, and that’s what we want.

“Brad is really invested in this movie. He doesn’t like to do press, but I think we’ll take him on a world tour where he’ll be glad to show his efforts in driving and acting in this movie.”

And what of that title, which looks like the ultimate marketing tool for the sport? It’s short and sweet for a reason, according to Bruckheimer: “Because the great racing movies were Le Mans and Grand Prix. And now there’s going to be F1…”