The goal for the 2025 blockbuster F1: The Movie , directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, was simple but unprecedented: delivering the most authentic, high-speed racing footage ever captured on film. Following their success with the practical, in-cockpit flying in Top Gun: Maverick , the filmmaking team insisted that their star, Brad Pitt, who plays veteran driver Sonny Hayes, and co-star Damson Idris (Joshua Pearce), would have to drive the high-performance race cars themselves.
The risk was enormous. No one in Hollywood had ever successfully put an A-list actor behind the wheel of a formula car in the middle of a live racing environment. The entire racing and film community was skeptical that an actor could handle a car modified to resemble an F1 machine at speeds of nearly 200 mph. But Brad did it in front of thousands of live spectators without a stunt double. Brad Pitt stepped onto the world-famous Silverstone Circuit track during the 2023 British Grand Prix weekend and left the entire set—and the thousands of live spectators—absolutely breathless. They said actors couldn’t drive real F1 cars – but Brad Pitt stepped onto the Silverstone track and left the entire set breathless.
The Modified Monster: Driving for Real
To ensure the actors could deliver the required intensity without using computer-generated imagery (CGI), the production undertook an incredible technical feat in collaboration with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team. The cars driven by Pitt and Idris for their fictional team, APXGP, were not real Formula 1 cars. They were highly modified Formula 2 (F2) chassis overlaid with custom Mercedes-designed bodywork to make them visually indistinguishable from the modern F1 grid.
The APXGP cars were formidable “monsters” in their own right. They featured a 3.4-litre V6 Mecachrome engine producing approximately 620bhp , and were capable of hitting speeds of up to 208 mph —a difference in performance from a real F1 car (which exceeds 1000bhp) that was necessary for actor safety and camera rigging, but still terrifyingly fast. Pitt and Idris underwent a rigorous four-month training program led by professional stunt and race drivers. Director Joseph Kosinski admitted that filming some of the sequences was the “scariest” part of the shoot.
The Data of Dedication: Silencing the Critics
Brad Pitt’s commitment went far beyond what was required. He drove the modified race car on multiple real Grand Prix weekends, including at Silverstone and the Hungaroring, and did so in front of tens of thousands of live, cheering fans, proving the critics wrong with every turn. Pitt’s stunt coordinator, Gary Powell, revealed that the star racked up over 6,000 miles on the track throughout the lengthy production process, cementing his expertise behind the wheel. As a testament to his driving skills, Pitt was later given the chance to drive a 2023 McLaren MCL60 (a real F1 car) at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA), where he reached a speed of 197 mph , an almost unheard-of accomplishment for an actor. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed the unique passion Pitt developed for the sport, noting that the actor called the final day of filming “the unhappiest” because he had to get out of the car for the last time. The actor’s desire to perform the racing sequences for real, without a stunt double, ensures that F1: The Movie delivers an authentic rush of adrenaline and earned its place as the highest-grossing auto racing film of 2025.