- He also missed the premiere in New York and the drivers’ screening in Monaco
- Hollywood A-listers were handed unprecedented access to F1 teams’ facilities
Max Verstappen reportedly snubbed Brad Pitt by refusing to film an extra nightclub scene with him in the hotly-anticipated new Formula One film.
‘F1’ was released on Wednesday with bosses hoping it will make giant strides in America and replicate the success of Netflix’s Drive To Survive series.
Pitt, Damson Idris and Javier Bardem star in the new movie, which tells the story of a former driver as he makes a comeback to partner new team mate Joshua Pearce at the fictional APXGP team.
Formula One teams were keen to help producers and granted the film stars unprecedented access to their facilities.
McLaren handed them access to their Woking headquarters, used as AGXGP’s base, while Williams allowed them to use their wind tunnel for four days.
Silverstone was essentially rented out to film-makers for three months in summer 2023, leaving junior drivers unable to use the track.
Max Verstappen reportedly snubbed Brad Pitt by refusing to film an extra nightclub scene in F1
He also missed the film’s premiere in New York and the drivers’ exclusive screening in Monaco
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is an executive producer in the new F1 movie
But while teams were happy to accomodate the Hollywood A-listers, not all of the drivers were as keen.
Four-time world champion Verstappen even declined to take part in an extra nightclub scene with Brad Pitt, according to The Telegraph.
The Dutch Red Bull racer also missed the film’s premiere in New York and the drivers’ exclusive screening in Monaco.
Across the paddock there was a more welcoming reaction to the movie.
‘I’ll just say, for the pure F1 fan, be open-minded to Hollywood films,’ Williams driver Carlos Sainz said.
While seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is an executive producer.
The Brit’s production company Dawn Apollo features in the opening credits and has been credited with playing a decisive role as he helped train Pitt and Idris in Formula 2 cars.
Joseph Kosinski, who was behind Top Gun: Maverick, and directed the latest potential blockbuster, revealed ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix: ‘Lewis was the first person I reached out to.
Brad Pitt’s new film was released on Wednesday and bosses hope it will take America by storm
Pitt was joined by girlfriend Ines de Ramon at F1’s premiere and heaped praise on the sport
‘I sent him an email and said, “I want to make it as authentic as possible. Will you help me?” And luckily, Lewis said, “Yes”.
‘He was involved in all the technical details with fascinating advice. In Hungary, for instance, he said, “If Brad’s going to let someone pass during a blue flag and he wants it to be as tight as possible, he’s only going to do that at turn six”. That kind of detail, I couldn’t have gotten from anywhere else.’
