Stefano Domenicali cautions new Brad Pitt and Lewis Hamilton F1 movie will be ‘quite invasive’

Michelle Foster
Brad Pitt at the United States GP. Austin October 2022.

Brad Pitt in the United States Grand Prix paddock. Austin October 2022.

Stefano Domenicali has warned Formula 1 will need to “control” the filming of the new Brad Pitt movie about Formula 1 as it could become “quite invasive in terms of production”.

Last year it was announced that Hollywood star Pitt was working with Lewis Hamilton and the team that brought us ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to create a Formula 1 movie.

“I have such high hopes for it,” said Hamilton. “I know we’re going to make the best racing movie that’s ever existed, both visually, and we’re going to work on making sure we pull on the heartstrings of all those fans.”

The plot, according to IMDB, will see Pitt starring as a Formula 1 driver ‘who comes out of retirement to mentor and team with a younger driver’ with some of the action set to be filmed at grand prix weekends.

Domenicali concedes this could be “quite invasive” with F1 bosses needing to keep a handle on it.

Speaking during a meeting with F1 investors, as quoted by Motorsport.com, he said it’s “another way to show what we want to do, something different.

“When we started the collaboration with Netflix, the [F1] community said what’s going on? This is not our place to be.

“And now we understand the power of it. And then we added the very strong presence with social media, making sure that all our drivers and teams are very active in promoting the sport.

“And that’s another tool with the movie. Actually, we’re going to start the shooting in Silverstone very soon, and you will see it will be the first movie when basically, they will be within the racing event.

“It will be quite invasive in terms of production, it’s something that we need to control in a way, but it will be another way of showing that F1 never stops.”

PlanetF1.com recommends

‘This is not what Red Bull signed Sergio Perez for as Max Verstappen’s team-mate’

Red Bull’s main rivals: The big deficits, the glaring weaknesses and the solutions

Eddie Jordan: ‘I bet McLaren wish they had Ron Dennis back’

The movie is being made by Hamilton’s new production company, Dawn Apollo Films, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer at the helm and Joseph Kosinski brought in as the director.

Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei believes Formula 1 needs more than just Netflix’s Drive to Survive to entice new fans to the sport.

“The Simpsons has gone for 20 years, but there aren’t that many shows that run that long,” he said. “Drive to Survive is wonderful. But we cannot rely on Drive to Survive to be our only promotion vehicle forever.

“You’ve got to keep it fresh, change the game. And that’s one of the things I’d like to think we’ve done with the team entering F1. Credit Stefano, what we’ve done more recently around other kinds of Instagram and TikTok and the like, we’re keeping it fresh and different.

“This movie, kind of like Vegas, is going to be a whole other level. As much as Drive to Survive is enormous to a lot of people around the world, I still go places and people say, ‘Huh?’ Its audience is not that big. It may be big among this group, but it’s not that big.

“A Brad Pitt movie with Lewis Hamilton consulting, and with Bruckheimer and with the director from Top Gun: Maverick – we’ve already seen some of what they’re going to do, and how they’re going to skin these cars. They took the technology from Top Gun, and it’s going to be amazing.”

Filming will begin at Silverstone in the coming weeks while the title of the movie has yet to be revealed.