You already know him as Ferrari’s record-breaking Formula 1 superstar. What you may not know is that the seven-time champ also wears the hats of entrepreneur, fashion designer, investor, and film and TV producer. When F1 director Joe Kosinski, the mind behind Top Gun: Maverick and Twisters, set out to create the most realistic Formula 1 movie ever, he started with a polite email to the only driver who could keep him honest: Lewis Hamilton.
“I mean, for me, it started with an email to Lewis Hamilton. I happened to have his contact info, and I told him I wanted to make the most authentic racing film that ever been done. And would he help me? And luckily, he said yes. So that was the start of this journey,” Kosinski told reporters at a Mexico press conference earlier in June.
From that “yes,” the production roared forward. Kosinski’s team developed a brand-new camera system capable of handling the speed and violence of real F1 machinery. They partnered with Formula 1 itself to film during live races around the globe (no soundstage shortcuts). Their next challenge was to find actors willing and able to drive the cars for real. Brad Pitt and Damson Idris signed up.
“But from there, it was, to deliver on that promise, it was building a whole new camera system to capture the speed of these cars, a partnership with F1 so that we could shoot at real races all around the world. And then, most importantly, finding two actors that could drive these cars for real in the film. And lucky for us, both these guys [Brad Pitt and Damson Idris] turned out to be pretty amazing natural talents for driving,” Kosinski continued.
Hamilton didn’t just sign off on the idea, wave to the crew, and disappear. He camped on set, dissected scripts, and politely called nonsense on anything that felt fake. His goal was to transfer the cockpit’s G-force punch, the political tug-of-war in the paddock, and the razor-thin rivalries to the big screen.
“And you know, Lewis, man, like Lewis Hamilton coming on set and just bringing so much joy and passion and just supporting us every step of the way, calling BS on stuff that wouldn’t happen in F1. It was just a dream come true,” Brad Pitt echoed, describing the long story meetings where Hamilton unpacked strategy, pressure points, and gearbox choices down to the rev. “We couldn’t have done this without the support of F1, the teams, the principals, the drivers themselves… we would have meetings with him, some 12-hour meetings just as we developed the story, developed the script, and he would tell us his experiences… he could tell you if we were in the wrong gear at turn six or that there’s a reverb when you go down the straight and make sure you add that.”
So what does this mean for you on opening weekend? First, expect proper racing sights and sounds. Not recycled stock footage. Second, keep an eye out for the way real-world driver dynamics feed the plot. Finally, notice how a single expert’s willingness to say “that’s not right” can lift an entire production.
Apple’s F1 fires off the line on 27 June. Thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s hands-on approach, you’re about to watch a racing film that feels as authentic as the sport itself.
RELATED: World War Z 2: Fans Should Be Outraged Over the Zombie Sequel’s Epic Fail
