F1 Movie promises thrills and authenticity

Brad Pitt's speed is real, and Hollywood's F1 movie will be the most authentic racing film ever seen when it hits cinema screens in June, according to seven times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton.

The Ferrari driver said the Apple Original Films production had got the lot -- "Brad Pitt, speed, thrills, an epic underdog story, drama, humor, and a little bit of romance" -- and would deliver on every level.

A two-minute trailer for 'F1', to be released internationally by Warner Bros Pictures on June 25 with Hamilton credited as a co-producer, provided a taste of the action on Thursday.

"Watching Brad drive around at speeds over 180 miles an hour was impressive because it's not something you can just learn overnight," said Hamilton, whose season starts in Australia this weekend, in recorded comments at a launch event.

"The dedication and the focus that Brad put into this process has been amazing to witness."

Joseph Kosinski, the director of Top Gun: Maverick, directed the movie, which stars Javier Bardem as the owner of a team on the verge of failure.

British actor Damson Idris is hotshot Joshua Pearce alongside aging redemption-seeking racer Sonny Hayes, played by Pitt, who is 61 in real life.

Shot at grand prix weekends, Pitt and Idris drove F2 cars adapted by Mercedes and kitted out with cameras and recording equipment.

The fictitious APX team had its own garage and pit wall, with cars positioned at the back of the grid before the races started.

They had 10-15 minute slots for laps between practice and qualifying sessions, drivers ready to go with tires warmed and cameras rolling as soon as the track action ended.

Hundreds of thousands of fans remained unaware that a helmeted Hollywood superstar was lapping in front of them.

Kosinski said Hamilton, 40, had shaped the narrative and wanted to ensure that Pitt could drive early on.

"If Brad can't drive, this whole film wasn't going to work, and Lewis was pleased to discover that, you know, Brad had a lot of just natural ability right from the start," he explained.

"I don't know where he got that... he rides motorcycles, which I think has something to do with it, but he's just a very talented, naturally gifted driver, which gave Lewis a lot of confidence that we might have a shot at pulling this off."

Kosinski said filming, with remotely operated on-car cameras slimmed to a quarter of the size of those used on Top Gun, was "like a live stage play... shooting at 180 miles an hour, literally. It was an adrenaline rush every weekend."

Pitt and Idris had months of training.

"When you see Brad driving, that's not acting. He's concentrating on keeping that car on the track and out of the wall during all those scenes, so that's something you can't fake," said Kosinski.

Formula One sees the film building on the hit Netflix docu-series 'Drive to Survive' that Kosinski first watched during the COVID-19 pandemic and is now in its seventh season.

"I loved how the show's first season focused on the last placed teams, the underdogs, rather than the Ferraris, the Mercedes, the Red Bulls, the teams you see at the front of the pack," he said.

"I thought that there was an interesting story to be told about an underdog team... just trying to win one race against these titans of the sport."