Lewis Hamilton believes the upcoming Formula 1 feature movie he is co-producing will build on the success provided by the Netflix Drive to Survive series.
The Apple Original Film will star Brad Pitt coming out of retirement to compete against a rookie driver at a fictional 11th team on the F1 grid titled APXGP.
Earlier today, images were revealed of the black and gold liveried car, which is a Formula 2 car that has been modified to reflect F1 machinery, along with a garage set-up in the Silverstone pit lane.
The car will be seen out on the circuit at various points throughout the British Grand Prix weekend as the filmmakers begin to capture footage for the movie.
“There’s not much more I can say from what I’ve told you before,” Hamilton addressed.
“I just saw Jerry [Bruckheimer] walking in and I haven’t been to see the garage yet but on the other side I was here a week or two before Austria watching Brad practice and it’s massively exciting to see it all coming together.
“To know that we’re finally starting to film this weekend, there’s nerves naturally because it’s something we’ve been working on for so long and we want everyone to love it and to really feel that we encapsulate what the essence of this sport is all about.
“So that’s our goal and hopefully we can do you proud.”
The fictional APXGP pit garages, in place for the forthcoming Apple movie 06.07.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, British Grand Prix, Silverstone, England, Preparation Day.
Hamilton claims he doesn’t believe an ambitious project like this would have been possible under the ownership that was in place when he entered F1 in 2007.
However, Liberty Sport’s takeover in late 2016 witnessed the sport immediately become more digitally accessible to fans and prompted the launch of a behind-the-scenes docuseries on Netflix in early 2019.
Drive to Survive, now in filming for its sixth series, has been widely recognised as a key factor behind F1’s enormous surge in popularity in recent years and Hamilton is confident that the Apple movie will take the sport’s growth to “new heights”.
“I’ve been incredibly grateful to them [the owners] for that, I don’t know if this would have been possible 10-plus years ago when the old management was in place,” the Brit explained.
“They perhaps wouldn’t have seen this as an important step in terms of the sport’s growth, but we’ve already seen the great work and impact of the Netflix show and I think this will take it to new heights beyond that.
“There’s so many people around the world that are so excited about this sport and wanting to know more, and the fact that we will have all of the original characters that are already on the grid, and Brad, is pretty cool.”
The seven-time World Champion has also dismissed concerns about the movie potentially lacking authenticity, stating that he has already worked with director Joe Kosinski on camera angles.
“I’m pretty certain… Our cameras are a lot better than what you’re seeing when watching TV,” he revealed.
“So I’ve seen all the footage of camera positions, I spent time with Joe trying to make sure that we got the best camera positions and the frame rate is different – it’s going to look fast.
“I think it’s going to look faster than it does on TV because I think it’s something to do with the frame rate that we have to have.
“But Joe is an incredible director. You already saw what he has done with the fighter jets, what he did with Maverick.
“So if you just think of what he has done with that in terms of the dog fights you saw with those jets – which was pretty epic – and bringing that technology and that viewpoint into our world I think is going to be amazing.”
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