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As actor Damian Lewis crooned the British national anthem into the microphone, accompanied only by the notes of a saxophone, the 20 Formula One drivers stood to attention.
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Ahead of every race, all the drivers stand together in respect of the anthem, an important part of the pre-race ceremonies. But at Silverstone on Sunday, they had company.
Wearing the white race suits of their fictional APXGP team, Brad Pitt and Damson Idris (or, to use their character names, Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce) stood alongside the drivers for the anthem. It was the one chance for the directors of the new Apple original F1 movie to get the shots they needed in a live environment.
The British Grand Prix weekend was the first time Pitt, Idris and company had completed at-event filming, as F1 opened its doors to help make the as-yet-untitled film maybe the most authentic racing movie ever.
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As a paddock, we’d been hearing whispers for months about the plans for the movie. But I was curious to see how it would function in reality, and what impact it might have on the regular goings-on of the busy F1 paddock.
Here’s how I saw things play out at Silverstone, where we found ourselves not behind the scenes, but smack in the middle of them.
Making its presence known
On arrival at Silverstone last Thursday, the first port of call even before any media sessions got underway was to see the APXGP garage in the pit lane. We knew this would be the first race where on-site filming would be taking place, as well being a first opportunity to see the cars — modified F2 chassis — in the flesh.
I was immediately impressed by just how accurate and fitting everything looked. Walking down the pit lane, the garage signage and hoardings fit perfectly with the rest of the grid. Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce’s driver banners above their garages looked no different to those of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc of Max Verstappen — except when you looked at the pictures, you saw two Hollywood stars.
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The garage itself also looked like a home to an F1 team. Timing screens, tool drawers, a stack of Pirelli tries and even helmet cubbies were factored into the clean, white design, as was a viewing area for VIP guests. Team members stood in their black APXGP overalls, complete with sponsor names like Tommy Hilfiger, Expensify and EA Sports.
It was only when you got around the back of the garage area that the movie element became clear. A sign topped with “ATTENTION!” outlined the area was being used for filming, and that by entering the area, you were consenting to being on camera.
Paddock members had been told to go about their business as usual prior to the Silverstone weekend, again aiding the authenticity of the movie. The whole point of it is to be as close to the real world as possible, meaning no special allowances had to be made to accommodate the film crew, who naturally drew curious looks from passers-by.
Ready for its close-up
Each Friday ahead of first practice, all 10 teams are required to put their cars on display in the pit lane for a session we call “show and tell”. Ahead of the display, the FIA issues a document listing the updated parts on the cars for the weekend, giving us the opportunity to note any design changes in the flesh before on-track running begins.
I ventured down to the pit lane primarily to see the new front wing on the Mercedes, but was pleasantly surprised to see the APXGP car out on display in front of the garage, just like any other team.
By now, we’d seen some images of the car on-track at Silverstone. But this was a great chance to see the design up close. Based on a Dallara F2 chassis, the car has been modified to look more like F1 machinery through technical work with Mercedes, but it is still a little bit smaller than the actual F1 cars. The aerodynamics lack the intricacy of that produced by the teams engaged in the update arms race, yet nothing looks out of place.
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The slick black and gold paint scheme drew comparisons to the iconic John Player Special Lotus livery from the 1970s and ’80s, and to the slightly less-iconic Rich Energy Haas car from 2019. Fans at Silverstone got a chance to see the cars, rigged up with plenty of cameras, out on-track as part of some dedicated high-speed filming runs within the schedule.
On the grid
Lewis Hamilton, a producer for the film, spoke on Thursday about how cool it was to use the actual “characters” in F1 — ie, the drivers — as part of the movie. And that really came into its own during Friday’s drivers’ briefing and on the grid on Sunday.
Pitt was part of the regular briefing after second practice in the evening, giving him a chance to meet the drivers. Pierre Gasly snapped a selfie with the “special guest” joining a meeting typically about very un-Hollywood matters such as track limits and tire constructions. It gave the filmmakers a good chance to get some shots of Pitt embedded with the F1 drivers.
“He was cool!” said Yuki Tsunoda. “I saw his movie ‘Bullet Train’, he was not much different to what I saw. He’s funny, really chill, cool. I like him.”
Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg said Pitt “said he was a big fan. I said, ‘thank you, me too!’”
The starting grid was another opportunity for Pitt and Idris to join the drivers for an important part of the weekend, allowing for some accurate shots and interactions to be filmed. Pitt got chatting to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who said it was “fun to see them and actually have them on the grid.”
Once the anthem was done, Pitt and Idris walked to the rear of the grid where the two APXGP cars were lined up behind last-row qualifiers Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas. We’d been informed of the path they were taking after the anthem, ensuring we would not get in the way of the actors or the cameras following them.
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As the grid cleared of VIPs, the drivers got into their cars and the teams completed their final preparations before the race. The APXGP crew remained on the grid until the last moments before the formation lap, allowing more shots to be filmed. Images emerged showing Pitt talking to Javier Bardem, who will play the owner of the team, by the cars at the rear of the field. Stunt drivers sat in the cockpits of both cars, peeling off the grid during the formation lap.
It must have been a high-pressure moment for the directors and producers to get the shots they needed on the grid. But at no point did it feel any different to any other pre-race build-up. The grid is always hectic, a rush of bodies and cameras.
Part of the paddock
The film was a big point of conversation throughout the weekend at Silverstone. But at no point did it feel like it had taken away from the real stars of the show: the drivers and teams going racing.
The early signs are encouraging. Not only will the film get the sort of accuracy only achievable by being part of the paddock and working within the existing F1 setup, it will have captured that world without getting in the way of its intricate functions. If you watched the world feed TV broadcast from home, the only sighting of Pitt and Idris in the pre-race build up came in a wide-angle shot showing the Red Arrows flying overhead at the end of the anthem.
Further filming is set to take place at other races later this season. But the buzz around the film and what it can do for F1 is really positive. It speaks to the buy-in of not only F1 as a community to help make the film happen, but also from the movie makers to ensure they do not intrude or intervene. It really was business as usual at Silverstone.
We have become increasingly used to cameras following every move amid the success of “Drive to Survive” on Netflix. The boom that created changed the sport forever. The hope now is that this movie can be the next big step that only furthers F1’s mainstream reach.
(Lead photo: Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
