Did Brad Pitt actually drive an F1 car in the latest sports drama? Producer reveals key details

The Rich Eisen Show recently invited the F1 film producer Jerry Bruckheimer after the successful release of the film in the theatres. The movie follows Brad Pitt's character, who is a retired F1 driver who returns to the game to mentor a rookie while racing for an underdog team. Most of the scenes, according to reports, have been shot on the actual Formula 1 race tracks during the weekends and involve Brad Pitt driving the sports car.

During the show, Bruckheimer is questioned as to whether Brad Pitt actually drove the car during the shoot or whether they managed the scenes with an actor's body double. The producer unveiled that the actor was trained for four months before the shoot.

"They (Brad Pitt and Idris) were trained for four months, with various cars, road cars, open-wheel cars, F3 and F4 cars and finally got in our car."

Read on to know what Bruckheimer revealed about what went on behind the scenes during the making of F1.

Did Brad Pitt actually drive an F1 car in the latest sports drama?

As mentioned, Brad Pitt practised on various sports cars, including the F1 car, for four months before the film went on the floors. Bruckheim, emphasizing how Brad Pitt learnt to drive the sports car, recalled that the latter recently also drove a McLaren and took it to 197 mph.

"He drove the McLaren 2023 F1 car and got it up to 197. In the movie, you only got up to 180."

It was after the release of Top Gun that Joseph Kosinski came to Jerry with an idea to make a Formula One movie. He called Lewis Hamilton, the British Formula One driver, because he wanted to act in Top Gun. However, Hamilton was unable to dedicate his time solely to the film for four months, and this is when Brad Pitt came on board. Hamilton joined the film as a producer.

Bruckheimer and Joseph Kosinski, another producer of the movie, were adamant from the start that they wanted to do it for real, "just like they did in Top Gun." The producer then revealed that they also screened for the Formula One drivers exclusively to have their reaction to the same.

"We showed it to the F1 drivers. At a screening for them in Monaco, yes. And they said it's the first time they have seen a movie where I really feel the experience that we have, being in these cars."

The scenes involving the sports car race tracks were shot during the weekends, with the Grand Prix event still going on.

"Yeah, we went to nine different races and shot the crowds and everything. Our car was on the track in between qualifying and practice, so we, in fact, Brad, when first time he first really got into the car for us to film was in front of the 140,000 people at Silverstone. Louis Hamilton was among it and was also our advisor."

Bruckheimer deemed the movie as "one of the most accurate films about motor racing, especially Formula One."

On 27 June 2025, F1 was released in the theatres and continues to premiere.

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Edited by Anshika Jain