Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team principal Toto Wolff recently spoke at the Autosport Business Exchange New York as a headliner. In a one-on-one conversation, he talked about the early days in the making of F1: The Movie. A highlight that he mentioned was the time the makers of the film sat down to discuss the film with him, along with Lewis Hamilton and Brad Pitt.
How Lewis Hamilton’s comment left Brad Pitt unimpressed
During his conversation at the Autosport Business Exchange in New York, Toto Wolff mentioned the making of F1: The Movie. He revealed how the Academy Award winner did not seem impressed by a comment made by Lewis Hamilton.
The seven-time world champion reportedly told Brad Pitt that he is “much too old” to play the part of an already existing F1 driver in the movie. This happened before the makers could finalize their storyline for the film.
Wolff described the night when the film’s director, Joseph Kosinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Pitt, and Hamilton were present for dinner at his Oxford Home. They seemingly planned the dinner to discuss the movie early on. “So at the beginning, you know… I am lucky,” he said. “I’m seeing lots of people who have a big media profile, but there was one dinner that we organised with Joe, who is the director, and Jerry Bruckheimer, Lewis, Brad Pitt, Susie, and I.” (via Motorsport.com)
The former racing driver then went on to describe his meeting with Pitt. He shared, “We had dinner at our place in Oxford, and suddenly the door opens and there’s Brad Pitt in the driveway and he says, ‘Thank you for having me for dinner.’ So that was a bit of a surreal experience.”
Furthermore, Toto Wolff went on to explain how the makers initially planned Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes to be the central character of F1: The Movie. However, Lewis Hamilton stepped in and made some changes. “The initial concept was him being a driver and fighting for a world championship, and then Lewis said, ‘That’s not going to go; you’re much too old for a Formula 1 driver,’ and Brad was not impressed by it,” he explained.
Nevertheless, Wolff ultimately praised the final result and Pitt’s performance in the film. He stated, “He felt that he was in his prime to be a Formula 1 driver. How they adapted the script was fantastic because it was credible. His role was credible.”
