It was an unusual ending to George Russell's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he finished fifth and yet ended up on the F1 podium.
On the other side of the podium was Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. He recovered from 19th on the grid to finish third behind Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, and was already on the podium on Sunday night.
Sitting between Russell and Leclerc, wearing a black and white race suit, was veteran APXGP racer Sonny Hayes.
Hayes is a fictional character played by Brad Pitt in the film F1, produced by Warner Bros. and Apple, and has been integrated into the world of F1 over the past two seasons. Javier Bardem's Pit's fictional team, APXGP, will receive a full garage setup for the race, with Mercedes-designed cars lined up on the starting grid, making the sport the most realistic racing movie ever. I have been working hard on this.
A second podium ceremony was held on the Sunday after the race in Abu Dhabi to film some scenes, all of which took place after the participants were told to remain in their seats after the race to have a chance to be seen in the film. It was held in front of the fans.
On-site filming of “F1” has finished in Abu Dhabi. Scheduled for release next year in North America on June 27th and the rest of the world on June 25th, the project is steadily approaching completion.
“We'll be here for the rest of this week for pickup and then we'll be in the editing room,” F1 producer Jerry Bruckheimer told a select media roundtable on Sunday. The Athletic. “About two-thirds of the film has already been cut. This will be our last race together and we'll see about it. ”
The immersion in the world of F1 gave director Joe Kosinski, who worked with Bruckheimer on Top Gun: Maverick, the perfect opportunity to make the film as close to reality as possible. A teaser trailer was released ahead of July's British Grand Prix, featuring a number of current drivers and team principals, and showing off what the in-car footage will look like. Much like the fighter planes in “Top Gun: Maverick,” much of the footage in “F1” attempts to give viewers an experience as close as possible to driving an F1 car.
Brad Pitt's character talks to Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. (Proshot/Sipa USA)
Bruckheimer said input from the drivers, especially the film's producer Lewis Hamilton, was important.
“They were very open about their experiences, what they went through leading up to F1, and even their superstitions,” Bruckheimer explained. “We took a little thing that one driver did about this superstition, and Brad has that in his character.
“Lewis keeps us honest. He watched all the races and said, 'I'm not going to be in second gear at this turn, I'm going to be in first gear.' When he gets there, he hears the engine, shifting, etc. ”
“One of the big things we're doing as part of this is we want to make racing real,” added Eddie Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services. “Lewis was very helpful. The story is always important because that's what it is, but we wanted the racing scenes to be really legitimate and authentic. And that's what we captured. I think Lewis did a great job in that regard.”
Pitt and Damson Idris, who plays Hayes' young teammate Joshua Pearce, underwent extensive training and testing to pilot the APXGP car, a bulked-up version of the F2 car used in the film. Pitt and Idris were in Abu Dhabi filming the final round of the race and also photobombed some of the team's year-end photos in the pit lane on Thursday. In the paddock, the project involves filming in a lively sporting environment.
One of the consequences of being active during Grand Prix weekend, especially in front of fans, is that clips from filming will inevitably leak online. Scenes have already surfaced of Pitt celebrating on the podium in Abu Dhabi and holding the Mexican flag in front of Mexico's Foro Sol stadium section. But both Mr. Bruckheimer and Mr. Kew were relieved that nothing emerged that would reveal any central details of the plot.
“If you're on a movie set and you get that clip, you have no idea what's going on,” Cue said. “We’re not filming in sequence, right?” These little things… I saw something on YouTube where Brad passed out in Las Vegas or something, but I don’t know what the context was. . In fact, I think all of them are helpful. ”
In particular, the nature of the scene in which Pitt “passed out” on the main straight in Las Vegas last month on a crash mat was something Cue didn't feel pushed the film's dramatic elements too far.
“I saw a man rise from the fire in real F1,” he said, referring to Romain Grosjean's crash in Bahrain in 2020. “I think fainting is a very real thing.” Whether it's the crash scenes or the scenes on the track, the producers say everything in “F1” takes inspiration and references from moments in the sport's history. spoke.
“Many of the incidents in the film are taken from real events,” Bruckheimer said. “Everything Brad does on the track, the little tricks he does are things that drivers have been doing for decades in different races, because he doesn't have the fastest car and he's not the fastest driver. He has to use smart tactics to stay ahead of other drivers.
After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Brad Pitt, who plays Sonny Hayes, greets Damson Idris, who plays Joshua Pearce. (Sipa USA)
The completion of on-site filming in Abu Dhabi was delayed due to interruptions caused by last year's actors and writers' strike in Hollywood. But Bruckheimer said there was never a moment when it appeared the project was in jeopardy.
“We were very lucky because we had a second unit director hire us for a whole section of the second unit shoot,” he said. “So when both strikes hit, we didn't need writers. We didn't need actors. Joe Kosinski, our director, shot all of the second units during the strikes. So we went back and… Once I got there, all I had to do was film the actors. I was very lucky that it worked out the way it did.”
Cue said that while it “delayed things a little bit,” there was “no question about it” and even felt the extra time was beneficial. “You can make the argument that having more time is always beneficial,” Kew says. “As an example, I was able to come here twice, so I was able to shoot more than I had planned.”
Just as Netflix's documentary series Drive to Survive helped bring F1 to a younger mainstream audience when it debuted in 2019, the sport hopes F1 will have the same impact. . Bruckheimer credited demand from the paddock and the sport at large for leading to this collaborative effort over the past two years.
“The fans were really great,” Bruckheimer said. “They've embraced us and been really kind to Brad and the movie itself and what they've tweeted about the movie. They recognize the impact the movie has on sports.
“The drivers aren't in a specific market. I mean, they're rock stars, and let's be honest, they're the 20 best drivers in the world. And those are the viewers of 'Drive to Survive.' It will be open to everyone.”
