Actor Brad Pitt is joining the Formula One paddock for his new movie, and he probably stands as much chance as anyone else of beating Max Verstappen.
Verstappen is aiming for his eighth win in 10 races this year today as he surges toward winning the title for a third straight year. His Red Bull team has won 19 of the past 20 races going back to July last year.
As F1 welcomes Pitt for a weekend of filming around the British Grand Prix, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed the help the project has had from F1 teams. Mercedes driver and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton is involved with producing the movie.
Photo: AP
“We’ve been involved pretty early, and I think when we had the first discussions, we sent Brad to a driving school in France, going through the Formula cars from Formula 4 all the way up — and we tried to be helpful with the narrative,” Wolff said.
“Lewis is an executive producer, so he wanted to make sure when the movie comes out, it’s as realistic as possible,” he added.
Pitt’s production has set up a garage for a fictional 11th team at Silverstone.
However, most existing F1 teams remain opposed to adding a real new team to F1, despite a bid from Andretti Global and General Motors.
“We haven’t got the logistics, where to put an 11th team. Here in Silverstone, we can accommodate the Hollywood people, but on other circuits, we can’t,” Wolff said.
Verstappen was top again in both Friday practice sessions, leading the first by .448 seconds over teammate Sergio Perez and the second by .022 from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Verstappen complained of a lack of grip early in the first session but it hardly seemed to limit his pace.
If Verstappen wins today, he will become only the fifth driver in F1 history to win six consecutive races, and the first since Nico Rosberg for Mercedes in 2015 and 2016.
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