It’s not just for the F1 drivers that the season continues in Hungary… for Brad Pitt and his acolytes too! The Apple Studios film, co-produced by Lewis Hamilton, and in which the Hollywood actor takes the wheel of a Formula 2 modified in F1 by Mercedes, had started its shooting near Silverstone two weeks ago, creating a buzz and unprecedented curiosity in the paddock.
We then knew that the filming would continue later in the year, and that the fictitious APXGP team would again pose its equipment within the great circus of Formula 1 on one or more Grands Prix. It didn’t take long, since on Wednesday, we could see the APXGP panels on the Budapest side above the garages, in the pit lane, with the faces of Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce, the two main characters in the story.
Brad Pitt at the wheel again?
As before the Silverstone round, F1 and the FIA have also sent a note to accredited persons, reminding the holding of filming and the rules in force. Among other things, the media and personnel were prohibited from interfering with the film crews.
Each accredited journalist also received a somewhat lunar email, in which everyone was asked “to act as if nothing had happened”, “not to disturb the filming”of “do not reveal the plot”and of “do not look at the cameras when scenes are shot”so as not to distort the filming.
In Hungary as at Silverstone, the production of the film was granted 15-minute driving slots during which the two single-seaters roll, allowing the director to capture the images of the cars in motion. Will Brad Pitt ride the Hungaroring in person? Hard to know.
At Silverstone, it was never known which of the actors or stunt drivers were behind the wheel. It seems to be the stuntmen in the majority, then Brad Pitt and his sidekick Damson Idris on the tighter shots. But it’s hard to imagine Brad Pitt not being there, at least for a few scenes.
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