F1 The Movie Apple, Lewis Hamilton Interview

I've been racing for 32 years and I I I've loved the sport since I was five years old. Um, and uh, when we came across the, there was this moment where I got to speak with um, Joe about this potential project, Joe and Jerry, um, who asked me to to come on board and I jumped at the opportunity. Um, and to be honest I'd I've been really trying to figure out what could be a stepping stone from racing one day, um, kind of a side stepping stone of something I'm also really passionate about, and, and movies is one of those things that I, as I said, I have loved, um, pretty much as much as I do racing. Um, and so I got this opportunity to go back in the background where I got to meet up with Jerry and Joe at, uh, Jerry's office, uh, the legend himself, and meet with Brad and go through this script, and, uh, it was all a big learning process for me.

I'm learning um how, how they like to work, all the processes that go in place to build and create a movie. I never in a million years thought I would get to work with Brad Pitt. Uh, I've seen all of his movies, huge fan, um, and um I think getting to, that was the first time I actually, technically I met him, I was in Jerry's office and we were going through casting, and uh Brad was on Zoom, so got to meet him in that split second, but then we got to go to a track and I got to drive around with him. I got to learn that you know, he's massively into um, into motorsport and particularly bikes. Um, but then when we went around the track I realized he's actually, he's got a underlying ability actually to really drive and I know it's a real passion for him to to get behind the steering wheel.

Having these two both go through the process of uh, the mental challenge, challenges that we go through as racing drivers, the speed in which you're taking in information, and also the effects on the body, how strong the brakes are, the G-forces, I think it was really important for them. You can't get that, you can't fake that. Uh, if you've not experienced it you you can't imagine. Um, so I think it's really important and and they were so open-minded that, you know, uh, as I said, Brad, I think, had been following racing for some time so he already generally had a bit of an idea. I think he'd done some track days maybe before, so he kind of already had the gist of lines that you could take, but then when he got into the race car I see, then he realized it was a big a even a bigger step than there. And then Damson started from scratch completely, has never done any track time, not knowing any lines, and so maybe even a steeper curve for him. But, uh, I think both of them got real appreciation for what being a racing driver and and uh, really means. Um, and that's what you get to see in the, in the film.

Apex didn't stick out like a sore thumb. It was, it was done so well. I think the approach from the whole team, everyone was so professional. Um, some people were racing fans before and I think some were new to it and uh, gained a lot of appreciation during the journey of, you know, being able to film at real races. This wasn't a set, you know. Uh, it's like unheard of. Um, you know, there's no, you know, there's obviously um, some of the technology that, that Joe used, uh, when he did Maverick, with the fighter jets, is able to bring part of that technology into this, but also develop it and take it to another level. Um, yeah, I think it was really, it was really neat.

I remember there was one moment actually, I came, it was Budapest, it must have been 2023, and I got out the car after the race, and I hadn't even realized they were filming, if I'm really honest, but I went over to I went over to uh, to Brad, and I went over and like fist-bumped him or something like that. Um, I can't, I think I was, I went my emotions were going crazy because I'd just finished the race so I wasn't really thinking, but afterwards like, "You got in the way of the shot!" Um, but it was really cool how they literally, they were there filming live, like, but but they were never in a way, so it was, it was really cool.

I really wanted to make sure the film was very, the cast was diverse, um, and making sure that, you know, women are seen on, on on screen, so we've got, you know, the engineer, um, we've got, uh, you know, the aerodynamicist for example, she also works in strategy, but also one of the mechanics that's in the pit stop is, is a woman. And I, and then you got, you know, just diverse characters. I want people that are watching be like, "Ah, there's a place for me there." And so maybe go to, for the kids, they got to get into STEM to become engineers. And so there's a big knock-on effect of the positive the possibilities and the positive effects hopefully it will have.

You're going to be on the edge of your seat watching this film, um, because the sound, Hans Zimmer you've got, uh, the the the the effects, um, the, you know, the backfiring of the, the exhaust. It's, it's, you're going to feel the adrenaline um, through this movie. Um, and I've watched it several times, obviously, as we've been editing and working on it, and each time I get that feeling, um, so I know it's real, and I really, really know people are going to, going to get to feel that also, um, and that whole mixture of of different worlds, we've just got you know, the mixture of emotions, the romance, the, uh, the, the fights that you see, the close contact, um, it's going to raise, it's definitely going to raise some hairs I think on people's arms.