Brad Pitt's upcoming Formula 1 movie will film in and around grand prix weekends through the end of the year, and this weekend's British Grand Prix is the first. Today, F1 and Apple released the first images of the car Pitt will drive in the movie and the name of his fictional team, APXGP.
The car is reportedly an F2 car made to look like a top-flight F1 machine by Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton is a producer on the film, so that's likely how this connection was made. It's also easy to spot the AMG logo on the car's engine cover.
Also spotted is a garage for Pitt's character, Sonny Hayes, complete with front wing assemblies on a stand and other team kit inside.
The team behind Top Gun: Maverick is responsible for this movie, so that should give you a good idea of what to expect. Pitt will actually drive the car on track—though not in official sessions—which will be fit with a special camera to capture the most realistic action yet seen in a racing movie.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, APXGP will be a midfield team in the film. Pitt's character Hayes is an older driver who comes out of retirement to pair with a young racer, played by Damon Idris. There aren't a lot of other details beyond that, though the name of the film is reportedly Apex. The basic plot line seems to recall 2001's Driven, a film about the CART series starring Sylvester Stallone starring....an older driver, Sylvester Stallone's Joe Tanto, persuaded out of retirement to team with a young hotshot, Jimmy Bly. Hopefully Pitt's film also has a scene where he drifts to pick up quarters off the track. Fingers crossed.
A car enthusiast since childhood, Chris Perkins is Road & Track's engineering nerd and Porsche apologist. He joined the staff in 2016 and no one has figured out a way to fire him since. He street-parks a Porsche Boxster in Brooklyn, New York, much to the horror of everyone who sees the car, not least the author himself. He also insists he's not a convertible person, despite owning three.
