"You're just in this sublime groove," claims Brad Pitt after his drive with McLaren at COTA
McLaren Racing provided the F1 The Movie's star, Brad Pitt, a private day of testing at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, who was able to get behind the wheel of the MCL60.
The Oscar-winning actor, who has been filming the highly anticipated F1-inspired movie over the past two years - including scenes shot on location at McLaren - took up the opportunity offered by CEO Zak Brown to experience the thrill of driving McLaren’s 2023 challenger.
Last month, Brad Pitt visited the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking for engineering meetings, a seat fit, and an intensive simulator session ahead of making his Formula 1 track debut in Austin.
From Apple Original Films and the filmmakers from Top Gun: Maverick comes the high-octane, action-packed feature film F1 The Movie, starring Brad Pitt and directed by Joseph Kosinski. The film is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Kosinski, seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, Brad, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Chad Oman.
Dubbed “the greatest that never was”, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was Formula 1’s most promising phenom of the 1990s until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, he’s a nomadic racer-for-hire when he’s approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling Formula 1 team that is on the verge of collapse.
"Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to Formula 1 for one last shot at saving the team and being the best in the world. He’ll drive alongside Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team’s hotshot rookie intent on setting his own pace.
"But as the engines roar, Sonny’s past catches up with him and he finds that in Formula 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition - and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.
Speaking about the experience on the Beyond The Grid podcast, Pitt said: “I got to hit 197mph this week. I really wanted to hit 200. You know, it hurts me a little bit – three miles per hour short on the straight. This was at Austin.
“I've just never experienced anything that's just, more feeling of presence in my life. You're so focused, but you're not white knuckling. You're just in this sublime groove. It is really extraordinary.
“I try to explain this feeling of downforce, and I fail every time because you try to say like a rollercoaster, but that's not even right, because you feel the fulcrum point underneath you – you're in it.
“I was in an aerobatic plane once, and it's the closest thing, but still this thing. This is such a unique feeling and an absolute high. I'm still on a high, I really am. I'm just still on a high.
“And I can't thank Zak Brown and the team [enough]. I spent the day out with Lando [Norris] – just what a high, what a high."
