British Grand Prix: Brad Pitt joins F1 drivers

Formula One has its pitstops and pitlane and this weekend's British Grand Prix will also have Brad Pitt getting in on the action.

The Hollywood star and his co-star Damson Idris donned white and black racing suits to represent the fictional APXGP team as they mingled among the real F1 drivers on the grid at the circuit in Northamptonshire on Sunday.

The 59-year-old Hollywood actor's as-yet untitled Formula One movie starts filming at Silverstone against the race backdrop, with the production having its own garage and pitwall stand as a fictional 11th team.

The driver boards above the garages, photographed in place this week, feature the unfamiliar names of Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce, also known as Pitt and British actor Damson Idris.

Pitt and his co-star Damson Idris play drivers Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce -- on Sunday both of them joined F1's 20 drivers for the national anthem, which is a formality ahead of every F1 race, dressed in race overalls for the fictional team 'APX GP.'

After months of preparation shooting began in earnest this weekend, and the film’s fictional 11th team has a high profile presence in the paddock and pitlane.

The production's converted F2 cars will be seen on the grid before the race, and will complete part of the formation lap, driven by former racers turned stuntmen Craig Dolby and Luciano Bacheta.

Revealing more details about the upcoming film in the interview, he explained that his character was an F1 driver in the 1990s but moved to racing in other disciplines after suffering a “horrible crash”.

His friend and team owner, played by Javier Bardem, then calls asking if he would come back to the sport to help out his team who are sitting at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Pitt said the film “should be as authentic as we can get it” as they have employed F1 experts who have been “operating the show like the real thing”.

Dean Locke, Formula One's director of broadcast and media, assured reporters this week that the sporting action would not be compromised.

"Of course you're probably going to see shots and they've got a garage in Silverstone and things like that but that's not the story (for Formula One). The story is the race," he said.

Alpine principal Otmar Szafnauer, whose team recently acquired 'Deadpool' actor Ryan Reynolds as an investor, told Reuters team staff had been told "just to go about our business as we normally would.

"Don't follow the cameras around or look at them. They will try to stay out of our way as much as possible but they will have a garage in the pitlane," he said.

"I think they are running on track as well. So I look forward to seeing how that's all done. It's a serious production and I've seen some footage of their F1 car running and it looks amazing."

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 Sarah H

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