Esteban Ocon has his eye on the new opposition at Silverstone

Michelle Foster 06 Jul 2023 2:24 PM

Esteban Ocon looking to the sky. Britain July 2023

As rumours continue suggesting Brad Pitt, or at least the APXGP car, will be a part of the formation lap at the British GP, Esteban Ocon has joked rivals need to watch out for their upgrades.

Pitt began filming his Formula 1 film about a Formula 1 driver who comes out of retirement to assist a rookie team-mate at the Silverstone circuit on Thursday where the car was out on track.

Only the bare bones are known about the movie that will star Pitt as ‘Sonny Hayes’ and Damson Idris as the rookie racer ‘Joshua Pearce’ while co-producer and seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton will potentially having a cameo.

While an entire garage has been set up in the pits for the fictional drivers, it’s also been reported the car will take part in the installation lap on Sunday, although that is unconfirmed.

Added to that Pitt and the car are reportedly expected to be present during next week’s Pirelli tyre test, putting in the laps at the Northamptonshire track along with Red Bull and Haas. As for the car the movie is using, that’s a modified Formula 2 car that has been made to look like a Formula 1 car.

It had Ocon joking they could be the ones to watch out for this weekend.

“I think APXGP is bringing some upgrades this weekend,” he said with a laugh during Thursday’s driver press conference.

“Sonny Hayes is in good shape, we’re going to see how that works.”

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Jokes aside, the 26-year-old is looking to return to the points this weekend having failed to score in the Austrian Grand Prix, although he did bag two points with a P7 in the sprint race.

Alpine will bring updates of their own to the Silverstone circuit.

“We are bringing a new front wing,” confirmed Ocon. “We’ve worked well on bringing parts for both cars which should help our performance this weekend.”