Red Bull fear ‘villain’ role in Brad Pitt movie thanks to Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff

Henry Valantine 09 Aug 2023 9:30 PM

Max Verstappen overtakes Lewis Hamilton. Hungary July 2023

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner quipped that he is gearing himself up for his team to be portrayed as the “villains” in the upcoming Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt, given Lewis Hamilton’s involvement in the film.

Seven-time World Champion Hamilton is part of the movie’s production staff as executive producer, consulting on casting and ensuring that Formula 1 as a sport is portrayed as accurately as possible – with the Mercedes driver going as far as wanting it to be the most accurate racing film ever made.

Filming took place with Pitt and co-star Damson Idris at Silverstone, with a modified Formula 2 car being run for the fictional ‘APXGP’ team at different times throughout the weekend, with further filming also taking place at the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.

Red Bull preparing to be ‘villains’ in new F1 movie

There is an all-star production crew among the as-yet-unnamed project, withTop Gun: Maverickdirector/producer duo Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer teaming up to work on the Formula 1 film together, where Pitt will play fictional driver ‘Sonny Hayes’, who comes out of retirement to drive for a backmarking team for one last season.

Hamilton has been heavily involved in the film’s production, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff having also lent use of the team’s logo to the fictional ‘APXGP’ team.

Red Bull team boss Horner is thrilled to see the sport be represented in this way, but given the titanic battles between the two teams still being fresh in the memory, he joked that he is ready to see Red Bull seen as the “bad guys” when it is released.

“It’s great that, again, it’s taking Formula 1 onto the big screens,” Horner said of the film’s production to ESPN.

“With Toto and Lewis as executive producers, I’m sure we’re going to be portrayed as the bad guys and the villains!

“But it is great for the sport, it’s great for Formula 1, and the interest in sport is just amazing.”

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Formula 1 is still riding the wave of its popularity boom in the United States and a third race will be taking place in the nation in November, when the sport visits Las Vegas for the penultimate round of 2023.

With that race coinciding with the Red Bull team principal’s 50th birthday weekend and a huge swell of attention around it, he is understandably looking forward to what is to come.

“That race is going to be insane,” Horner said.

“I’ve never known so much hype around a sporting event as a race on Saturday night down the Strip in Las Vegas. Everybody I meet says: ‘Oh, I want to be in Vegas.’ That weekend will be insane.

“I think the whole world is going to be watching and hopefully we can put on a great show.

“Hopefully the track will deliver a great race, and to be racing there under the lights is going to be unique.

“If you remember Austin a few years ago, we were having to get Taylor Swift there to get a crowd there. Now it’s like if she’s allowed in, if she can get a pass!

“It’s changed so much and Las Vegas, I think, will just take it to another level. It’s unprecedented, the interest that we’ve had in that race.”