Brad Pitt handed shock McLaren F1 test

brad pitt, mclaren, thumb — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Off the Track

Brad Pitt handed shock McLaren F1 test

Brad Pitt is the star of the upcoming F1 movie

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 22 June 2025 18:56

F1 movie star Brad Pitt was reportedly given a test in an old McLaren car at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas last week.

Pitt has become a star of F1 in the past few seasons, regularly appearing at race weekends dressed in his APX GP gear as filming for the upcoming release took place at real-life F1 race weekends.

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The Hollywood A-lister plays Sonny Hayes in the new film, a retired F1 racer who decides to rejoin the sport to race for the newly-formed APX GP team alongside rookie Joshua Pearce - who is played by British actor Damson Idris.

While Pitt was required to do a fair amount of training in an F2 car for the film, it was thought that he had never actually driven an F1 car.

However, that appears to have changed in the immediate aftermath of the premiere for the film which took place in New York last week.

Pitt flew straight from New York to Austin, Texas to take part in a test with McLaren at COTA, with Lando Norris showing the star the ropes before Pitt raced a few laps himself according to Autosport.

Brad Pitt and Lando Norris were at COTA together

A social media post from the team hinted at the test, reading: "It's a Sonny day in Austin".

Why McLaren and not Mercedes or Ferrari for Pitt?

Lewis Hamilton is receiving a production credit for the new F1 film, and various Hollywood stars have praised his role in the making of the film, including Pitt, Idris, Jerry Bruckheimer and Hans Zimmer.

This also meant that the film's stars built up good relationships with Toto Wolff and George Russell during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, yet it is McLaren that have been the first to offer Pitt an actual test, rather than Mercedes.

Hamilton, of course, has moved to Ferrari now, and both Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski were seen in the Ferrari garage at the Canadian GP, before the film's stars and F1 drivers and team principals flew straight from Canada to New York for the premiere.

When will the F1 movie be released?

The 2025 grid have already been treated to their own private viewing of the movie, and the first critics' reviews of the blockbuster have already begun to roll in, but when can you go and watch it?

The new film is set for international release on Wednesday, June 25, which is when it will hit UK cinemas. The long-awaited spectacle will then be released on June 27 in North America.

F1 McLaren Brad Pitt Circuit of the Americas New York