Could Lewis Hamilton miss Chinese GP? F1 clash revealed

Lewis Hamilton looking miffed at the Qatar Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Could Lewis Hamilton miss Chinese GP? F1 clash revealed

The F1 movie has been nominated for four Oscars

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 24 January 2026 08:58

Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton is going to face the dilemma of either missing the Chinese Grand Prix or a major milestone in his film production career.

Hamilton owns his own film production company, Dawn Apollo Films, and he received a production credit for the F1 movie that was released last year.

The film starred the likes of Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem and received much praise from pundits and fans alike, going on to be the ninth-highest grossing film of the year at box office, and Pitt's highest-grossing film of his career.

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Hamilton's role in the movie was praised by Pitt and acclaimed Hollywood film producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

And now, the film has been nominated for four Oscars, including best picture, best sound, visual effects and the film editing category.

While this will likely be exciting news for Hamilton, the actual awards ceremony clashes with the Chinese GP, meaning he will not be able to attend.

He could, of course, choose to dip out of the race weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit and instead go to the Oscars, but he is unlikely to want to miss out on the only event at which he earned success last year with Ferrari.

Both events fall on the weekend of March 15, and the time zone differences mean that it will be very hard for Hamilton to even watch the ceremony on TV with his F1 duties leaving him unable to reach LA from Shanghai in the 12 hour flight time required.

Fernando Alonso's Monaco GP absence

Hamilton would not be the first driver to miss an F1 race weekend for their passions away from the sport, of course.

Fernando Alonso opted to miss the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix with McLaren in order to race in the Indy500, swapping F1 out for a rival racing series.

Instead, McLaren called upon the services of recently retired racer Jenson Button to fill Alonso's spot on the grid, but the Spaniard didn't miss much, with McLaren slow all weekend and both Button and Stoffel Vandoorne not even able to finish the race.

Ferrari would likely take a different view on their star driver signing missing a race weekend during such a crucial year for the team, however, and Hamilton might have to sit this Academy Awards ceremony out.

F1 HEADLINES: Ferrari make Hamilton move as fans demand change

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Chinese Grand Prix F1 movie