Max Verstappen baffled over his F1 movie cameo

Pitt, Verstappen, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen baffled over his F1 movie cameo

Max Verstappen was not a fan of the F1 movie

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 29 May 2026 11:55

Four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen did not even know that he played a role in the F1 movie which hit cinemas last year.

The film - which featured Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Javier Bardem - was released last summer, and became a huge hit among fans, going on to become Pitt's most successful ever film from a financial standpoint.

The production crew spent the time over the 2023 and 2024 F1 seasons to film a number of scenes at real-life race weekends, while some of the on-track battles involved substituting the cars involved in a battle that actually happened with Pitt's APX GP car.

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That could be seen in a battle at the Italian Grand Prix, when Pitt's character Sonny Hayes raced hard at Monza against Verstappen.

When Verstappen finally got past Hayes, he could be seen putting up his middle finger to the APX GP driver, to which Hayes said in the cockpit: "I deserved that."

Verstappen unaware of movie role

Now, while playing games online with his friends in a live stream, Verstappen has appeared completely baffled by that part of the film.

When one of his friends quoted the moment, Verstappen replied: "We did what?," clearly unaware of his cameo in the film. When it was explained to him again, Verstappen simply said: "Huh."

Verstappen has previously admitted that he has never seen the F1 movie.

Was the F1 movie a success?

F1 surpassed $545m (£410m) at the global box office, beating Pitt's previous most successful film World War Z, which achieved $540m (£407m).

However, the film received mixed reviews from fans, pundits and the F1 drivers who starred in it.

Carlos Sainz wasn't a fan, questioning the authenticity of the storylines, while many fans pointed to the appalling representation of females in the film.

Pitt's character Hayes, opts to return to F1 in his 60s (yes, you heard that correctly), while there is one female character of any note in the film played by Kerry Condon, who is introduced as F1's first ever female technical director but who then magically falls in love with her driver and becomes Pitt's love interest.

Fans criticised the movie for these reasons, but it did set a record for Apple Studios as their highest-grossing theatrical release of all time.

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