Brad Pitt gets shock F1 opportunity at US circuit

Hollywood legend Brad Pitt has been handed a shock opportunity to test an F1 car at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

In recent years, Pitt has become a familiar face in the paddock due to his starring role in the upcoming F1 movie, which has been filmed at real grand prix weekends over the last few seasons.

In the movie, the Hollywood A-lister plays Sonny Hayes, a retired F1 racer who decides to rejoin the sport to race for a team named APXGP, alongside rookie Joshua Pearce, who is played by British actor Damson Idris.

Both Pitt and Pearce drove F2 cars modified to look like F1 machinery during their shooting of the movie, but now, it appears the latter has been fortunate enough to get a chance to drive the real thing.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton F1 team-mate opens up on 'very dark' Ferrari situation

McLaren hand Pitt golden opportunity

According to reports, following the F1 movie premiere in New York last week, Pitt flew straight to Austin, Texas, to take part in a test with McLaren, with Lando Norris also present.

McLaren even dropped a major hint on their social media, posting the caption, 'It's a Sonny day in Austin', accompanied by a picture of racing overalls with the initials BP.

One interesting aspect of the above is that the test was with McLaren, and not Mercedes or Ferrari, for example.

Lewis Hamilton is receiving a production credit for the new F1 movie, 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 no F1 test, that we know about, was given.

Instead, Pitt reportedly took to the track in the MCL60, McLaren's 2023 challenger, with title hopeful Norris having shown him the ropes.

F1 fans in North America can finally watch the highly anticipated movie on Friday, with a release date of June 27 in the United States.

READ MORE: F1 champion announces RETIREMENT plans

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