The F1 film won Best Sound at the Academy Awards on Sunday, but Lewis Hamilton had previously left actor Brad Pitt unimpressed with a concern he had

Lewis Hamilton left actor Brad Pitt unimpressed after suggesting he was too old to portray a driver in the F1 film. The picture claimed an Oscar for Best Sound at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

Released during the summer of 2025, F1 was an ambitious sports production helmed by Joseph Kosinski. For those who haven’t yet seen the film, it introduced an 11th team to the grid, prior to the inclusion of Cadillac this season, and followed Pitt’s veteran driver character Sonny Hayes embarking on an unlikely comeback.

Filming occurred during actual Grand Prix weekends in 2023 and 2024, with Pitt and co-star Damson Idris driving modified Formula 2 cars on track and mixing with real drivers.

Both Hamilton and his former team principal at Mercedes, Toto Wolff, had cameos in the film, which became the highest-grossing project of Pitt’s career and earned nearly £500million worldwide.

Yet, as filming commenced, Wolff disclosed that Hamilton had reservations about Pitt’s age when playing veteran Hayes, and the actor wasn’t particularly pleased when this was mentioned.

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Pitt mingled with real F1 drivers for the film(Image: Getty)

Speaking at the Autosport Business Exchange New York last year, Wolff said: “There was one dinner that we organised with Joe, the director, and [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer, Lewis, Brad Pitt, Susie [Wolff] and I.

“We had dinner at our place in Oxford and suddenly the door opens and there’s Brad Pitt in the driveway and he says, ‘Thank you for having me for dinner.’

“So that was a bit of a surreal experience. The initial concept was him being a driver and fighting for a world championship and then Lewis said, ‘That’s not going to go. You’re much too old for a Formula 1 driver.’

“Brad was not impressed by it. He felt that he was in his prime to be a Formula 1 driver. How they adapted the script was fantastic because it was credible. His role was credible.

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The picture won an award at the Oscars(Image: Getty)

“We looked at, all of the F1 drivers and the team principals, we looked at it at the premiere in Monaco around the Grand Prix, and we liked it. There was nothing that was not to be liked. It’s good entertainment.”

On Sunday, whilst Hamilton competed for a first podium position as a Ferrari driver at the Chinese Grand Prix, the F1 film secured four Academy Award nominations and claimed Best Sound.

It missed out on Best Picture to One Battle After Another and was also shortlisted for Best Film Editing and Best Visual Effects. The sound team of Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta received recognition.