Brad Pitt shares which F1 track left him feeling the ‘highest of highs’

F1 Movie star Brad Pitt has revealed which circuit left him feeling the “highest of highs”.

The Hollywood actor got to experience several tracks on the F1 calendar during filming for his role as Sonny Hayes in F1 The Movie. Pitt drove a modified F2 car around various circuits and got to witness the action as a spectator.

For Pitt, Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps stood out above the rest.

“I have a real love for Silverstone because we got our footing there and we got to live there for a couple of months – how spoiled are we?” Pitt told F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast.

“And then I have a real soft spot for Abu Dhabi because we spent another couple of months there and we finished up the film there.

“But the highest of highs? Spa. Oh my god! 4.3 miles, 100-metre elevation change through the woods and the back. The Pouhon corner, it's double [apex]. It's off-camber and you're coming downhill into it. It's such a smooth, graceful feeling.

“And then of course Eau Rouge. We went to the bottom of Eau Rouge. Tim Bampton from F1 took us down to the base of Eau Rouge, and he said, “Turn your backs, just look up the hill and wait”. And the cars come right by the wall.

“Fernando [Alonso] went by, and it literally sucks the air out of your lungs. It is unbelievable. It is unbelievable.”

Comparing his experience driving the legendary circuit to watching the real-life F1 grid tackle the famous venue, Pitt reflected: “That was that same weekend we were driving.

“I’d been out but I'm not doing what Fernando was doing! When I first saw him flat-out around Copse at Silverstone - it is staggering, it’s breathtaking.”

Pitt explains British Grand Prix scene

F1 The Movie also features a scene on the grid ahead of the 2023 British Grand Prix, in which Pitt and co-star Damson Idris (Joshua Pearce) feature alongside the other 20 F1 drivers for the national anthem.

“It’s nutty, but it brings an energy to the film itself,” Pitt explained.

“It's like a race to make sure we get these scenes. We're going to shoot it on the grid. We've embedded ourself in the race weekend. We have to prove ourselves. We will not cock up the programme and slow down the race, and we won't be in anyone's way!

“Damson and I do the national anthem. We turn around, we find ourselves walking with Carlos [Sainz], which was cool – these little accidents that happen. And then we get to the back of the grid and we get two takes for this scene with Tobias [Menzies] and Javier [Bardem].

“The day before, the very first thing we put on film was going out, taking the cars out on our own in front of 100,000 fans on quali day, and that got my attention.”