F1® The Movie | Making Of with Lewis Hamilton | Behind the Scenes | Warner Bros. Entertainment

The prospect of bringing in a major movie production to create an 11th team was a really unprecedented endeavor. The drivers meeting is a very kind of sacred, closed session. So, when we were invited, it was very surreal. I think there was some understandable skepticism at the beginning, you know, to have a bunch of people from Hollywood walk in. Racing drivers are very focused, single-minded individuals, but having Brad and Damsen and Joe and Jerry to talk to them about the fact that they were there to help reflect the skill and the commitment and bravery and courage of those drivers was hugely important and really well received. Once we explained what we were doing, they embraced us and all the drivers have been fantastic, you know, open to playing cameos of themselves. We're very fortunate because we got a combination of team owners and team principals and drivers in the film. The red flag section of the film is a suspenseful moment because, you know, we don't know what's going to happen. It's the worst feeling in the world. There's an accident on the track and all the teams have to go back into the pits and prepare to go out again. JP, red flag, red flag, come in. It's a culmination of the entire movie. Team, time to build a car. Every team gave us a car, gave us drivers. Lewis Hamilton was there amongst our actors, which was exciting. The guys here are super embedded into this environment. I think the scene really plays out tremendously well in the story because you feel the reality in it. When I had the chance to put my feet on the racetrack, it's like theatre, but theatre seen by thousands upon thousands of people screaming at you. With Brad and the real cars and the real drivers, there was a lot of adrenaline. It's in the hands of the racing gods now. They've got to believe. You've got a packed stadium. You've got other drivers and other racing teams who are doing what they do every week. And then here you are trying to film a movie. Yo, you good? Yeah, good. The pressure's definitely on. We're now sitting on a soundstage with wind machines. There's no beginning and end to where set is. You go through the paddock and everyone's holding a camera. It's just so immersive. You're so swept up in it and it makes the job so much easier because we're there to run a race. We all know what we've got to do. The choreography involved is timed down to the last second. Before every section of the race, we had long meetings where we laid out the choreography. Then when we finished shooting the section, we had a debrief on how we did and what we accomplished. It's the art of possibility and understanding where we could squeeze time for Brad and Damsen and the pro drivers to choreograph these key story beats. And that was a collaboration between our Formula One sporting team, the FIA, our promoters, and of course the teams as well. Tim Bampton was the liaison between the film and the sport, which is a very complicated, busy position. The logistics of that are just unbelievable. You're talking about a couple hundred million dollars worth of equipment being wheeled out before a race weekend, having all the teams work on their cars, in the background for our scene. It was just amazing what he was able to pull off. It's a miracle. I know, I know. Never seen one until now. This is unbelievable. The way they've let us embed into their scene. Me and Kim have to build this car with Carlos Sainz watching us. And I have such a cool bit of dialogue once the car is ready. Hey, Sonny. Sonny, you got a minute? I said to Joe, though, you have to put some movie soundtrack music underneath. We got you a car. Oh, you rock. You could tell when Lewis was on set, there was a vibe. We had an hour with all the teams to shoot that sequence, Lewis playing himself, all the mechanics playing themselves for the various teams. Lewis has a very busy schedule, and so we had to make the choice to start shooting without him. And like three minutes later, he walked in and just stepped in and started doing his thing, which was amazing. So we're filming a scene, it's a red flag, I get out of the car and take my helmet off, and I'm staring at Damson. Can't we have a bit of a stare-out? He's such a positive person. It's just like so inspiring. I try to be cool, but I feel like a kid. They've done such a great job with it. Something I'm really proud of. Well, we're a crowd of, I can't tell you how many, 40 or 50,000 people watching you on the grid with our actors and our cars, lined up with all the great drivers and all the great teams for F1. It put a chill down your spine. It was really something special.