Brad Pitt Drives An F1 Car For The First Time | Full Day With McLaren

This isn't your mom's sedan. Yeah, no. Huddling down the freeway. Do I think it's wise? I don't know. I've filmed one car around Austin here. It's some of the best experiences, I think. Should be three time laps. Three laps is a lifetime. That's what they say. So you'll be two easy flat. Whoa, really? Yeah, okay. When you say that, I just hear, do your best. I think the thing he'll get used to the most is just the power. You've got to be happy to be a bit scared. I've got confidence if you're out of drive, but it depends how quickly he wants to push it. Oh, looking good out there, Brad. Keep pushing, keep pushing. You let me know if I'm going too slow. It's going to be an adventure. For some reason, Zach Brown and everyone at McLaren has decided to let me get in the 23 F1 car of Lando's. And so here we are. It's a big step for me. The Apex car is a F2 stretched, and we were carrying 100 kilograms of camera weight. So, you know, it's going to be an adventure. Yeah, certainly. The F2 cars are still very quick race cars, but compared to that, this is just going to be a step up pretty much everywhere. More power, more downforce, better brakes. So higher cornering speeds, higher end of straight speeds, more physical forces through his body. So through the high speed, his neck will probably start to feel a little bit more. So it's also pretty warm and hot out here. So it's going to be physically pretty tough. I don't think we've had a driver in the car who's not been a professional race car driver. You know, we get a lot of amazing perks in this job of mine, but this would be number one. He's done the F2 car. He's done some simulator work with us. So he's had some good prep. So now it's time to see if he can step up. How am I feeling right now? Off my head giddy, a little bit intimidated, trying to put that in its proper place. And I just need to get in and get going, I think. Do I think it's wise? I don't know. But I think Brad's very capable. You've got to be happy to like be a bit scared and then see how it goes. But, you know, there's nothing wrong if someone spins or has a little pirouette. Like that happens. I think the thing he'll get used to the most is just the power. It's the most comforting one. It's just put to the floor and go for it. But a Formula One car around here, sector one, the high speed corners, it's double as quick. It feels even more than that when you're in the helmet on, you're low to the ground. So getting used to the high speed corners for him is going to be the biggest challenge and the one I'm most excited to see. Aircon. How are you doing this heat? It would be nasty in a race now. I have no idea, man. I'm going along for the ride. So here you're breaking that. Oh my God. So I'll point them out. This is blind to be. Over the curve. So are you up on the green in this? Just get inside the curve. Like you don't want to hit that big orange bit. Okay, downshift. Downshifting here. But this is fast, fast. It's almost just lifting. Maybe down one gear. You're down here? One gear down. Hard on the throttle. And then to the right. Are you another downshift here? One more downshift here. And what about here? Two down? I think just one down again. Do you want to get over to this bit here? It's here. Open it up. You sacrifice that corner for here. Yeah, exactly. Sacrifice the first one so you get a good exit here. There it's blind again. Easy flat. Oh! So you're quite far out. You're at 100, yeah? 100 meter board. Wow, wow. Oh, this is fun for you. What speeds are you hitting here? Like 220? I'm chocked this could do that. Ooh, ooh, ooh, that's loose. Quite a late turn in. And you want to get over to the right to set back on the right. Oh, hell yeah. Three quarters all the way out here. And then you almost want to be on throttle as you hit the apex. Oh, wow. Oh my god. Depending on how committed you are, this will be flat. But in this car, it's definitely not flat. Oh, beautiful. And then here, it's the 75 or the 50? Uh, I don't know. Gotcha. Engine, cooler, temperature high. I think we're like through every red limit possible. I should hope so, man. If there's more than that. So I think when you're driving, you want to make things as simple for your brain as possible. Yeah. So you want to use those marker boards. Obviously, they change a little bit here and there. With the big stops, turn one, turn 10, or turn 11, turn 12. You want to be going, say, for the 200 meter board. Okay. Then when you're there, you can then maybe start to move it on and on and on, step by step. Okay, great. That's good fun, huh? That's more fun than the race car. Cheers, dude. Thank you, man. Thank you for that. That was a pleasure. Now he knows exactly what he's got to do. But a Formula 1 car around Austin here is one of the best experiences, I think. So he's in for a good time. Let's get busy. Let's get down to business. Today, we're trying to keep it as simple as possible. The steering wheel, there's only a few buttons I need you to know on it. So on the way out, on the very first lap, I'll get you to do some radio checks. Always toggle on, toggle off. Exactly, yeah. If you leave it on... You'll yell at me? I'll tell you. Ask you politely to turn it off. And radio when I hit pit lane? Yeah, if you could go Brad pit lane. Okay. That just lets the mechanics know you're in. That's confusing, isn't it? So in case of any kind of spin... Yep. ...brake and clutch. Brake and clutch. If it tries to bog down and stall, it'll flash up saying anti-stall. Just pull the clutch back in. Pull the clutch back in, lick my wounds, start all over again. So there's two DRS settings. So on the back stretch... Yeah. ...about a third, well, a quarter of the way along, you'll start hearing a beeping noise that'll be different to all the gear shifts. Like a higher... Like higher pitch. Okay. And then that will be able to... And that means I'm on. That means you're able to use it. And you can click that button and it will open up. So do the out lap. That's where I'm talking around the lap, just checking the car's all working, checking you're comfortable. If you are comfortable, we'll just go straight into running. So do three time laps. On the fourth lap, I will call you in at the end of the lap, but I'll let you push for most of it. Go back straight, start backing off. Yeah. Okay. Here, I'm braking at just past the 100. To start out with, we'll start maybe at the 100. Probably start at the 100. And get down to 75. Yeah, we'll push that back a bit. Downshifting 13, depending where I am, once, twice. Yeah. Carrying that even through the same gear all the way through 15? Yeah. Or am I downshifting at 15? If you, you're probably downshifting to second. At 15? Yeah, 15. To start with anyways. Just to start with. And there's the speed counter. Listen to me. All right. Yeah, we'll see. Probably a race driver now. Okay, okay. So we've got two runs. I think the first one, let's just try and approach it as... Get acquainted? Get acquainted. Wait through the car. Introduce yourself to the track. And then we'll build up from there. Probably through the video and the data together. Have a chat about it. It'll come together a bit more. Fantastic. Okay. Yeah. All right. Okay. Brad, sorry. Oscar and I couldn't be here with you today. Thank you for all the great work on the movie. You're going to do wonderful things for our sport and yourself. And getting a chance to drive a real Formula 1 car in Kota is awesome. Be fast, be safe, be careful. Fast, safe, careful. Don't crash. Yeah, I don't care if you crash. I care if you crash because they're expensive. So take it easy. Have fun. I think you're there with Lando. I hope you have fun. I hope you enjoy it. And yeah, all the best. Great. See you later. That's so sweet. Did you see him in the movie? He's pretty good. Yeah. Yeah, he's hilarious. He got a good dig in. Yeah. This is Lando. Target is the apex. There's the big sausage cabs through here. Just be careful. I'll miss those. I'm backing off here. I'm downshifting here. You seem to be boom right there, yes? Well, not unless you're Lando. This is Lando. My head's going to be like this. This car is very stiff. It doesn't react very well to the curbs. I don't react very well to the curbs. We'll get along just fine. Yeah, that's why I get caught out every time. Cool. Good times. I'm pretty excited to see how he gets on. I think it'll be a big challenge for him, but I'm pretty sure he'll do something pretty interesting. Everyone's perception of when they're in the car is different. I think he'll get flat nice and early and he'll give it some, but then he's trying to find the consistency and push it from there. See what gives him the confidence to push it more in the medium and high-speed corners. I mean, it still blows my mind that I've done it now for years, right? Okay, Brad. Radio check. Good check. Yeah, that's loud and clear. You going to get up? I don't know. I've not done it. Good answer. Okay, Brad. We can start the car. So, brake pedal and then yellow and red. That's all good. We'll get the show on the road. If James beckons you out, you can go. You let me know if I'm going too slow. I have full confidence he can go out and drive, but it depends how quickly he wants to push it. That's the real question. It says I'm in anti-stall. So, pull the clutch in. Shift down to first gear and then release the clutch. You should be able to drive back out. Okay, Brad. Radio check. Yeah, that's all loud and clear. Follow the shift lights on the upshift. Let's get some speed up on this back straight. Okay, Brad. And we can go recharge off. Recharge off. Yeah, that's good. And you're good to open the lap. All looking good out there, Brad. Lights on the upshifts. All good. Okay, Brad. We'll box to the end of this lap, but we can keep pushing. I'll let you know when to stop. So, keep pushing. Copy that. Okay, Ronny. He's going to be boxing at the end of this lap. So, if you're ready to receive him, the car will be hot. So, please get fans into the cooling ducts of the brakes. Okay, Brad. And we can go recharge on. Let's keep the revs high with the gears low. That's good. And remember, pit lane speed limiter. The white PLS button when you come into the pits. Beep, beep, beep, pit lane. And stop lane in front of the garage. Nice work, Brad. We will push you back into the garage and I'll get your comments. Oh, great fun. Okay, Brad. How was that? Fantastic, my friend. All comfortable in there? Yeah, snug as a bug. And it looked like you were making some good progress with your driving. See your brake pressures coming up and getting more comfortable. How did the car feel? Can you talk around the lap and describe it around? What sensations did you get? No, it all felt good. I just need to get on it more and trust it more. Yeah, that's just as the confidence comes up in the high speed. I just get comfy because it's a whole lot bigger horse than I've been on. I think it was a really good first run. Oh my God, what a thrill. I had a little like, I had an antistall on the way out. I don't know what I was doing. I was getting it all wrong. But once we got in, yeah, it felt good. I know bigger balls at turn two, three, four. I know immediate spot. Bigger balls, 13, 14, 15. I could trust it a lot more. I was like, whoa. Holy **** They're flat out at two, three, I said, maybe a lift at four or no, even through four. They're flat through two, three, four and then they get to five. At five. Yeah, I'm not even close to that. Not going to happen in the next five laps. But I'll do my best. One of the biggest priorities, like one of the things we focus on when you go out is your braking. Yeah, so I can hit much harder. And later then. Essentially, you can snap. Yeah. The brakes are incredible in these cars. So go deep. I think your braking points are good. Well, that's when I took a little tour. A little sightseeing tour. Now here, I'm back. These guys are flat out here. Yeah, it's flat flat. I'll be flat. I feel like the line's okay, you know? Yeah, I think so. You probably go a bit straighter through the first few corners. Out of here again. I had bigger balls. So you picked the... Whoa, really? And this was always an adventure for me. Yeah. I think it's here. Okay. I'll let you know how you're doing once you're out there. Maybe. Give you an idea of how much more you hit the brakes or how much quicker. Yeah. Well, I got five laps to do. Actually three. Three laps is a lifetime. That's what they say. Brad, what have you got to work on for the afternoon? Bigger balls. Like James Hampton. You said that? And radio check. Good check. Yeah, that's loud and clear. We're going to do an out lap. We'll do three time laps and then we'll do a pushing in lap to end the run. Copy that. And good start to the car, Brad. Clutch in, select first gear and drive out. First gear as you feel the speed up. We can go recharge off. Okay to start pushing. When everything's flowing and you hit it right, there is this real sense of, like, peace. I don't know of any other thing that I've ever done where that's forced me to be so present. I'm present. I'm here. And it's such an alive feeling. Okay, Brad, we'll box this lap. Keep pushing. Copy that. Peep, peep, pit lane. Nice work, Brad. You made some very good steps there. So you're dropping quite a few seconds after each lap. So good progress. Cool to go. Over way too fast. Okay, Brad, how was final thoughts? What a rush. Cool. Thank you very much. We'll pop you out of the car. Thank you all. Unforgettable. Nice work, everyone. Thank you very much. That's us done. Thank you, Jim. What a joy, man. Thank you, guys. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. It all feels great. What a high. Thank you. Now you just want to go again, don't you? I didn't get two balls out. Not a nine and a half. 17.18 is better. Yeah, I was getting hanging on more. I still got to come down to the ground and take it all in. I can't believe it. The faster you go, the quicker it ends. And that's the only bummer. It's amazing, man. What a car. What a track. These brakes are... And still, I didn't... In these high-speed corners, still hanging something, leaving something behind. What an experience. Thanks to Zach Brown and Clarence and the team and the guys. Like, all appreciate it. Yeah, wow. Quirk of a lifetime. Unforgettable. And I got to figure out how to stand my way in some more. I'll work on it.