Formula 1 is becoming increasingly popular worldwide and using every medium possible to grow its audience.
The Netflix series Drive To Survive has been brilliant in helping F1 find a new audience and after six seasons has become essential viewing for many fans in the build-up to each campaign.
Bernie Ecclestone never understood the power of increasing access to teams and drivers in the paddock, and new owners Liberty Media have capitalised on the intrigue surrounding the sport.
Now, every driver has a huge following on social media, teams are constantly releasing pictures and videos from within the paddock, their factories and the garages and the sport takes its online image much more seriously.
Drivers are interviewed live on an official livestream within minutes of finishing a race alongside the three stars who finish on the podium.
F1 are now exploring another new medium to attract more fans by releasing an official film in 2025.
It will simply be known as F1 and follows a fictional manufacturer called Apex Grand Prix, styled APXGP.
Brad Pitt and Damson Idris play the roles of both drivers, but journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm on The Race Podcast has shared what role Alpine star Pierre Gasly has played in filming some of the more dramatic action scenes.
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly’s role in the filming of the upcoming F1 film
Talking about how they’ve filmed certain racing sections of the movie, Mitchell-Malm said: “The effort that’s gone into it, again, [they’ve] done it the hard way.
“And the reason for that is because they’ve got I think, is it like 14 different cameras that are on the car, IMAX quality recording, levels of recording quality that far, far exceed anything F1 can have, because they’re not restricted in terms of obviously like size and weight and that kind of thing.
“And I think as you can see from the trailer, like some of the footage they’ve recorded is genuinely very cool.
READ MORE: Alpine driver Pierre Gasly’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
“But also like the way they’ve used it is quite clever too and the best example that you can see publicly so that we can talk about here is the shot of the car running up Eau Rouge in the middle of the Belgian Grand Prix.
“Which is actually spliced into Pierre Gasly’s Alpine from the 2023 race, because they actually got dispensation to run the necessary quality camera on the front of that car.
“But they’ve skinned the Apex car basically onto that running up Eau Rouge.”
Lewis Hamilton playing a starring role in F1 film as producer
The upcoming F1 film is based around the 2023 season and will include all of the drivers on the grid.
Pitt and Idris’ characters have been spotted lining up alongside Formula 1’s real-life drivers for the national anthems and their APXGP cars even lined up at the back of the grid at the 2023 British Grand Prix.
Everything has been filmed to make the experience as immersive as possible which is why using Gasly’s footage going through one of the most dramatic corners on the calendar makes so much sense.
READ MORE: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
Lewis Hamilton is a producer on the film and has had an input in the script and making sure the details are correct.
In an interview with Deadline, director Joseph Kosinski said: “He’s the first person I contacted three years ago.
“I knew for us to make it as authentic as possible, someone on the team who lives it day in and day out would be invaluable.
“Lewis has been an incredible partner; he jumps on Zooms with me between races to go through the script, line by line, turn by turn, you know, tyre compound by tyre compound, to make sure that we are getting all the details right.
“Beyond that, on a creative and story level, he also has input.”
Hamilton has critiqued Pitt’s driving style in the film too, highlighting just how accurate he wants the film to be for true F1 fans.
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