McLaren offers Brad Pitt second chance to hit 320km/h
The ‘F1’ movie is topping the box office charts worldwide, but the Hollywood A-lister is not done with racing
03 July 2025 - 10:30
byAgency Staff
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Brad Pitt drove a Formula One car for the first time with McLaren at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas last month, after driving F2 cars disguised as F1 cars for the movie. Picture: GETTY IMAGES/GARETH CATTERMOLE
Brad Pitt's F1 movie is topping the box office charts worldwide but the Hollywood A-lister is not done with Formula One, or racing.
Like his fictional big screen character Sonny Hayes, Pitt has been offered a second chance to don race overalls and lap at 320km/h.
McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown told Reuters on Wednesday that Pitt had a standing offer to “come out and play” — and expected the 61-year-old not only to take him up on it but also take his passion for racing further.
Pitt drove a F1 car for the first time with McLaren at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas last month, after driving F2 cars disguised as F1 cars for the movie, and has been raving about the experience.
He did have one regret, however.
“Ask me how fast I went. Three miles an hour short of 200m/h [320km/h],” Pitt said at the New York premiere. “I want to go back. I want to hit 200.”
Brown indicated it could be arranged.
“He did a great job, he can drive a race car,” he said at a McLaren event for the team’s army of fans in London’s Trafalgar Square, with title-chasing drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
“I’ve traded notes with him, it was the time of his life. I feel he’s a racer now, so anytime he wants to come out and play he’s more than welcome. And that’s a standing offer.”
Asked if he expected Pitt to take him up on it, Brown replied: “I wouldn’t be surprised, looking at the level of enthusiasm he had. I sent him his data, he wanted to understand and learn. So yeah, I bet he will.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if one day you saw Brad Pitt racing some sort of sports car,” said Brown. “Paul Newman used to say he was a racing driver and an actor in his spare time.
“He [Pitt] is clearly in good physical shape. He had no physical limitations.”
Pitt would not be the first Hollywood heart-throb to go racing for real.
Patrick Dempsey, star of medical drama Grey's Anatomy, has raced Porsches at Le Mans as did the late Newman, who also founded Newman/Haas Racing.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
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McLaren offers Brad Pitt second chance to hit 320km/h
The ‘F1’ movie is topping the box office charts worldwide, but the Hollywood A-lister is not done with racing
Brad Pitt's F1 movie is topping the box office charts worldwide but the Hollywood A-lister is not done with Formula One, or racing.
Like his fictional big screen character Sonny Hayes, Pitt has been offered a second chance to don race overalls and lap at 320km/h.
McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown told Reuters on Wednesday that Pitt had a standing offer to “come out and play” — and expected the 61-year-old not only to take him up on it but also take his passion for racing further.
Pitt drove a F1 car for the first time with McLaren at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas last month, after driving F2 cars disguised as F1 cars for the movie, and has been raving about the experience.
He did have one regret, however.
“Ask me how fast I went. Three miles an hour short of 200m/h [320km/h],” Pitt said at the New York premiere. “I want to go back. I want to hit 200.”
Brown indicated it could be arranged.
“He did a great job, he can drive a race car,” he said at a McLaren event for the team’s army of fans in London’s Trafalgar Square, with title-chasing drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
“I’ve traded notes with him, it was the time of his life. I feel he’s a racer now, so anytime he wants to come out and play he’s more than welcome. And that’s a standing offer.”
Asked if he expected Pitt to take him up on it, Brown replied: “I wouldn’t be surprised, looking at the level of enthusiasm he had. I sent him his data, he wanted to understand and learn. So yeah, I bet he will.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if one day you saw Brad Pitt racing some sort of sports car,” said Brown. “Paul Newman used to say he was a racing driver and an actor in his spare time.
“He [Pitt] is clearly in good physical shape. He had no physical limitations.”
Pitt would not be the first Hollywood heart-throb to go racing for real.
Patrick Dempsey, star of medical drama Grey's Anatomy, has raced Porsches at Le Mans as did the late Newman, who also founded Newman/Haas Racing.
The F1 Movie premiered in SA on June 27.
Reuters
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