Brad Pitt says F1 experience was 'really extraordinary'
Brad Pitt relished his experience of driving a Formula One car - describing it as "really extraordinary" - as F1: The Movie takes a pit stop at cinemas this weekend.
The Hollywood star, who plays fictitious F1 driver Sonny Hayes in the blockbuster film, was recently given the chance to drive McLaren's 2023 car around Austin's Circuit of the Americas.
Pitt, 61, had plenty of driving experience - including behind the wheel of modified F2 cars - while filming the movie over the last two years, but was blown away by his first proper experience of an F1 car.
"Oh my God, what a rush," Pitt said in a video on McLaren's social media channels. "A lot bigger horse than I've been on."
Pitt added on the Beyond the Grid podcast: "I got to hit 197mph this week. I really wanted to hit 200. You know, it hurts me a little bit – three miles per hour short on the straight. This was at Austin.
"You're so focused, but you're not white knuckling. You're just in this sublime groove. It is really extraordinary.
"I try to explain this feeling of downforce, and I fail every time because you try to say like a rollercoaster, but that's not even right, because you feel the fulcrum point underneath you – you're in it.
"I was in an aerobatic plane once, and it's the closest thing, but still this thing… this is such a unique feeling and an absolute high. I'm still on a high, I really am. I'm just still on a high."
Pitt's fictional rookie team-mate Joshua Pearce is played by British actor Damson Idris.
Filming has taken place across multiple races over the last two seasons and F1 chiefs hope the movie will follow the popularity of Netflix's Drive To Survive series in cracking America.
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