Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali shared his excitement on the upcoming ‘Apex’ movie, starring Brad Pitt, and talked about the projected positive effect that it will have on the sport.
The F1-themed movie was filming last weekend during the 2023 British Grand Prix in Silverstone, where the fictional team of APXGP had a fully fledged hospitality unit within the paddock, with a full pit garage and crew, and a bigger presence on track during the national anthem. Upcoming races in the 2023 season will provide more scenes for the movie, with filming meant to carry on in Zandvoort.
F1 boss Stefano Domenicali had positive things to say about the movie, which is produced by Lewis Hamilton’s production company, Dawn Apollo Films.
He told Motorsport.com: “I think that was just amazing to see the reaction of all the F1 community because that was the first time that really you see what has been done.
“The quality of the production is really high. It’s been a really good standard. What was important for us was to keep separate the live and the actual racing, because that’s untouchable, with the movie preparation that has been done with the different cuts or angles of cameras, and so on.
“Also the drivers were very, very happy, and the teams were appreciating what we’re doing,” the former Ferrari team boss maintained.
Domenicali went on to explain the benefits of the movie; he explained: “I think we are totally convinced because otherwise, we wouldn’t have done it, that this will take F1 to another dimension in terms of popularity, in terms of awareness.
“I’m expecting the big effect that Netflix and social media did with F1,” he claimed. “You will see the story is very sporty, very good and very real, that’s the reason why I wanted to do something. If you want to be associated with F1, and this is real F1, we need to be clean and real.
Lewis Hamilton gives the movie credibility
Speaking about Lewis Hamilton’s producing role on the project, Domenicali said: “He gives credibility to what we’re doing because he knows the details, I have to say that also Brad and all the community has been very professional to stay with us, follow with us.
“They’ve been with us since the first day we started the project. So it’s been more than one year since we talked about it. It’s very serious,” the F1 CEO concluded.
Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur shared Domenicali’s positive vibes on the upcoming movie; he said: “I hope that the product will be mega for F1 and everybody will benefit from this.
“I don’t care if the engine of their cars is a GP2 engine or a Mercedes engine, or another one. I think the most important thing is that this kind of story is coming now, at the right moment for F1.
“We have a huge boom on the F1 everywhere in the world, and this kind of thing happens today, but for good reasons,” Vasseur concluded.
A very positive couple of months for F1, with Brad Pitt taking centre stage as a driver for the fictional 11th team on the grid.
The teams, drivers and fans all seem to share a common excitement and anticipation for the project, except for Max Verstappen though, who wasn’t exactly jumping up and down with excitement when asked about it.
Domenicali may be right here, that F1 would see yet another resurgence in it’s ever growing popularity when ‘Apex’ finally arrives on the screens, if Drive to Survive is anything to go by.