As "God Save the King" played out on the grid ahead of the 2023 British Grand Prix, Damson Idris -- co-star of the new Formula 1 movie -- found himself in exalted company. To his right stood reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen, ready to start the race from pole position, and to his left was Hollywood megastar Brad Pitt.
"This is nuts," Idris remembers thinking as eight jets from the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows display team thundered overhead. In that moment he had to remind himself he wasn't Damson Idris, the kid from Peckham who used to choose Lewis Hamilton's McLaren to race with on the PlayStation, but the fictional character Joshua Pearce, a raw, up-and-coming racer determined to prove himself in F1 against more experienced teammate Sonny Hayes.
The last bar of the national anthem was Idris' cue to embody his character and walk back down the grid to the black-and-gold race car of fictional team APX GP. Dodging between real F1 mechanics working on real F1 cars ahead of the real British Grand Prix, Idris and Pitt were being strafed by two movie cameras, attempting to capture a pivotal scene in the $300 million movie.
With less than 15 minutes to go before the start of the race, there would be no chance for a second take. If Idris tripped on a tire blanket or forgot his lines, the whole scene would be lost -- impossible to reset and shoot again.
"It was kind of like being on stage, like theater," Idris tells ESPN in an interview arranged by the film's watch sponsor, IWC. "As soon as I spun around and started walking, 'We Will Rock You' started playing over the loudspeakers, and I'm looking at Brad and he's focused, he's Sonny Hayes. And I'm like, 'I should be Joshua Pearce right now! I should stop being Damson, I should stop freaking out!' Let me act!
"But it was amazing, and I can't wait for everyone to see that part of the movie because that was the moment in the film where, for me, I really felt like, 'OK, we're making something really special that's going to stand the test of time.'"
The movie, titled "F1," will appear in cinemas in June and follows the story of Pearce and Hayes as they race for backmarkers APX GP -- a team on the verge of collapse during the 2023 F1 season. Pitt's character is on a redemption arc, an aging and battle-hardened racer given one last chance by APX GP team principal Ruben Cervantes, played by Javier Bardem, while Idris plays a British rookie making his name in the sport.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski -- who previously teamed up on "Top Gun: Maverick" to place audiences in the cockpit of Tom Cruise's F-18 -- promised to eschew green screen technology and film real-world stunts with genuine racing cars at genuine racing speeds.
Shot on track at Grand Prix weekends, Pitt and Idris drove beefed-up F2 cars that were specially adapted by the Mercedes F1 team so they wouldn't look out of place on the F1 grid. During a number of races in 2023 and 2024, APX GP had its own garage and pit wall while being allocated 15-minute track sessions for laps between the real F1 practice and qualifying sessions.
With movie-quality cameras mounted to the cockpits, audiences will be able to see Idris' eyes through his visor as he drives a real race car in some of the film's most dramatic scenes. It was a unique experience for Idris, who was given the opportunity despite having no real racing experience before this project.
"The first time I met Joe and Jerry was just a general meeting in L.A., and it was around 2022," Idris recalls. "They were talking about what they had planned and learning about me, and then the following year when we finally started pursuing the part, I said to Joe, 'You know, Top Gun, it was like flying for real ...' He was like, 'Yeah,' so I was like, 'So will it be driving for real on this film?' He's like, 'Yeah.' I was like, 'OK ...' but I was petrified!
"But with the training, this movie's taught me that there's nothing no one on this earth can't learn, you know? Being in these cars and driving up to 180 miles per hour sometimes, it's the most exhilarating feeling in the world."
To make the driving scenes safe, as well as helping them feel realistic, Idris and Pitt were given extensive driver coaching before filming got underway. One of the early track days saw Hamilton, an executive producer on the film, join the crew at Silverstone to drive a range of cars as the two actors built their way toward mastering the F2 machines.
Although not quite capable of the same lap times as a modern F1 car, the APX GP machines were still seriously quick -- not to mention extremely expensive. Real-life racers Luciano Bacheta (the 2012 Formula 2 champion) and Craig Dolby occasionally subbed in for Idris and Pitt during some of the more difficult stunts, including the real-life formation lap at Silverstone after the national anthem scene, and were also on hand alongside Hamilton to offer advice to the actors.
"Lewis was there all the time giving us pointers, and Luciano Bacheta was with us every day, Craig Dolby too, just really teaching me about the way to get around that track efficiently but also fast," Idris says. "I'm indebted to those guys, and when you see me and Brad in this picture, you're going to really see we put everything into this.
"My favorite track's probably Austin, Texas, because I had a huge spin there and it just made me feel like a real driver. It was not part of the script. I was actually there training, so there were no cameras, but it's funny because if there were cameras, Joe would probably be like, 'Can we use that?' But it was amazing, so fun."
It raises the question, after months of training and countless laps on track, who emerged as the faster driver: 33-year-old Idris or 61-year-old Pitt?
"I'm always going to say me," Idris says with a broad smile. "I have to because I know he's going to say him.
"But I will say that man is so quick and he's really great on a clutch because he rides bikes, you know? There's probably a bunch of B-roll of me stalling the car trying to get out of the garage before we went around the track and Brad's just like ripping it out. But yeah, on the track, man, we both have the same amount of fun."
Pitt's superstar status is undoubtedly one of the movie's biggest draws for non-F1 fans. When Kosinski's crew was filming at races, it was not unusual for F1 team members, journalists and even drivers to go out of their way to try to bump into the Hollywood megastar.
"I was his security guard for 20 months," Idris jokes when asked about filming with Pitt. "No, he's just the GOAT. He is just a walking monument.
"That man is fantastic, so humble, and he just proves that no one has the right to be arrogant, really. The ultimate star and collaborator as well, constantly wanted me to shine in this movie, and, I mean, when you see this film, anytime Joshua shines, it's because of Brad. He gave me that space, and he really just taught me, as a human being and as an artist, as long as you put your mind to something and you focus and stay motivated, there's nothing you can't accomplish."
The film's trailers have given a glimpse of what to expect from the movie, although exact plot details remain a closely guarded secret. For that reason, Idris is unable to comment on the details of his character's storyline, but he does make an interesting comparison when asked to compare Joshua Pearce with the current crop of F1 drivers.
"I'm watching the new season of 'Drive to Survive,' and with Oscar Piastri ... I love the dynamic of last season and how they said to Lando [Norris], 'You're going to be the main driver,' and Oscar was talented but had a bit to learn. I relate to that when discovering this character of Joshua Pearce, even though APX is at the back of the grid [unlike McLaren].
Actor Damson Idris speaks about what it was like having Lewis Hamilton as a mentor on set while filming the movie "F1".
"He's a rookie like any other who's just really trying to prove himself to the sport, you know? And he's fought really hard to get to the position that he's in, in Formula 1. There's only ever 20 drivers on that track, or 22 if you include APX!
"So, Joshua is the epitome of any young athlete who's trying to find his way to prove himself to the world. I look at someone like [footballer] Lamine Yamal and a character like that was definitely someone who inspired me when I was playing his part, too."
For Idris himself, the experience of filming the movie has ignited a passion for racing. It's not unheard of for Hollywood actors to enter the world of motorsport -- Patrick Dempsey and Michael Fassbender have raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for example -- and Idris is keen to see how he stacks up against them in real competition.
"A hundred percent," he says when asked whether he will race in the future. "I won't tell you what team principal pulled me to the side and was like, 'Do you want me to pay for some lessons?' But for me personally, I would love to do something for charity, jump on the track and race Brad and Fassbender and Dempsey, [actor and Ferrari Challenge participant] Nicholas Hoult, a bunch of us get in the car and see who's the quickest and throw some Formula 1 drivers in there too, Lewis and everyone."
Kosinski has promised that the final cut will feature a number of cameos from members of the current F1 grid, and Idris reveals that there were "planned and unplanned" contributions from some drivers during filming.
The search for authenticity in racing movies has always been hard to balance against the need for a script that engages viewers beyond the sport's existing fans. For Idris, the true test of whether the movie achieves that balance will be found in the reaction of F1 drivers after the early preview screenings at this year's Canadian Grand Prix.
"What I will say about the drivers is they were so accommodating to me and Brad," Idris adds. "It made us feel like we were a part of the crew, and I can't wait to see their reaction to the film. They're the people I really want to please."