Hamilton: I can’t believe I’m working with Brad Pitt

Lewis Hamilton’s plans to part ways with Mercedes and move to Ferrari next year caused a sensation in the world of Formula 1, and unsurprisingly the seven-time world champion caught the attention of the non-core press.

Once again, his portrait graced the cover of the latest issue of GQ magazine, and we have already quoted Hamilton’s interview with this publication. But Lewis also answered questions from readers of the sports video blog GQ Sports, who were interested in a variety of topics.

For example, here is what he said about working on a film dedicated to Formula 1, in which the main role was entrusted to Brad Pitt.

“This film is one of the most interesting projects I have been fortunate enough to be associated with,” said Hamilton. “From the very beginning, when we first started discussing it with Brad, with director Joseph Kosinki and with the screenwriter, I had a lot to learn. I think my job is to try to make it as believable as possible so that we have a real racing movie.

So I’ve seen a lot of movies on this subject, and I think this is one of the hardest to deal with. Of course, filmmaking technology is much more advanced today than it was in the days when filmmakers had to attach cameras to racers’ helmets with duct tape.

As a child I really liked watching movies, I watched some of them many times, and it’s amazing that now Brad and I talk about racing, he wants to learn more about car racing, and I explain to him how to take turns. I talk about braking points, about working with the wheel, about how to get to the top – I talk about all this, and then we go to the track, where he gets behind the wheel…

For example, when he and I were working at the Los Angeles race track, I was showing him how to drive, and I almost crashed the car myself! Everything was on the edge and the moment was scary. But Brad has already learned a lot and is now improving his skills, although I still can’t quite believe I’m working with a movie star of his caliber!”

Lewis was also asked about his musical projects, and he again promised to introduce them to fans in the future: “I have been into music for a long time – probably since I was 16 years old. I recorded my first song more or less normally when I turned 21. But now I have some new material, so we’ll see what we can do with it.

I have all the necessary equipment in one of the bedrooms at home that I can use to record with. When I’m in Los Angeles, I often visit a professional studio, and last December we rented an entire house, and I worked on songs there with very talented musicians. I also did this every day when I was in Jamaica, and I have new things that need to be completed, mixed as best I can, and then I might be ready to show them.

Speaking to GQ readers, Hamilton was quite self-critical and listed his shortcomings: “I’m terrible at learning foreign languages, I’m bad at tennis, I’m not very good at golf, I’m not good at math. There are many things I have not succeeded in, but I still try to tackle them, even though I understand that I will achieve little. The most important thing is that I continue these efforts and never give up, even if the results upset me.”