Director Joseph Kosinski has revealed the extent of Lewis Hamilton's involvement in the F1 movie, with several others involved in the film, including Brad Pitt, adding that it would have been impossible without the driver's input.
The Ferrari driver's time as an executive producer of the movie began with a cold email from Kosinski, who was keen to have Hamilton's input before attempting such a challenge.
"I happen to have the email of Lewis Hamilton," he said in a video from Apple TV. "The first thing I did once I had this idea was I sent an email to Lewis and just said, 'I want to make a film in this world. I want it to be the most authentic racing film ever. Would you be interested in helping me do that?'
"And that kind of started this whole journey."
He added: "He lives and breathes that world every single day, and the authenticity of it, that's something that was important to me and was very important to him as well. From his point of view, there has never been a film that has got it exactly right in terms of the speed or the reality of the world."
"The number-one driver, seven-time world champion, is Lewis Hamilton," producer Jerry Bruckheimer added. "You had to have Lewis Hamilton involved in this."
For Hamilton, it was a chance to help build a movie in an industry that had often been skewed by Hollywood. While the movie still retains a lot of the drama and fiction you'd expect of a blockbuster hit, it's still grounded in a reality, which is also more visible thanks to the technology used to film it.
"Joe and Jerry asked me to come onboard and I jumped at the opportunity," he said. "I remember getting the script for the first time and then sitting down with Joe and Jerry and just talking about how important the authenticity is."
He continued: "If you look at a lot of the other Formula 1 or racing movies, the speed part and also the racing part has been really hard to capture. Being able to film at real races, it's unheard of. And the technology that Joe used when he did [Top Gun:Maverick], he was able to bring that technology into this but also develop it, take it to another level.
"With these cameras and with this amazing crew, what Joe was able to do was capture a real-life, real-time speed. It's so much more advanced than when you're watching a race during the weekend.
"The footage is so much more raw and you really feel like you're in the car."
Pitt, starring as the nomadic driver Sonny Hayes, described Hamilton as "the guardrails" that kept the story "legit".
From writing the script, creating the story, and even what gear the cars had to sound like they were in for each corner, Hamilton was the consultant behind these choices.
"Never in a million years did I think I'd get to work with Brad Pitt," Hamilton said. "He's done an amazing job. He really, really brings a huge amount to the character of Sonny. He's got an underlying ability actually to really drive."
It's clear that the Briton is proud of his work on the movie. "It is the most authentic racing movie that's ever been made," he concluded. "Finally, people get to feel what it's like to be a racing driver."
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