The executive chairman of the COTA circuit in Texas says the film industry can be glad that Pitt discovered his love of motorsports earlier on.
The chairman of the Circuit of The Americas, Bobby Epstein, is convinced: The film industry can be glad that Brad Pitt discovered his passion for racing very late in life—namely, during the filming of the Formula 1 movie.
Speaking about Pitt’s impressive performance after McLaren invited him to drive the MCL60 in Austin earlier this year, Epstein admitted that the Hollywood star’s natural talent was immediately apparent.
“When I saw the car driving past my office at that speed, someone said, ‘That’s actually Brad in the car.’ I couldn’t tell the difference with the naked eye—neither in terms of speed nor driving style, how he controlled the car,” Epstein explained.
Pitt is no casual driver
Pitt’s session in the car was organized by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. Both the actor and Sky Sports F1 expert Martin Brundle were allowed to do a few laps on the US Grand Prix track. Pitt, who plays the role of Sonny Hayes in the film, reached an impressive 317 km/h in the 2023 car.
“I was really surprised. I talked to him at length. You can tell right away that he’s not a casual driver who does this as a hobby on the side. He’s passionate and highly focused. He told me—and this is how many of us feel—”I wish I were 30 years younger, then this would be exactly the path I would have taken.”
I think the film industry was very lucky that Brad Pitt didn’t discover racing earlier in his life—because I think that would have been the path he would have chosen. Yes, we talk about it a lot. He likes driving here. He likes COTA, and that’s great, of course.”
Ticket sales boosted by F1 movie?
Brundle was also full of praise for Pitt’s driving style after watching the US actor maneuver the car around the 5.5-kilometer course.
With director Joseph Kosinski’s Formula 1 movie having already grossed more than $600 million since its release, Epstein also expects particularly strong ticket sales this season.
“Whether this has changed the audience structure – in any case, ticket sales for this year clearly indicate that we are experiencing one of our three best years in terms of visitor numbers. We are also seeing a significantly younger target group and, as widely reported, many more women than before.
This trend was already apparent when the Netflix series came out, and it continues today. I don’t know if the film will change this demographic trend again. But I think it helps us to continue to have a young audience. And that is, of course, an extremely attractive target group for sponsors.”