New 'F1' trailer: Guess how fast Brad Pitt drove for Formula 1 racing movie?

Leave it to Brad Pitt to try to steal some of Tom Cruise’s action thunder.

The actor’s summer movie, “F1" (in theaters and IMAX on June 27), features Pitt – teamed with “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski – ripping around famous global racetracks at upward of 180 mph.

Talking via radio to Pitt when he was at the wheel “mostly was me telling him to slow down,” Kosinski joked during a Zoom session on Tuesday where he answered questions from journalists.

Kosinski’s event was aimed at promoting Thursday's release of the second "F1" trailer, which sheds a bit more light on the plot.

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"F1" in brief: Pitt plays washed-up Sonny Hayes, dubbed “the greatest driver that never was,” who gets a call from a former teammate turned struggling F1 team owner, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem). There's an offer of a F1 ride and a shot at redemption for both. Complicating matters is Pitt’s talented and cocky teammate, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), and there’s also team engineer and potential love interest Kate (Kerry Condon).

And F1 in brief: Though fans of NASCAR, IndyCar and various sports-car racing series might disagree, Formula 1 has long been considered the pinnacle of motor racing, a destination for the smartest engineers who leverage the finest technology to power the world's best drivers.

Netflix hit series 'Drive to Survive' was an inspiration for 'F1' director Joseph Kosinski

Kosinski says his movie "has the tension you’d expect, but at the same time, real heart with Sonny’s redemption journey, plus humor and romance."

But mostly, judging from both the first and latest trailer, "F1" seems to promise truly epic racing sequences. No surprise that they look ripped straight out of the popular Netflix series “Drive to Survive,” which has been chronicling the real F1 drama for seven seasons: Kosinski cited his COVID-era binging of “Drive” as inspiration for “F1.”

“I found it was a unique sport where your own teammate is in many ways your greatest competition,” he said. “The first season (of ‘Drive’) focused on the last-place teams, the underdogs. So I thought there was an interesting story to be told about the underdogs not trying to win a championship but even just one race against the titans of the sport.”

Once he had the idea, Kosinski went looking for stars of both Hollywood and F1 to join in, and quickly found both.

Driving ground-based missiles that pull multiple Gs and boast upward of 1,000-hp sounds a bit like the world of “Top Gun.” Pitt, 61, like Cruise, 62, had to stay fit for the role.

But Pitt proved a natural behind the wheel of a high-powered racing car. Says who? None other than F1 deity Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion driver for Mercedes (and this season Ferrari). He not only appears in “F1,” along with other real drivers, but also is a producer on the film (as are Pitt and Hollywood action-film staple Jerry Bruckheimer).

“One of the first things we did was go out on the track in sports cars, because Lewis wanted to see if Brad could drive, because if not, this won't work," Kosinski said. “When Lewis saw that he was naturally gifted at the wheel, it gave him confidence.”

Hamilton also helped shape the script, Kosinski said, offering insights into “what drives these guys day in and day out. … I couldn’t have made this film without him.”

Hollywood has a tough time selling racing movies, but Lewis Hamilton vows victory with 'F1'

Hamilton is promising "F1" will be "the most authentic racing film ever experienced in the cinema.” That’s no small promise. Hollywood has a history of making racing movies that offer plenty of story but don’t quite deliver that in-the-driver’s-seat feeling.

Among the best recent efforts are 2013's “Rush,” the story of Niki Lauda and James Hunt’s rivalry and friendship, and 2019's “Ford v Ferrari,” the tale of Carroll Shelby’s attack on Ferrari’s dominance. But Kosinski assures “F1” will significantly up the ante.

“We bought six Formula 2 cars and worked with the Mercedes-Benz AMG F1 team to build real race cars that could carry our cameras,” he said.

What’s more, he worked with Sony to miniaturize the high-definition cameras he had used on “Top Gun: Maverick” because he needed small, light units to mount on F1 cars. The cameras also were remotely maneuverable, something that was not available on Kosinski's fighter pilot film.

In addition to tech innovations, shooting “F1” at actual Formula 1 races at tracks everywhere from England to Abu Dhabi promises to help the film's authenticity.

“We would be at these races with hundreds of thousands of people, shooting between practice and qualifying (laps),” Kosinski said. “Instead of having a whole day (to shoot scenes), we’d have nine- or 10-minute slots. We’re literally shooting at 180 mph. It’s an adrenaline rush. What we captured, you can’t fake.”

Did Kosinski get to take out a F1 car to see what all the fuss is about?

The director just laughs: “There’s no way they’d let me near one, not the insurance company. No way.”