Lewis Hamilton warns against rushing an ‘F1’ movie sequel after box-office success

By Canadian Press on July 3, 2025.

SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Lewis Hamilton says he just wants to enjoy the “F1” movie’s success as he warned Thursday that rushing a sequel would be “the worst thing we probably could do.”

The seven-time Formula 1 champion was an executive producer on the film, which stars Brad Pitt as a hard-bitten racer making a late-career comeback.

It became Apple’s biggest box-office hit yet when it debuted with $55.6 million in North American theaters and $144 million globally over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“We literally just finished it, so I think the last thing we want right now is a sequel,” Hamilton said Thursday ahead of the British Grand Prix.

“It’s been four years in the making. It was a lot of work, particularly for (director Joseph Kosinski). It’s time away from your family, it’s time away from your kids, and also you need this to just simmer for a while, you know. Like, let’s enjoy it.

“I think the worst thing we probably could do is to rush into doing a sequel,” the Ferrari driver added. “Most sequels are way worse, and so we don’t need to rush it. I think if we do do a sequel, I would say let’s really, really take our time in getting it even better.”

Hamilton said he was bringing F1 race-track procedures to the movie business by asking for a “debrief” on the project, in the same way a team analyzes a race before heading to the next one.

“Let’s review what we did, what we could have done better,” he said. “I don’t know if they ever do that in the movie business, but it’s something obviously I’ve learned from here.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press

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