Latest news with #DrivetoSurvive
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Motorsports Fueling Women's Passion for Off-Track Car Experiences
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Today's car companies have many irons in the fire. Not only are they tasked with engineering, manufacturing and selling the cars of today and tomorrow, but they also have their hands in clothing and accessories collaborations, movies and motorsports. Motorsports have been a foundational interest in the auto industry since its advent. In recent years, the audience for car racing has hit new highs, thanks in large part to the widespread use of social media amongst drivers and teams, and the success of Netflix's Drive to Survive docuseries about Formula 1 (F1) racing. Jerry Bruckheimer's new film, F1, is looking to ride that high to box office success. The movie stars Hollywood's Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Kerry Condon as well as F1 drivers Max Verstappen, George Russell, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton, who co-produced the film with Pitt, Bruckheimer and others. Mercedes-Benz plays a prominent part in the film, just as it does on F1 circuits across the globe. Its performance arm, Mercedes-AMG, is an official promotional partner of Apple Original Films and Warner Bros. Pictures. The company's SL, G-Class and GT are featured on screen, as are the Mercedes‑AMG Official FIA F1 Safety Car and Medical Car. Mercedes-AMG also worked with the production team to create the race cars used in the movie. A new model, the 2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition, was created to align with the movie. Its name and styling celebrate the film's fictional APXGP Formula 1 team. Damson Idris stands next to the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition on a track. Damson Idris stands next to the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition on a track. Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz USA Chief Marketing Officer Melody Lee, who will be appearing on stage as part of Newsweek's Women's Global Impact event on August 5 in New York City, told Newsweek, "I think it's going to be a great classic American, July 4th blockbuster." Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Mercedes-Benz/Getty Lee sees the impact of the movie going further than just the box office. "I think that one movie is going to be great for the sport, for all fans of the sport, and I think it's going to bring new fans to the sport," she said. A study released late last year by Nielsen Sports revealed that F1 is the most popular annual sporting series with an audience of 750 million viewers. Over the last three years, interest in F1 has grown 5.7 percent globally, with approximately 50 million new fans following the sport since 2021. Women are at the core of that movement. Women comprise 41 percent of the F1 fan base, the study revealed. Further, 16–24-year-old females are the fastest-growing fan segment. Appealing to audiences young and old (and in between) is one of the reasons why Mercedes got involved in the film. "If you've been around for 140 years, like Mercedes-Benz has when it celebrates that anniversary next year, there's an understanding that the brand has to appeal to multiple generations. It cannot only sell to the ones that can afford the car. It also has to sell itself as a dream and as an aspiration to the younger generations," Lee said. "That's why I always talk about my 11-year-old, who has posters of cars that he has no money to afford. But, that kid is already dreaming about Mercedes-Benz. He's already dreaming about McLaren. He's already dreaming about other car brands. It's really incumbent upon us as an aspirational brand to ensure that we're thinking as much about the next generation as we are about the ones that are here now. So that's the only way we preserve the legacy of 140 years," she continued. Mercedes-Benz is leveraging its motorsports presence in new ways this year. The company activated at the Miami Grand Prix, creating a hub that showcased the strength of the brand while giving enthusiasts a trackside seat for a weekend full of action, including the F1 Academy race. Miami Race Day activation by Mercedes-Benz across from Wynwood Walls during the Miami GP. Miami Race Day activation by Mercedes-Benz across from Wynwood Walls during the Miami GP. Mercedes-Benz F1 Academy is a series where budding female race car drivers compete against each other on the same circuits where F1 competes. Its efforts are led by famed former racer Susie Wolff and supported by other global racing superstars, including Jamie Chadwick. Mercedes fields a team in that series, led by 21-year-old driver Doriane Pin, who finished with the Vice Champion title last season and currently sits atop the series' standings. This year, F1 Academy is getting the Netflix treatment that F1 has. It is the subject of its own docuseries, F1: The Academy, produced by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine media company. Women's interest in cars off the racetrack is growing too. As part of her job, Lee has participated in Mercedes-AMG driving experiences throughout the U.S. "I went to the one in Sonoma [California] last fall, right before Pebble Beach, and then I went to the AMG's On Ice that we did in Crested Butte, Colorado this past February. And one of the most interesting things that I saw is that there are women who are signing themselves up for these programs. Melody Lee puts on a helmet at a Mercedes-AMG Experiences program. Melody Lee puts on a helmet at a Mercedes-AMG Experiences program. Mercedes-Benz "No longer, is it a partner or a spouse or a daughter that's tagging along with a guy for the program. There were women there who had brought themselves there on their own, and even drove by themselves... These women are coming out because of this rising interest in performance and technology and motorsports and all of it coming together. We will continue to use AMG Experiences as a platform for women," she said.
AU Financial Review
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- AU Financial Review
F1 gets the ‘Top Gun' treatment – and Brad Pitt driving at 290km/h
Top Gun: Maverick filmmaker Joseph Kosinski came to Formula 1 like many Americans: Drive to Survive. In that popular Netflix series, he saw the potential for a cinematic event, full of immersive thrills, the high stakes of the competitive racing world and the idea that your teammate could be your greatest rival. 'I don't think there's any other sport that's quite like that,' Kosinski says. 'It's ripe for drama.'
Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Pato O'Ward Leading Arrow McLaren Charge But Still Work To Be Done
With two drivers in the top four in points, Arrow McLaren can feel closer to challenging for an INDYCAR title. Pato O'Ward, who finished second in the INDYCAR trip to St. Louis last week, sits 73 points behind series leader Alex Palou. Christian Lundgaard, in fourth, is 129 points back. For O'Ward, he feels good about where he's currently positioned. "All we need to do is just keep on our wagon and keep pushing forward, and we'll see if we're sitting pretty in Nashville [the season finale]," O'Ward said. So how pretty are things at Arrow McLaren — an organization whose parent now competes for wins on a regular basis in Formula 1? If you are McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, you have to be happy with O'Ward and Lundgaard. Lundgaard came from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and in his first year with the team last season, he finished 11th in the standings. Alexander Rossi, who Lundgaard replaced, finished 10th in the standings last season. Rossi is now at Ed Carpenter Racing and is 10th in the current standings. Arrow McLaren's somewhat rookie Nolan Siegel is 21st, a disappointing start to the season. A few weeks ago in Detroit, Brown indicated he wasn't going to have a fast trigger after a season last year when two drivers ran that car until Siegel was hired for the final 10 races of the season. "I'm not changing any drivers this year," Brown said. "My big thing is progress ... and seeing that he's continuing to grow as a driver." That being said, Brown indicated that "more is needed" from Siegel. Brown always keeps people thinking, both with his own team and how he views the series as a whole. His ideas can seem extreme but also honest, so that can make him a polarizing figure. The love-hate relationship in the Formula 1 paddock for him is on full display in the Netflix series "Drive to Survive." He's frustrated by INDYCAR's slow progress to design a new race car, which Brown believes could increase the quality of racing. Teams were told last week that the car won't be ready until the 2028 season. "We are in sore need of a new car," Brown said prior to that decision. "I understand we're waiting on the engine formula, which will drive what type of car you need. But I think at the end of the day, we've done a lot of Band-Aids on this car, and it's why it weighs so much, it's not fast enough, et cetera, et cetera." Now that the team knows it must race this car for at least another two years, there shouldn't be (if there was) any waiting to focus on the development of the new car and not the current one. If McLaren wants to be a factor — Ganassi and Andretti have won all the races this year with Palou and Kyle Kirkwood — and you've got to believe Penske will eventually emerge, McLaren will need O'Ward to remain consistent, Lundgaard to be even more consistent and Siegel to show more than flashes of potential. O'Ward, who has four podium finishes this year, is positive when talking about trying to catch Palou, who has won five races this year. "The guy has been on a run," O'Ward said. "He has five wins or something. I've got zero wins. I've just got a handful of podiums. "We need to start racking up some wins, and that'll make that points count come down a lot faster than what you're seeing now." Lundgaard's emergence with the team is a test for O'Ward in some ways, as it could create a similar dynamic to their Formula 1 team of two drivers with similar results trying to establish themselves as the top driver on the team. O'Ward has held that role for the last four years. "I think it's great for the team," O'Ward said last month. "I think it's great that we have two cars that are fighting. Nolan is coming up to speed quickly this year, and I think that that's a boost that the team needed. "To be fairly honest with you, I feel like my biggest competitor is myself. Always is. Always has been. I'm very confident with what I could do with the race car when it's what I need. ... I've always been on my own island. Still am." He also quipped that "I love that the media is making a big deal out of it right now." That's the attitude one would expect from athletes. They have to embrace the competition. Time will tell if O'Ward will continue to embrace at the least the outward resemblance of an intrateam competition. But he's right. For now, he needs to be on his own island trying to catch Palou. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Get more from NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Cosmopolitan
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Cosmopolitan
Lewis Hamilton's Net Worth and Ferrari Contract
Hands up if you're someone who binged Drive to Survive and have now made your entire personality F1? Welcome, this is a safe space. By which we mean a space where we're losing our mind over how much money there is to be made in this sport. Though let's be honest: no one is earning more than Lewis Hamilton. We did a deep dive into the Ferrari racer's bank account and have learned some interesting (read: jealousy-inducing) things so buckle up. There's a lot of wildly disparate info on what Lewis made for Mercedes depending on if reports are taking into account just his base salary or his base salary and bonuses. But Celebrity Net Worth reports that Lewis was making $60 million per year for Mercedes—and he was on the team for 12 years! Meanwhile, Forbes notes that Lewis made $80 million from May 2024 to May 2025, with $60 million earned "on field" and $20 million earned "off field." HOWEVER, Lewis broke his contract with Mercedes and started driving with Ferrari in 2025, meaning his yearly earnings have shot up thanks to a major raise. I mean...I'd break my Mercedes contract for that much money too. Again, reports on Lewis' exact salary vary (this $107 million figure is from Celebrity Net Worth), but the BBC confirmed that he is getting "close to 50% pay rise." Lewis said of the move, "In the summer we signed, and obviously I, at that time, saw my future with Mercedes. But an opportunity came up in the new year and I decided to take it. I feel like… it was obviously the hardest decision that I think I've ever had to make. Obviously I've been with Mercedes for, I think it's like 26 years they've supported me, and we've had an absolutely incredible journey together. We've created history within the sport, and it's something I take a lot of pride in and I'm very proud of what we've achieved. But I think ultimately I'm writing my story and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter." Lewis reportedly earns an additional ~$50 million through endorsements and prize money every year thanks to more brand ambassadorships than he knows what to do with. And let's not forget the fact that he's a producer on F1, meaning he gets a cut of the film's earnings this summer. Per Wall Street Journal, Lewis owns a New York City penthouse worth $40.7 million, as well as a $25 million home in London, and apartments all over the world (specifically in major racing hubs). Some of his nicest cars apparently include a 1995 McLaren F1 worth $20 million, a Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta worth $4.1 million, and a Mercedes-AMG One worth $2.7 million. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Lewis is sitting on $450 Million. In conclusion: why didn't I become a race car driver?
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘F1: The Movie' Review: Brad Pitt and Damson Idris Power Joseph Kosinski's Exhilarating Motor Racing Drama
A few years ago, a taut and well-made reality TV series called Drive to Survive plunged uninitiated viewers, like this critic, into the highly competitive and surprisingly dramatic world of Formula 1 racing. The show, which premiered on Netflix in 2019 but gained significant traction during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, helped popularize the motor racing sport in the U.S. Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull weren't just brands of luxury cars and caffeinated beverages, but teams aggressively vying for Grand Prix titles around the world. Monaco, Silverstone, Baku and Singapore weren't cities, but ways to measure progress within a season, which consisted of 24 races between March and December. And Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, George Russell and Charles Leclerc weren't just people, but drivers whose names gained far more meaning as my lockdown pod energetically discussed their lives on and off the track. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'F1: The Movie' Director Joseph Kosinski Reveals Why Simone Ashley's Role Was Cut From Film Will Smith Rejected Nolan's 'Inception' Because He Didn't Get the Plot Tommy Hilfiger's 'F1' Capsule Is Going Fast - Snag These Motorcore Styles Before They're Gone Part of what made Drive to Survive (now in its seventh season) so gripping was how deeply it immersed viewers into this unfamiliar world and portrayed the clash between individual pursuits of glory and the success of the team. It only takes a few episodes to realize that drivers aren't just competing with athletes from other teams; they are fighting with their partners for leads as narrow as a tenth of a second. Joseph Kosinki understands the excitement of this tension, and that's what makes F1: The Movie so thrilling. The film, which lands in theaters June 27 before a streaming release on Apple TV+, is a deft addition to a sturdy lineage of motorsport flicks, from Rush and Gran Turismo to Ford v Ferrari and, most recently, Ferrari. But what sets F1 apart from those other offerings is how impressively Kosinki threads the realities of Formula 1 into his fictional narrative. Collaborating again with his Top Gun: Maverick screenwriter Ehren Kruger and DP Claudio Miranda, the director shapes a high-octane adventure about the late-career return of a once promising premier motorsport driver. The formidable cast — led by a fine Brad Pitt and a compelling Damson Idris — and the crew filmed for 18 months during more than a dozen real Grands Prix. The leads drove real F1 race cars and, as in Top Gun, Miranda and Kosinki experimented with how far they could take the camera to precisely capture the addictive energy of living on the edge. There are scenes in F1 that put viewers in the car so as to translate the feelings conjured by such proximity to, well, death. Sonny Hayes, played with a devil-may-care attitude by Pitt, lives to drive. When we meet the former professional motorist, he's competing in 24 Hours of Daytona, an endurance race in Florida. After he secures the lead, helping the team to victory, Sonny, uninterested in the glamour or the glory, takes his paycheck and maps a route to Ensenada, where a random company is seeking drivers. But the low-profile driver's cross-country road trip plans are intercepted after he runs into his old friend and former teammate, who now owns a struggling Formula 1 team. Reuben (a winning Javier Bardem) begs Sonny to be the second driver to his rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris, excellent) so that APXGP can win one race. If they don't, a desperate Reuben warns, the board will fire him and dissolve the team. Of course, Sonny isn't sure about all of this. He's still reeling from a near-fatal crash that effectively ended his career 30 years ago. Memories of that disastrous race in Spain, summoned at random and evoked vividly by Stephen Mirrone's nimble cross-cutting, still haunt him. Reuben remembers that moment, but encourages his friend that he's still got it. Unlike Joshua, who represents a younger generation of F1 drivers, Sonny is mature and possesses a discipline that could be useful. After a bit of convincing and playful goading, Sonny agrees to help Reuben. F1 follows Sonny's experiences as an older driver trying to regain his footing in a sport that differs greatly from what it was in his heyday. Apart from Kosinki's portrayal of the races, some of the most exciting elements of F1 grapple with the intergenerational differences between Sonny and Joshua while exploring the way the sport has changed. Formula 1 has always been about money (teams often pay half a million dollars for drivers to compete in races), but like many sports, its athletes must also charm off the track to maintain their relevance. Sonny doesn't care about any of that, but Josh, one of two Black drivers in this fictionalized version of the league, can't afford the same attitude. Hamilton, the first and only Black driver in Formula 1, helped produce F1 and appears as himself in the film. There's a poignant moment near the finale where his character briefly locks eyes with Joshua before a race, subtly addressing a key issue of diversity within the sport. It also feels like a nod to the future, in which access to Formula 1 becomes less prohibitively costly and therefore more inclusive. Kruger's screenplay gestures to these issues, but I do wish those threads were sturdier considering how monumental it would be in real life if there were not one but two Black drivers in the sport, as there are in the film. Acknowledging and interrogating that would have invited more nuance into Joshua and Sonny's relationship, which at a certain point leans into conventional archetypes to keep the story going. What does it mean for this intergenerational pairing of underdogs — the Black Brit and the American, both outsiders to a mostly European sport — to work together? Still, Joshua gets robust characterization and there are memorable scenes between the young driver and his mother Bernadette (a standout Sarah Niles). She's fiercely protective of her son, but she also recognizes how Joshua's ego leads to inappropriate moments of ageism. At times she seems to be channeling Deloris Jordan, played by Viola Davis, in Air. In one early humorous scene, Bernadette forces Joshua to apologize to Sonny for disrespecting the older driver during a press conference. Sonny and Joshua clash from the start because their similarities run deeper than either are willing to admit. Joshua possesses a confidence that can border on brash. He's worked hard to make his way in this world, and part of his cocksure attitude is self-protective. Idris (Snowfall, Swarm) channels these subtler elements of his character's personality with a performance that relies on understated physicality and softer facial expression. As Joshua deploys sarcastic commentary, his eyes tell a story marked by fear. Sonny understands this — and as the two drivers learn about each other, he learns to read Joshua. For the most part Pitt plays the hardened protagonist like a rugged cowboy in the Wild West of this luxury sport. Whereas Joshua wears clean-cut, mixed-fabrics looks, as if he's just stepped off a runway, Sonny opts for various combinations of denim (costumes by Julian Day). Most of F1 chronicles how Sonny and Joshua transform their mutual hostility into a healthy competitive spirit. Their personal relationship develops through professional milestones. Kosinki uses each Grand Prix to advance this unlikely friendship as well as to help viewers understand different parts of Formula 1. Early races are about the cars, the speed and the money. Sonny gets acquainted with his vehicle and the lead engineer who built it, Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon). She's the first and only woman in her position, and there's a lot riding on APXGP's success or failure for her because she rightly wants to prove anyone who doubted her wrong. He also meets the team's principal Kaspar (Kim Bodnia) and Peter Banning, an eager but slippery board member played by Tobias Menzies. Later races shift focus from the mechanical to the emotional, showing how each member of the team — from the drivers to the pit workers — must self-regulate and collaborate to gain any leads where they can. In the words of one character, 'slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.' The strongest scenes in F1, which boasts a two-and-a-half hour runtime, are these moments during race weekends, when Kosinki embeds his fictional team with real ones. Fans of the sport will recognize cameos from Verstappen, Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and many more drivers. Hans Zimmer's adrenalized score ups the ante, adding tension to already nail-biting moments like a driver making a dangerous turn on a slick course or mechanics in the pit having mere seconds to switch out a car's tires. The impressive craft of these scenes extends to Kosinki's exploration of the various technologies, like road simulators, used to help drivers gain any advantage. Of course, there are some unrealistic elements in F1, moments that might have sticklers raising an eyebrow, but the film doesn't feel any less dramatic than the real thing. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
