The film, which is being co-produced by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, will see the Hollywood star play the fictional veteran driver Sonny Hayes, who is returning to the sport after a long absence. In the trailer released ahead of the British Grand Prix on Sunday, Pitt’s character sets his sights on taking on the rest of the F1 grid with his team APXGP. It opens with Pitt’s voiceover saying: “Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston, now McLaren all have a speed on the straights, our shot is battling in the turns.

“We need to build our car for combat.” Irish actress Kerry Condon, who stars as a member of the APXGP team, replies: “How am I supposed to make that safe?” to which he says: “Who said anything about safe?” The trailer features clips of Pitt speeding through circuits and going wheel-to-wheel with his fellow competitors as Queen’s classic We Will Rock You plays. Former Haas team principal, Guenther Steiner, also makes a brief cameo as he sticks his head out from the pit wall.

The Fight Club star, 60, portrays a driver who competed in the 1990s but moved to racing in other disciplines after suffering a horrible crash. It follows the driver coming out of retirement to compete alongside a rookie, played by British actor Damson Idris, for the fictional APXGP team which is sitting at the bottom of the leaderboard. Pitt has been filming scenes of him racing an adapted Formula Two car at various F1 circuits including in between practice sessions this.