You feel like you're at a real Grand Prix, because we were...

Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, director Joseph Kosinski and more tell RACHAEL DAVIS about the immersive experience of bringing Formula One to the big screen

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DRIVING precision-engineered cars that can reach upwards of 200mph, battling it out for a prestigious podium place - most of us mere mortals can only imagine the exhilaration of being part of a Grand Prix race.

But Formula One is a sport that brings with it an inherent danger, those high speed corners and breathtaking straights bringing not only intoxicating thrills but also devastating disasters.

This is a stark reality which Sonny Hayes, the protagonist of F1 The Movie played by two-time Oscar winner Brad Pitt, knows all too well. The story goes that Hayes, who competed alongside some of the all-time F1 greats in the 1990s, now lives as a nomadic racer-for-hire after a catastrophic on-track crash stopped his Formula One career in its prime.

When he's approached by his former teammate-turned-team owner Ruben, played by Javier Bardem, to join his struggling team APXGP and attempt to score them some much-needed points by the end of the season, the decision to return to F1 brings up all kinds of complicated feelings.

"He's a pure racer," says Fight Club and Bullet Train star Brad, 61, of his character. "He's there for the love. He washed out of F1 at a young age, and had thought he had made his peace with that dragon - until this opportunity comes along from his old friend."

Not only does Sonny have to get used to the modern style of racing - which he learns is vastly different to the technology he used in the Nineties - but he also butts heads with his hotshot rookie teammate Joshua Pearce, played by Londoner Damson Idris. After all, F1 may be a team sport, but it's one where often your own teammate is your biggest competition.