The battle continues.

Honestly, it was pretty emotional.

It marks a debut above expectations.

Max Verstappen has revealed the heart-warming reason why he hasn’t gone to see the new F1 film which stars Brad Pitt and was produced by Sir Lewis Hamilton.

Directed by Top Gun: Maverick‘s Joseph Kosinski, F1 tells the story of a veteran racing driver (Pitt) who returns to Formula 1 to drive alongside a hotshot rookie played by Damson Idris.

Remarkably, the $300million (£218m) budget movie was filmed in and around the F1 paddock over the past two seasons, with real-life drivers and team members making cameos.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton serves as a producer on the film, helping to coach the actors on the track and consulting on the race scenes and dialogue in order to make it as authentic as possible.

However, Verstappen, arguably the sport’s biggest name and best driver, has tried to keep his involvement in the project to a minimum.

The Telegraph report that the four-time world champion, who has been linked with a shock move to Mercedes, declined to film a scene in a nightclub with Pitt.

The 2025 grid were invited to a special screening of the film ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, which every driver attended aside from Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with the Dutchman also absent for the official premiere in New York last week.

But when asked why he skipped the premieres, the Red Bull driver had a pretty good reason, telling The Sun: ‘Being authentic is not something I have to try and focus on. It’s just who I am.

‘I don’t like to be on the red carpet and dress up in a suit. I don’t like to interact with people that I don’t really know, and have a fake smile and fake chat. It’s horrible, I just don’t enjoy it.

‘I prefer to hang out with my friends and spend time with my little family. I also have a lot of other projects going on outside of F1.

‘So any extra work like red carpets is not what I want to do. I’m at a stage of my career where I’ve achieved so much professionally.

‘I’m just focusing outside of it now, like my big passions to make life more enjoyable and not just being performance driven.’

Verstappen recently became a father for the first time after his girlfriend Kelly Piquet gave birth to a baby girl, Lily, in May.

The 27-year-old is also a ‘bonus dad’ to Piquet’s five-year-old daughter Penelope and admits he is loving life as a dad to two girls.

‘It’s super cute. I’m trying to spend as much time making it all work,’ he hadded.

‘With the nappies, some are more smelly than others!’

Verstappen is currently in action at the Austrian Grand Prix where a win could see him close the gap to title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

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