Marc Genet, former Formula 1 driver and winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, played a small role in the film Ferrari, released in Russia. If so, it’s time to remember other Formula 1 racers who starred in the great movie. Go!
Note: We ignore the films in which racers made cameos en masse: “Grand Prix”, “Racer”, “Life on Borrow” and others.
Michael Schumacher – Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008)
It was almost the perfect integration of the runner into the cinema. In the third part of the Asterix and Obelix franchise, the great Miguel played the role of a chariot racer named Shumiks, who represented the Germanic tribes in the Olympic Games. By the way, Shumix’s mentor in this film was played by none other than Jean Todt, the man under whose leadership Michael spent 11 seasons at the Scuderia.
The video rights belong to Pathé Renn Productions. You can see the video on Michael Schumacher’s YouTube channel.
Another element referencing the seven-time champion’s formula race was Shumix’s red car, as well as a beautifully parodied pit stop that included watering the horses and changing the car’s wheels. Overall, Michael’s role, although episodic, was memorable. By the way, Shumiks never managed to win the race: the winner of the race was a representative of the Gauls. In general, as in 2006 in F1, Michael lost to the French.
Schumacher’s last race for Ferrari:
Schumacher’s last great race for Ferrari. Super breakthrough against all odds
Lewis Hamilton – Zoolander 2 (2016)
The film, frankly, was unsuccessful – seven Golden Raspberry nominations. The film was not saved from failure by a whole galaxy of A-list stars invited to appear in the frame as a cameo, one of whom was Lewis Hamilton.
The British pilot got a cameo: a spectator at a fashion show (look closely at the cut 0:21-0:22). Even though Hamilton was in his element, he didn’t notice anything notable in the seconds of screen time he was allotted.
By the way, interestingly enough, not so long ago Lewis was able to try acting again: the seven-time champion was called upon to play the role of a fighter pilot in the film “Top Gun: Maverick.” In the end, Hamilton could not find time to participate in the filming: he had to forget about the role of the pilot. According to Lewis, he had the saddest conversation of his life with the film’s producer.
Hamilton is producing a film about Formula 1:
Everything we know about the new Formula 1 movie: plot, actors, release date
Jean-Louis Schlesser – “Taxi 2” (2000), “Taxi 3” (2003)
In Formula 1, Schlesser only competed in one race and is remembered as the driver who knocked out the leader Senna shortly before the finish line. The main successes of the French driver occurred in the “bodywork” category: he twice won the world sports car championship (similar to the WEC) and the legendary Dakar rally. It is not surprising that Jean-Louis made his debut in big cinema as a rally driver.
Schlesser participated in the filming of the series Taxi as a stuntman and in the second part he had the honor of trying himself in a new role: Jean-Louis made a cameo in the opening scene of the film.
The two-time Dakar winner raced down the winding mountain in a Peugeot 306 Maxi, engaging in a head-to-head duel with the legendary white Peugeot 406 taxi. The winner of this battle, of course, was Marseille’s fastest racer, Daniel Morales.
In the next part of the franchise, Schlesser tried to get revenge. This time, Jean-Louis played the role of a traffic police officer who tried to catch up with a taxi driver who had violated all possible rules, also without success.
Schloesser’s only F1 race:
The Dakar legend deprived McLaren of a great record. The story of Ferrari’s dramatic victory
Jean Alesi – “The Dragon Ring” (2004)
“The Dragon Ring” is a German-American fantasy film that was not very successful; not even a very decent cast helped. For example, one of the main roles went to Patrick Swayze and Michael Clarke Duncan. The then former Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi also participated in the filming. The French racer got a very small (although very symbolic) role: that of a coachman who appeared in the frame for a couple of seconds. We hope that the few viewers who saw the film appreciated the authors’ reference.
The sad career of a French driver:
Pick a Ferrari and ruin everything. The story of Alesi, who broke into F1 more brilliantly than Schumacher
Niki Lauda – “Without a Tsar in My Head” (1999)
In the world of cinema, Lauda is best known for the cult film “Race”, dedicated to the battle of the Austrian pilot with James Hunt. Young Nicky was played by German actor Daniel Brühl, and the three-time champion himself appeared briefly in the frame at the end of the film.
Niki Lauda in the film No Tsar in My Head
Photo: frame from the video.
In addition to participating in the filming of the cult film “Race”, Lauda has several more roles in not very famous films, the most memorable of which she played in the Italian comedy “Without a Tsar in My Head.” In this film, Ella Lauda made a cameo, namely a crazy taxi driver who took the main character from Monaco to Nice in four minutes. When asked “why do you drive a taxi?”, the three-time Formula 1 champion replied: these roads are more fun than the Grand Prix. All in all, if Max Verstappen ever gets tired of dominating, he will have something to do.
After finishing his F1 career, Lauda chose an unusual occupation:
The most unusual careers of former Formula 1 drivers: from priest to governor
Nikita Mazepin – “Without Principles” (2020-…)
Russian runners also appear in movies. Former Haas driver Nikita Mazepin tried his hand at acting with a cameo in the third season of the series “Unprincipled.” The plot of one of the stories in the series revolved around the person of Dmitry Arkadyevich Mazepin, Nikita’s father. The former Haas driver spent approximately a minute on screen, engaging in a dialogue with his father, who told his son how he taught the main characters of the novel a lesson. Overall, Mazepin’s film debut turned out to be much more significant than Hamilton’s.
Interview with Nikita Mazepin “Championship”:
Exclusive
“I do everything for this!” Interview with Mazepin about the possibilities of returning to F1 and success in Asia
Mario Andretti, Fernando Alonso, Vitaly Petrov and others – dubbing of the cartoon series Cars (2006-2017)
The animated franchise “Cars” has always interacted quite actively with the world of Formula 1. Two Royal Racing legends, Michael Schumacher and Mario Andretti, participated in the dubbing of the first part of “Cars”: the Red Baron appeared in disguise of a Ferrari F430, and the American F-1 champion lent his voice to The Ford Fairlane, the car he drove, won the Daytona 500 in 1967.
In the second part of the franchise, Lewis Hamilton appeared in a cameo. Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Jacques Villeneuve and Vitaly Petrov also tried themselves as voice actors. Interestingly, they all voiced the same character, which changed depending on the release region.
The character of Vitaly Petrov.
Photo: Pixar
Pixar returned to a similar practice when producing the third part of Cars. For its global release, Hamilton voiced Lightning McQueen’s personal assistant (voice assistant, so to speak), in the Spanish version of the cartoon Alonso’s voice is heard, in the German version, Vettel’s.
In addition, Formula 1 drivers provided voices for cartoon characters not related to the world of racing. For example, last year Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz voiced the same character in the animated film Buzz Lightyear for the Italian and Spanish versions, respectively.
Esteban Ocon breaks down scenes from Cars:
“It’s impossible to drive like this!” A Formula 1 driver analyzes racing films
****
Naturally, these are not all the works of racers in the movies; We only remember the relatively recent ones. In the last century, F1 drivers quite actively gained acting experience. For example, Juan Maunel Fangio played himself in a film dedicated to his own biography, and Emerson Fittipaldi (for some unknown reason) participated in the filming of very strange and little-known films. Mike Hawthorne, Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, James Hunt and Keke Rosberg also tried their hand at acting, and this is not the complete list of career actors.
How the cult “Grand Prix” was filmed:
The story of the first great racing movie. How the “Grand Prix” managed to become a legend
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS