Lewis Hamilton explains why he declined role in £1.2billion blockbuster movie with Tom Cruise

Lewis Hamilton has revealed his regret at not starring in Top Gun: Maverick despite the busy F1 schedule getting in the way.

Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise returned for the second installment of the Top Gun film franchise in 2022 as US Navy Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell.

Hamilton, who had acting roles in Cars 2 and Cars 3, became friends with Cruise when he visited the set of Edge of Tomorrow in 2014.

Four years later, the latter put the Mercedes star in contact with the director of Top Gun: Maverick, Joseph Kosinski, who offered him a pilot role.

But with Hamilton fighting for the 2018 world championship title and the shoot requiring about two weeks of filming, he had to turn it down.

It was a missed opportunity that he must have regretted, as he told GQ: “First of all, I didn’t even have, like, acting classes. And I don’t want to be the one to let this movie go.

“And secondly, I just didn’t really have the time to dedicate to it. I remember having to tell Joe and Tom, and it broke my heart.

“And then I regretted it, naturally, when they show me the film and it’s: ‘That could have been me!’”

Hamilton won the F1 World Championship in 2018, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to claim his fifth title.

He may have missed Top Gun: Maverick, which grossed an estimated £1.2 billion worldwide, but he’s helping take F1 from the track to the big screen.

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The 39-year-old’s production company, Dawn Apollo Films, is working with Apple Studios to make a film starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris.

As part of filming the so far unnamed film, the duo were given their own garage during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last year.

Apex Grand Prix is ​​the name of their fictional team, with a gold and black colored car driven at the iconic Northamptonshire circuit.

Away from production and back on the real track, Hamilton is playing his final season for Mercedes before moving to Ferrari in 2025.

He currently sits tenth in the drivers’ standings after three races, with seventh at the Bahrain Grand Prix his best this season.

Hamilton was forced to retire after just 16 laps of last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix due to an engine failure.