Essex racer features in F1 movie alongside Brad Pitt

An Essex racing driver has featured in the new F1 movie alongside Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.

F1: The Movie hit cinema screens across the world on 25 June and centres on a fictional Formula 1 team, APXGP.

Luciano Bacheta, from Brentwood, Essex, was working as a film stunt driver before he landed the non-speaking role as APXGP reserve driver Luca Cortez.

He told BBC Essex he worked closely with Pitt and even went to the premiere, adding: "That was wild, I was sat next to Brad... and I was thinking, 'What on earth is going on in my life right now?'"

Bacheta is a British stunt driver and former racing driver who competed in the FIA Formula Two Championship from 2011 to 2012. He also had a small role in Mission Impossible 5.

He said he managed to bag his part in the F1 movie because of his racing background and ability to stunt drive.

"It was really weird because I did not think I was going to end up in the film at all," he said.

When the call came, Bacheta said it was originally just to stunt drive "and then it developed into choreography and designing the sequences and coaching casts".

The driver also worked closely with Pitt throughout the movie and even coached him on how to become a racing driver.

He said by the end of shooting the film, Pitt was actually racing with him.

"He's great, I've worked so closely with him. At the beginning, I was super struck as I always am.

"By the end of it, it was just like a pleasure to work with him - it was like we're mates," he added.

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