The Man Turning Brad Pitt into an F1 Legend: Behind the Costumes with Julian Day
Lewis Hamilton had thoughts about the APXGP race suit!
World-building serves as the backbone of every blockbuster Hollywood film. However, creating a fictional universe grounded in reality becomes exponentially more challenging when that reality is driven by data points, technical specifications, and scrutinised by passionate fans.
No one navigates this delicate balance better than costume designer Julian Day. His filmography reads like a masterclass in transforming reality into cinematic gold —from Rush (2013) to Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) to Rocketman (2019) — each project seamlessly weaving fiction into worlds so authentic that they've become part of cultural lore.
Formula One fans have witnessed the monumental effort required to build a racing team from the ground up, as Cadillac's journey towards its 2026 grid entry unfolds in real time. But imagine having only months to not just construct an entire F1 operation from scratch, but to breathe life into the drivers themselves and shape their personalities, histories, and identities through every stitch and seam.
The Paddock Journal sat down with Julian Day to explore how costume design became the foundation for building the characters of Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce, and to discover what Lewis Hamilton really thought when he first saw their race suits.
F1: The Movie isn’t your first foray into racing films; you designed the costumes for arguably one of the best motorsport films to date, Rush. Did Rush influence your approach to F1: The Movie, or was there any crossover?
Julian: Was there any crossover? I guess there was, because they are both about F1. But I think the only thing that crossed over was that I learned about the safety aspect of racing. Because, whether we were working with the actors or stuntmen or the drivers, they have to drive for real. I think F1 is still the most gladiatorial sport, and it's still very dangerous. I was very aware of the safety aspect when I did Rush. So I think that was the big crossover. But, you know, I think the thing about Rush was it was just, in a sense, replicating the teams that already existed. But with APX, we built our own team from the ground up. Most people have years to develop a team, the uniforms, and all that; we had literally just a few months. So that was the real test.
How did you go about creating the APXGP team in such a short amount of time?
Julian: I approached OMP, who are also affiliated with Racing Spirit and Bell Helmets. They're based in Turin, Italy, and I used them on Rush. I had the chance to look at Sparko, Alpine Stars, Puma, and OMP. I spoke to all of them. However, because I've a good relationship with OMP, I went with them. They're really lovely guys, Luigi and Martina. So I went to them, and we talked about the development of suits. Then we worked with the production designers to design the garage, the car and the team kit. We wanted to create something that felt authentic but heightened. I designed a range of racing suit concepts in different colours. Then, Brad [Pitt] and Damson [Idris] came in for fittings, and each of them had a colour that they preferred. Then Joe [Kosinski, the director] preferred another colour! One day, we were doing a fitting with Brad, and we were struggling to agree on a team colour. Then I just suddenly remembered that I had brought in this sort of silvery white/grey suit. So I was like, “Well, let’s just try this on”, and I looked at it, and everybody looked at it, and they were like, “Yes, this is the one”.
We were mostly fitting black and white, because the car is black and gold, and the interior of the garage is off-white. So there was this black and off-white thing going on. However, we were conscious that if we went too black, it would have a Darth Vader-esque feel, or if we went too white, it would feel too vintage. The silver-white worked perfectly and complemented the dark colour of the car and the white of the garage.
I never quite realised, but when F1 teams work with sponsors, it’s all about millimetres. For example, if a sponsor’s logo is two millimetres larger on a racing suit, they’ll give you another $100k, or if the logo is too small or in the wrong place, then you’re in trouble. We worked with the APXGP sponsors and placed their graphics on the suits to ensure everyone was happy. A couple of times during filming, a few sponsors changed their logos. So we had to change the logos on the suit. Not that you'll see it, but some of the logos change from the first couple of races in the movie.
What was your thought process when designing the team kit for APXGP?
Julian: Joe is a very cool director, so he wanted the team kits to look cool. I mean, some of the team kits you see in the pits are a bit garish! I don’t mind them, but they aren’t cool. However, Joe prefers things to look very classic and simple. So we went with the black and white theme.
Then I was invited to the Mercedes headquarters to see what they did. They were very helpful in the beginning, and obviously they use black and white in their uniforms, and we just thought, “Look, it’s perfect”.
For the pit crew uniforms, we went for an all-black look, which I think worked nicely because then the drivers stood out against them. I ended up having to re-order the pit crew uniforms from OMP, which meant they got the latest fabrics. The fabric these days is so thin, it’s almost like shirt material, but completely fireproof.
Regarding colours, were there any that the current F1 teams completely vetoed while you were making the decision?
Julian: No, we were always going to work within the realms of black and white. We never developed any colourful suits. When we’re at Daytona at the beginning of the film, the team colour is blue; however, I made sure Sonny [Hayes, played by Brad Pitt] wears white so he would stand out against the rest of them. We wanted to create a colour for America, and then as we head to Europe, we wanted to go more cool and monochromatic. We never hit the issue of wanting to go with red, for example, and Ferrari saying no!
In terms of fabric, then, were you able to have access to high-tech fabrics like Nomex?
Julian: It’s quite interesting, actually. When I first went to meet Brad, he was in a meeting with Joe and Lewis Hamilton. I took in a racing suit to show them, and the feedback from Lewis was that it was much lighter than his own suit. he said it was nicer than the one he wears! I thought that was quite interesting.
We collaborated with OMP to create authentic racing gear, from racing boots to Nomex underwear, gloves, and balaclavas. It’s all quite authentic. But there were some changes that we made to make the suits work for the camera. We had to make sure that the visor of the helmet was large enough so the camera could catch the eyes, but it also had to be safe to use in an F1 car. We were also conscious of the fact that racing helmets are very tight and can squeeze your cheeks like a hamster, so we had to sort that out! We also had standbys who had to go in and pull up the balaclavas around the eyes to ensure everybody looked as good as possible. It’s all in the minutiae - all these details that you don’t think about. And that’s just with the race uniforms!
You worked with Lewis Hamilton as a producer, but did he have any input on the fashion side of it all?
Julian: No, Lewis’s involvement was much more on the production and the world of F1. However, he used to visit the sets, and I managed to chat with him about fashion. I have to admit, he’s probably my favourite driver that has ever driven in F1, and I think he started off as quite a controversial young driver, but he’s become a great ambassador of the sport and for sports in general.
He did mention that Damson’s clothes were a bit too fashionable for a young rookie driver! But I mean, I would say that Lewis himself was always interested in fashion even as a rookie, so I don’t think it’s too far a stretch. But other than that, he really liked it all. And he thought they all looked good and realistic. I was pleased to get his feedback.
You’ve mentioned in interviews before how you never wanted to recreate Elton John for Rocketman. Instead, you aimed to create your own interpretation of him. Did you feel that with this movie, or was it a bit more complex?
Julian: I think they're different films. I mean, with F1, I wanted to represent what the sport looks like. There's a very particular look to F1, especially when you watch the grid walks. So I wanted to represent what it really looked like, but heighten it. Take it to a different level. For example, with Javier's clothes, he appears to be a super-rich billionaire, but in an exaggerated way. And Brad's the lonesome cowboy, a sort of Chris Christofferson character. Damson is a young rookie driver, but an even more extreme version of one. And even within the paddock and all the suites they have, I wanted to ensure that the background characters look like a heightened version of what it is in reality.
Did you get to work with any particular brands for Damson Idris’s character?
Julian: Tommy Hilfiger was a team sponsor, obviously, and they did provide some product for Damson, but I wanted to include young, up-and-coming British and Indian designers. I thought that working with multicultural designers from diverse ethnic backgrounds would accurately represent Damson’s character. Lewis Hamilton wears a brand called Kartik Research, so I used them. There’s an exciting jewellery designer that I used called The Ouze, I also used Bleue Burnham, Sage Nation, 11.11/eleven eleven and some Wales Bonner. Even though Damson’s character looks fashionable, the pieces aren’t hyper-expensive.
A big part of the F1 movie was that you filmed across so many races in the 2024 calendar. Did you get to experience much of this?
Julian: I got to go to Hungary, Silverstone, Monza, and I think Germany. Which was all very cool. There were quite a few Grand Prix that everybody went to. I think the Vegas one would have been good to go to!
F1 was also very helpful and useful. The teams were all very nice. There was a really good camaraderie. When we had our garage, it was interesting to see all the other teams coming down to take a look and check out what we had set up.
I don’t think a film that integrates into a sport in the way we did will ever happen again. It’s quite extraordinary what they managed to do. To jimmy themselves into the F1 schedule like that. When the Grand Prix is only three or four days long, being able to do hot laps and join in the racing as the real teams finish is all quite extraordinary.
One of the biggest fears was at Silverstone. The two cars were following the grid during the formation lap, and we were nervous in case one of them would break down. It could totally change the actual race. There was a lot to think about and a lot to do. Production did an incredible job.
Can we take a moment to talk about the APXGP fans? One of the first times we learnt about F1:The Movie was when APXGP fans were coming to race weekends. How did you create fans for a fake F1 team?
Julian: We produced a whole load of merchandise and we handed it out to races. So when the actors would be doing post-race interviews and post-qualifying interviews, we’d dress people around them in APXGP caps and t-shirts to look like fans.
Obviously, APXGP are nothing as a team when the film starts, so as they gradually win more races and do better and better, we gave them more fans.
We were just producing hundreds and hundreds of caps and t-shirts and just handing them out to people. So there’ll be a lot of people that have APX stuff already. Very exclusive merch.
Are there any details in the costume design for the film that you are particularly proud of that audiences should look out for?
Julian: What I really want people to see is how truthfully I represented what the sport looks like. Because it’s such a vast world, you have the race team, but also the paddock and the larger crowds. I wanted to make it look exciting and visually appealing. You’re dealing with fast cars, but I wanted the clothes to represent that as well. I tried to include every small detail in the entire process, so that no detail stands out; however, hopefully, all the details work together to create the overall look of the film.