Brad Pitt has told Sky Sports the loose plot of the movie they have been shooting at Silverstone this weekend.

The Oscar winner says his character, Sonny Hayes, is a driver who raced in the 1990s but was involved in a big crash and ends up competing in different categories. He gets the call to come back to Formula 1 with the APXGP, who are a bit rubbish, and mentor Damson Idris' young racer, Joshua Pearce.

"They bring me in as a bit of a Hail Mary [pass]," said Pitt.

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In the melee of the opening-lap incident at last year's British Grand Prix, it's easy to forget that protestors actually managed to get onto the circuit.

Protesters wearing orange T-shirts jumped the fence and sat on the track, but the race had already been red-flagged because of Zhou's huge crash.

Six people were found guilty of risking "serious harm" to the drivers and were given a mix of suspended sentences and community orders.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live this week, Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle said protesters would be "reckless" and putting their own lives at risk if they tried to enter the track once again.

"[It also risks the lives] of the drivers, spectators and marshals," he added.

Several sporting events have been disrupted by protesters in recent months - including Wimbledon and the Ashes.

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The British Grand Prix has only just started when Zhou Guanyu was flipped upside down in his Alfa Romeo, which then skidded through the gravel trap before being thrown into the air by the barriers and dropping down behind the tyre wall in front of the fans in the grandstand.

Zhou's accident was part of a multi-car first-lap pile-up but thankfully, the Chinese driver walked away from the shocking crash uninjured.

This week, George Russell - who got out of his car to help with the rescue - invited the marshals who were involved to the Mercedes operations centre to have a look around and to say thank you for their hard work and dedication during the race weekends at Silverstone.

Image source, Zhou Guanyu Twitter

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Carlos Sainz was victorious at Silverstone last year, taking his maiden win in Formula 1 at the end of an incident-packed British Grand Prix.

The Spaniard benefited from questionable strategy calls from Ferrari, which cost his team-mate Charles Leclerc the victory and the chance to restore his title hopes.

Lewis Hamilton was in the fight for the win but finished third behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez after a frantic final nine laps following a late safety car.

Max Verstappen finished seventh after picking up floor damage due to running over debris.

But that was only half the story of the 2022 race...

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

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If a fight for the win is considered a vain hope, that is very much not the case for the places behind. McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes line up in two-by-two formation after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri put the McLaren upgrade to spectacular effect to take second and third places. But it may be that the cars are in reverse race pace - certainly that is the fear at both McLaren and Ferrari.

Carlos Sainz, who starts fifth behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, said: “It will be an interesting race. The fastest race pace is Red Bull and Mercedes and then us and McLaren. it will be Mercedes putting pressure on both of us. It will be a tricky race tomorrow. McLaren struggle with (tyre) deg like we do, but hopefully we can pass them.”

McLaren do have concerns about their race pace, too, and the heat makes them more acute - the McLaren is better in cooler conditions. But Piastri, whose qualifying run was especially impressive as he does not have the new front wing that Norris had for this race, is hopeful, based on Norris’s performance in holding off Lewis Hamilton in Austria. “We’ll have to see what our race pace is like, you know,” the Australian said. “Lando showed last week that we can hang on in the races now to a much better extent.”

Lewis Hamilton has brought Roscoe to the British Grand Prix this weekend and he's been on his best behaviour since he arrived in the paddock on Thursday, not leaving any special presents outside the driver's motorhomes like he did to Valtteri Bottas a few years ago.

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Pirelli has counted up what teams have left on the tyre shelf and noted that every driver has at least one set of each compound still available for today's British Grand Prix.

Image source, Pirelli Motorsport

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Lewis Hamilton will start in P7 for today's British Grand Prix. He said: "With this crowd anything is possible and the weather we have what a great beautiful day we have here today. Honestly I see so many of our caps, so much support here I just really want to try and give them the best race ever so just moving forwards, just looking forwards."

On the crowd, he added: "(This crowd) is incredible and the support we get from here is just like no where else in the world, it's such an honour and privilege as an athlete to be in your home country and to receive the support that you get, it's once in a lifetime experience."

On the fight with teams such as Ferrari and McLaren for today's race, he said: "Difficult to know, I mean obviously in the last race the Ferrari's were quicker than us, the McLaren's were quicker than us and they both have the upgrade now, but I'm hoping that our race pace can either match them or be as strong as them. Attack, attack, attack!"

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Lewis Hamilton said it was "really, really great" to see his old team McLaren near the front of the grid again but felt Mercedes' performance in qualifying wasn't a total disaster.

"It's not a blow. It's just a wake-up call for us," said the seven-time world champion. "Others are overtaking us and we need to do more."

Hamilton, who starts in P7, cited the car's struggles on a single lap compared to race pace but added: "If we can progress forward, then that would be amazing. Hopefully we can put some pressure on the cars ahead and get into a battle with them."

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

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A record can be matched this afternoon at Silverstone. The record for consecutive wins in Formula 1 is held by McLaren, who won 11 in a row from the start of 1988 until that year’s Belgian Grand Prix, in the season in which they famously won all but one race.

The bigger of those two achievements may yet be under threat from Red Bull. But for now it is the first that they can equal today. Red Bull’s winning run started at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and a victory today would be their 11th in a row.

No one thinks anyone can stop Max Verstappen today - all his rivals think he will be in a race of his own at the front’s as has become usual. So only a problem of some kind will stop Red Bull and Verstappen drawing level with the achievement of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and the McLaren-Honda MP4-4.

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The British Grand Prix always brings out the celebrities and today is no different.

Here are some of the famous faces that are trackside - and most importantly...Brad is back!

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Sergio Perez made it onto the podium last weekend in Austria after starting 15th in Spielberg and the Mexican will have to do the same thing all over again at Silverstone following another disappointing qualifying session.

The Red Bull driver has failed to make the top-10 shootout since the Miami Grand Prix in early May and will line up in P15 once again today.

Perez said the longer red flag for Kevin Magnussen's Haas failure and the weather played a part in his Q1 exit. "The changing conditions made things a lot trickier, so we ended up having a poor qualifying," he added.

On Saturday night, Perez was optimistic on Twitter, writing: "Tomorrow’s a new day and we will fight right from the start to turn the weekend around!"

Andrew Priestley: Sergio Perez will have a serious point to prove and a racing seat to save in the long-term, so expect to see him carve back through the field. But a podium finish is no longer as easily obtainable with the performance upgrades McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes have brought.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

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All is not wine and roses between Ferrari team-mates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz; that has become increasingly clear over the past few weeks. In both Canada and Austria, Sainz went on the radio with claims that he was being held up by Leclerc and had to be told to hold station, and there was another flash-point in qualifying at Silverstone.

Heading into the hectic final runs in the first part of qualifying, Sainz first went on the radio to complain about having to let Leclerc through in the pit lane - “It’s a bit unfair what you are asking me to do - sacrificing the tyre temperature there; also I am P4 and he is P3 so I am more at risk” - and then broke convention by nipping ahead of Leclerc in a traffic jam at Vale as they prepared their laps. “Nice overtake, Carlos,” Leclerc said, sarcastically.

What was going on?

Leclerc said: “One race I have the priority to choose whether I want to be in front or behind; another race Carlos has the priority. I had said that I wanted to be in front. He let me past in the pit lane but then we had very little margin to go to the finish line and with the mess in the last corner Carlos overtook me because we had very fine margins. That’s not ideal but we will speak and I am sure he will understand.”

Sainz said: “My feeling was that we were going to miss the flag. I decided to go because I thought we weren’t going to make the flag. I am glad we got a lap in and we went through with both cars.”

Pit lane is open.

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McLaren's Lando Norris starts on the front row in P2 at Silverstone. He said pre-race: "It's amazing I'm so thankful there are so many fans they make it so special for all of us, all of the Brits that are here, I say a big thanks and I will try make them proud today."

On his team's performance following the recent upgrades, he added: "Unimaginable, we really weren't thinking it, we had a great weekend in Austria, we weren't expecting to be as good as this here."

As the crowd started to cheer, he said: "Pretty insane, I'm just a normal guy and people are cheering for me."

And if they can hold on in the race, he added: "We can, I think we have a good chance of getting a good result today."

Mark Atkins: Will the hot temperature at Silverstone cause tyre troubles for a few teams?

Andrew Priestley: The unmistakable sights and sounds of the British sporting summer. A Sunday afternoon packed full of action from Wimbledon, Silverstone and Headingley.

The record-breaking Silverstone crowd are loving Lando Norris firing a few novelty T-shirts their way but a few boos ring out as Max Verstappen drives past in his vintage car. Lando isn't about to let his mate take the flack and tells the British fans the Dutchman is a great guy.

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Silverstone's thrilling qualifying session yesterday was Max Verstappen's fifth consecutive pole position, the seventh he has taken overall so far this season and 27th front-row spot of his career.

If he wins the British Grand Prix today, that will be victory number eight for the campaign - also his sixth in a row - and 43 chequered flags since he started his Formula 1 journey in 2015.

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Lewis Hamilton has sampled the high a of a British Grand Prix victory multiple times in his career but how do you see today's race playing out?

Will Lando make the podium?

Can Lewis claim a record ninth Silverstone victory?

Is Max set to dominate the field?

The hashtag is open for your race predictions. Find us on #BBCF1.

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