LEWIS Hamilton has revealed the real reason he snubbed a role in top Gun 2 – despite initially begging Tom Cruise for a movie cameo.
The Formula One ace – who will switch to Ferrari for the 2025/2026 season – admitted missing out on Top Gun: Maverick “broke my heart.”
The Brit racing sensation, 39, confessed how conflicting schedules on and off-track proved an insurmountable issue.
Lewis told GQ Magazine how he approached Tom Cruise for a role in the sequel and explained: “‘I said, “Dude, if you ever do Top Gun 2, I will even be a janitor. Just let me be in it.”
Yet doubts – and his race day commitments – crept in and he added: “Firstly, I hadn’t even had, like, an acting lesson.
If you ever do Top Gun 2, I will even be a janitor. Just let me be in it
Lewis Hamilton
“And I don’t want to be the one that lets this movie down.
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“And then secondly, I just really didn’t have the time to dedicate to it. I remember having to tell Joe [director Joseph Kosinski] and Tom — and it broke my heart.
WHO COULD REPLACE HAMILTON AT MERCEDES?
Mercedes will have a vacant seat for 2025.
Here, SunSport’s F1 correspondent Ben Hunt looks at FIVE potential candidates who could replace him and partner George Russell in the Silver Arrows.
Oscar Piastri – McLaren have sewn up Lando Norris to a new long-term contract that should (in theory) put him out of Mercedes’ reach. However, they are yet to tie down his teammate Piastri, 22. The Aussie has an excellent record and won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles before spending a year on the sidelines with Alpine and getting his chance in F1 with McLaren. He impressed on his debut season last year and has the potential to be a world champion.
Daniel Ricciardo – The experienced driver’s future remains in doubt as he bides his time at Red Bull’s B-team. Ricciardo would be low-hassle and offer some stability but by that time he would be 35. It seems unlikely that they would opt for him at this point in his career, but if he has a good season this year, he could come into the reckoning.
Kimi Antonelli – You may not have heard of the Italian, but he is mustard. Still only 17, he has won at all the junior categories and has been part of the Mercedes young driver programme since 2019. This season he has been promoted from F4 to F2, where he has been tipped to shine. A good debut season in F2 could sway Mercedes into taking a risk on him for 2025. Antonelli and his family are close to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Mick Schumacher – Wolff has always been so incredibly supportive of Schumacher and spoken highly of him, that you’d at least expect him to come into consideration. He knows the team from his role as reserve driver and consequently would get up to speed. But speed is also the problem. He was shocking at Haas and if he really was THAT good, he’d still be driving in F1.
Alex Albon – A more-sensible choice would be the London-born Albon. A great guy who is also very quick. He has a fantastic relationship with Russell and would be the low-maintenance quick partnership similar to Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas that swept to successive titles. Albon would take little convincing to join from Williams and Mercedes would not need to pay him half of the £50million they were dishing out to Hamilton.
“Then I regretted it, naturally, when they show me the movie and it’s: ‘It could’ve been me!'”
Movie man
The movie follow-up came 36 years after Tom first donned his aviators as test pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in the original.
The second flick was released on May 25, 2022, after being heavily delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
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The movie is set in the modern day as the pilots contend with drone warfare and fighter jets.
Tom’s Maverick returned as an instructor who had to contend with a cocky female pilot called Penny Benjamin.
It also featured the grown up son of Goose (Riot FKA Wrigley) who clashed with Maverick.
Speaking to Access Hollywood prior to the release, Tom said: “Aviators are back, the need for speed. We’re going to have big, fast machines.”
He added: “It’s going to be a competition film, like the first one…but a progression for Maverick.”
