Hamilton earns first Ferrari podium while F1 movie wins Oscar for Best Sound

Lewis Hamilton Misses Oscars to Race at Chinese Grand Prix, Earns First Ferrari Podium

Lewis Hamilton spent Sunday living a split-screen life: racing to his first podium finish as a Ferrari driver in Shanghai while the F1 movie he helped produce competed for four Academy Awards some 6,000 miles away in Hollywood.

The seven-time Formula 1 world champion finished third at the Chinese Grand Prix, ending a podium drought that stretched back to 2024, but the scheduling conflict meant he could not attend the 98th Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre, where “F1: The Movie” was nominated for Best Picture, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects.news18

A Race Worth Running

Hamilton’s afternoon in Shanghai proved to be time well spent on track. After a strong start that briefly saw him lead the race, he was overtaken by eventual winner Kimi Antonelli and later became embroiled in a battle with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc that featured multiple position swaps and light contact. Hamilton ultimately held on to third place, 25 seconds behind Antonelli, who became just the second teenager to win a Formula 1 race.skysports

“I had so much fun,” Hamilton said after the race. “To stay in the fight, it was one of the most enjoyable races that I’ve had in a long, long time, if ever”.skysports

Hollywood From a Distance

Hamilton had explored every option to make both events work. A flight from Shanghai to Los Angeles takes roughly 12.5 hours, and even accounting for the time zone difference, the logistics were impossible, as ESPN reported. “I’ve looked at every way to get there in time, but unfortunately I can’t,” Hamilton told reporters earlier in the week. “But I’ll FaceTime with Joe and Jerry when they’re there, which will be cool”.racingnews365

“Joe” and “Jerry” are director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who shepherded the Brad Pitt-led racing film from concept to a $630 million global box office success. Hamilton, who served as a producer and cameo performer, had been instrumental in shaping the film’s authenticity during shooting at real race weekends in 2023 and 2024.espn

One Win Out of Four

The film took home the Oscar for Best Sound but fell short in its other three categories, with Best Picture and Film Editing going to Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” and Best Visual Effects to “Avatar: Fire and Ash”. Hamilton had previously told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that missing the ceremony stung: “I’ve never been to the ceremony. It would have been fantastic to see it live and meet people like Denzel Washington. It means I really need to produce another film”.latimes