Will Smith was nursing a sore voice as he declared his support for Lewis Hamilton when collared by Martin Brundle.
Brundle regularly gets a chance to chat with megastars when he embarks upon his traditional pre-race grid walk on a Sunday. Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix he spoke with Oscar-winning actor Smith, who had only one man he wanted to talk about in a brief interview.
"I'm team Lewis!" he declared, when Brundle put the microphone under his nose. "That's my guy, that's my guy." He went on to explain why he sounded a little hoarse while he was speaking.
Smith added: "I was out last night so I lost my voice a little bit. But I'm always team Lewis." Brundle went on to ask if Smith was planning on being part of the new Formula 1 movie which is currently in production.
The actor replied: "I don't know, I haven't been asked yet but I would love to. I may have to work on this gut though! It doesn't fit in the car too well."
Smith was the biggest non-F1 name on the Jeddah grid that Brundle was able to speak to. Two weeks ago in Bahrain, that title went to Jeremy Clarkson who could not hide his delight to be there after previously growing disillusioned with the sport.
He told Brundle: "First Formula 1 race I've been to for years. It's just so fantastic to be back. I adore Formula 1. It was infuriating for years and years and now it's back because they can follow one another and the aerodynamics are so much better.
"My daughter is now a really big fan so I can talk to her about it. I can't believe how big [the cars] have got! I'm just fizzing with excitement over it all."
Clarkson predicted Verstappen would win that race and he was proven right, at the Dutchman barely had to break a sweat on the way to victory. Smith wants Hamilton, who starts seventh, to win this weekend in Jeddah, but that appears much less likely given Mercedes' lack of competitiveness.
