Tom Cruise driving a Red Bull F1

After dominating the box office for years with movies like *Top Gun*, *Rain Man*, and the *Mission Impossible* saga, Tom Cruise has tried his hand at taming the 800 horsepower of a Formula One car.

Indeed, as part of a promotional operation for the upcoming return of the United States Grand Prix, Red Bull offered the American actor the opportunity to complete a few laps of the Willow Springs circuit in California and benefit from the advice of David Coulthard.

Cruise, who played the role of a NASCAR driver in Tony Scott’s film, Days of Thunder, completed a staggering 24 laps, improving his times by nearly 11 seconds between the first and last lap: « I’m surprised he understood so quickly » marvels Coulthard. « He’s a truly accomplished driver. His feedback was significant when you consider how complicated an F1 is to drive. […] Today, it wasn’t acting: he profoundly impressed me. »

The actor had already made a strong impression by achieving a spectacular best time on the show Top Gear where he was invited, along with Cameron Diaz, to take a lap of the Top Gear track in a Kia Cee’d. Ben Collins, the driver who was then hiding under the helmet of the legendary Stig, was also impressed by Tom Cruise’s performance: « He was very focused and wanted to set the best lap, which he did. »

The performance of the actor had, however, been subject to rumors questioning its authenticity, forcing the production of the show Top Gear to deny them: « He gathered a lot of information from the Stig. Generally, celebrities do four or five practice laps with the Stig before going for their fast lap, but Tom Cruise spent more time with him to ask detailed questions, to the point that his first practice lap was already under one minute forty-five: he had already broken the record. »

On its official website, Red Bull released a video revisiting the drive of Mr. “Mission Impossible” aboard one of its cars.