Only 22 people on the planet can currently profess to be a full-time Formula 1 driver – but a far larger cast of famous faces can lay claim to having got behind the wheel of one. From Oscar-nominated actors to motorcycling world champions and rally greats, F1.com has looked back at 10 of the biggest names from outside the sport who have racked up laps in an F1 car, and how well each of them fared.

Brad Pitt: the Hollywood icon who wanted 200mph

The most recent famous name to sample F1 machinery, Brad Pitt – a long-time motorsport fan – played Sonny Hayes in F1 The Movie, a film that proved a huge global hit last year. To prepare, Pitt trained in the modified F2 cars that feature as the APXGP machines in the picture, but he took things further by later driving McLaren's 2023 challenger during a private test at the Circuit of The Americas.

Speaking on F1's Beyond The Grid podcast, Pitt admitted he was "still on a high" afterwards: "I got to hit 197mph this week. I really wanted to hit 200. You know, it hurts me a little bit – three miles per hour short on the straight. This was at Austin. I've just never experienced anything that's just, more feeling of presence in my life. You're so focused, but you're not white knuckling. You're just in this sublime groove. It is really extraordinary."

Valentino Rossi: the MotoGP legend torn between two wheels and four

Rossi knows the F1 experience all too well, having driven F1 machinery not just once but on multiple occasions. He first tested for Ferrari at Fiorano in 2004, with Michael Schumacher watching on. "Of course, it took him a while to get used to it, but he was very impressive by the end of the day," the German remarked – sparking speculation about a spectacular switch from two wheels to four.

The nine-time champion ultimately decided against the move, but his links to F1 endured. In 2019, Rossi and Lewis Hamilton took part in the ultimate ride swap, with Rossi driving Hamilton's 2017 title-winning Mercedes W08 while Hamilton hopped aboard the Italian's 2019 Yamaha MotoGP bike at Spain's Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Colin McRae: the rally king who impressed at Silverstone

Months after becoming 1995 World Rally Champion, McRae was given a Jordan F1 machine at Silverstone – coinciding with his 28th birthday. As part of the exchange, Jordan driver Martin Brundle drove McRae's Subaru Impreza 555 rally car. McRae described the F1 experience as "unbelievable", admitting that speed aside, "everything else couldn't be more unlike rallying".

The Scot completed 20 laps, with his best time just over two seconds off Brundle's – an achievement Brundle conceded was "very impressive". McRae, meanwhile, praised Brundle for being "very quick" in the rally car, joking his effort had been "worryingly close to my time".

Jeff Gordon: half a second away from a full-time switch

Two years after claiming his fourth NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2001, Jeff Gordon was handed the chance to pilot an F1 car in a direct switch with Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Gordon's best time was only around half a second away from Montoya's, leading to what he later described as "serious" discussions about a full-time move.

Speaking to F1's Beyond The Grid podcast in 2021, Gordon revealed there had also been talks with BAR ahead of their maiden 1999 season – but the move never happened. Montoya's try-out of Gordon's car proved prophetic, given that he later headed to NASCAR in 2006.

Tom Cruise: 181mph under David Coulthard's watch

Many years after starring as a stock car racer in Days of Thunder, Tom Cruise was given the chance to pilot a Formula 1 machine in 2011, reaching 181mph in a Red Bull car around Willow Springs in California. Instructed by 13-time Grand Prix winner David Coulthard, Cruise's top speed was only 4mph slower than his mentor's.

"I've no doubt if he really wanted to put some serious time into driving those types of cars, with a few days of proper running he could be running some really good times," Coulthard remarked of the actor's performance.

Marc Marquez: an 'absolute highlight of my career'

In 2018, MotoGP champion Marc Marquez became the latest crossover name, participating in an F1 test with Toro Rosso at the Red Bull Ring in Austria – with Mark Webber on hand to advise while Helmut Marko and Niki Lauda watched on. Marquez hailed the experience as "unbelievable", calling it an "absolute highlight of my career".

Webber said it was an "honour" to coach the Spaniard: "It's impressive, because obviously Marc is at the top of his game on two wheels and to come to drive a Formula 1 car, the way we generate the lap time is just so different." Fellow MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa also got behind the wheel later in the day.

Sebastien Loeb: from rally dominance to Barcelona pace

In December 2007, the nine-time World Rally Champion participated in a car swap with Renault's Heikki Kovalainen, driving the Enstone outfit's 2006 title-winning R26 – an experience he conceded was a "dream come true". A year later, Loeb returned in a Red Bull test at Barcelona-Catalunya, driving the RB4 and ending the session an impressive eighth-fastest of 17 participants.

Loeb was subsequently linked with a possible F1 race appearance for Toro Rosso at the 2009 season finale in Abu Dhabi, but was ultimately not granted a Super Licence – meaning his focus remained on rallying.

Guy Martin: restoring Williams history and racing Jenson Button

Former motorcycle racer Guy Martin spent several months working alongside Williams Heritage to restore the 1983 Williams FW08C before driving it at Silverstone in his TV series Speed with Guy Martin. He went head-to-head with 2009 World Champion Jenson Button, who piloted the six-wheeled FW08B – a car that never raced after regulations limited cars to four wheels ahead of 1983.

Button unsurprisingly won the mini race, but former F1 driver Karun Chandhok, who helped Martin through his training, said: "He was sensible, he built up the speed. He looked good out on track."

Mick Doohan: five titles on two wheels, a spin on four

Father of current Alpine and Haas driver Jack Doohan, Mick Doohan won five consecutive 500cc World Championships during the 1990s, but his F1 foray was far briefer – a single test for a sponsor in 1998 at Barcelona-Catalunya, in which he spun the Williams on his first lap, a fate he says befell Finnish rally driver Tommi Makinen too.

Reflecting on the day to Beyond The Grid in 2023, Doohan admitted the error infuriated the competitor in him. "It was a great experience, but I had no intention of ever wanting to be a car racer," he explained.

Carlos Sainz Snr: a father-son moment at Fiorano

The final entry is Carlos Sainz Jnr's father, the double World Rally Champion who has since triumphed in the Dakar Rally, most recently in 2024. That year was special for the Spaniard, as he shared an F1 track day with his son, putting in laps in Ferrari's 2022 challenger – the F1-75 in which Sainz Jnr claimed his maiden win at Silverstone – before the duo ran in formation at Fiorano.

It marked Sainz Snr's first experience of a Scuderia F1 machine, though the rally icon had previously driven Fernando Alonso's 2005 championship-winning Renault R25 during a promotional event in Barcelona back in 2006.