As he drove toward the Sonoma Raceway in a $275,000 Ferrari Roma, Nicholas Hoult was becoming increasingly nervous. “I’ve loved car racing since I was a kid, so the opportunity to actually do it, I would be absolutely insane to pass up,” the 32-year-old actor said, his sharp blue eyes widening behind oversized Fendi tortoiseshell sunglasses. “But it’s also terrifying. I think it’s always good to get yourself outside of your comfort zone.”
Hoult has had to drive on-screen many times before, in The Young Ones, in Collide, and most notably in Mad Max: Fury Road. But he has recently been prepping for a more difficult real-life role behind the wheel. He’s been training with Ferrari to potentially join their Challenge Series, a program of races the Italian supercar brand sponsors for owners of its cars.
Hoult drives an electric Jaguar I-Pace in Los Angeles and a motorcycle when in London, and doesn’t own a Ferrari. But, working in concert with the brand, he has attended Ferrari-sponsored driving courses over the past few years, driving a track-only, 670 hp Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo at private circuits in Florida and California and even on the Formula One course in Austin, Texas. The weekend, when The Hollywood Reporter rode shotgun with him, it was his first time on the track without an instructor, and with other cars racing around him.
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