Lewis Hamilton was meant to be in Top Gun: Maverick but had to make ‘most upsetting call’ of his life

The Mercedes driver is close friends with Tom Cruise, who plays main character Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell in the franchise.

Top Gun: Maverick was 36 years in the making and has taken almost $1.3 billion at the global box office since releasing in May.

It's officially the biggest movie of 2022 and Hamilton nearly had a small role in it. However, the F1 calendar forced him to politely decline.

"One of the nicest people you'll ever meet. He invited me to his set years ago when he was doing Edge of Tomorrow, and then we just built a friendship over time.

"When I heard the second one was coming out, I was like, 'Oh, my God, I have to ask him'. I said 'I don't care what role it is. I'll even sweep something, be a cleaner in the back'."

The 37-year-old would've had a cameo as a fighter pilot but he quickly realised it'd clash with his preparations for races.

He then went on to claim turning the role down was 'the most upsetting call that I think I've ever had'.

Hamilton is yet to win a race in 2022 after dramatically losing out on the title to Max Verstappen last year.

Despite that, he's happy with Mercedes and is already thinking about a new deal.

"I'll be lying if I said that I hadn't thought about extending," he continued.

"I'm still on the mission, I'm still loving driving, I'm still being challenged by it. So I don't really feel like I have to give it up anytime soon.

"It doesn't make me think about my future, but it is a reminder that I am in that part of my career that people I came up with and have raced for so long will start to stop."