Lewis Hamilton reveals reason he turned down part in Top Gun sequel

Lewis Hamilton has said that he turned down a role in the Top Gun sequel because filming clashed with his racing commitments.

The five-time F1 world champion, 34, was offered a part alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, due out next year.

It would have been the British racing star's biggest role yet, after cameo appearances in Cars and Zoolander 2.

He told ESPN: "I was trying to get in Top Gun because I'm a massive fan of Top Gun, but I didn't have time to do any filming.

"But I had an opportunity to do it and I couldn't do it."

Hamilton said he had hired a Hollywood agent to look into further parts, and that he had sent out a number of audition tapes in recent years.

There are 21 race weekends across each F1 season, with the number due to rise to 22 in 2020, and the Mercedes driver admitted he already struggled to juggle his commitments.

Last year he launched a fashion line with American designer Tommy Hilfiger and was an executive producer on The Game Changers, a documentary about vegan athletes starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He said: "I definitely don't have time for movies (right now).

"I would take up my whole winter, so I wouldn't get a break, so that's the difficult thing that I'm struggling with right now."

Top Gun: Maverick is due to be released 34 years after the 1986 original and will see Cruise reprising his role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.