Starring: Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, Damson Idris

Director: Joseph Kosinski Year: 2025 Runtime: 2 hours 35 minutes Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

F1: The Movie is a motorsports drama starring Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Damson Idris and Kerry Condon.

Based on the real-world sport of Formula One, it features practical action set pieces filmed on working race tracks.

The movie was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who previously used a similar practical-first approach to huge success in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.

Qualifying

F1: The Movie stars Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, an ageing driver recruited to help a struggling Formula 1 team achieve victory.

Looking to capture some of the same magic as his previous action outing, Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski combines innovative camerawork with real-world action shots that put us right there in the driver’s seat.

Visually, the effect is stunning. But is F1: The Movie another thrilling adventure like Top Gun: Maverick, or a schlocky snoozefest like Days of Thunder?

Grand Prix

Full disclosure, I don’t watch much F1 these days.

I tuned out around the time those halo devices came in, and since then, it’s been sold off to Americans, and I therefore view it as less of a sport and more of a vehicle for promoting a reality TV show on Netflix.

That said, I have fond memories of past races, and the sound of those engines still stirs something in me.

My gateway drug to Formula 1 came via Matchbox and Atari.

My earliest memories are of crawling around on the floor while racing die-cast cars.

Among the cars competing in the Circuito di Linoleum was a red Ferrari of unknown designation, a classic Elf Renault and a black Lotus with John Player Special branding, because marketing cigarettes to kids in the 80s was always good for business.

Graduating from the floor to the arcade, I discovered games like Pole Position, which instilled in me a love of speed and a lingering disregard for speed limits.

I came of age during the era of Mansell, Prost and Senna, though I didn’t start to get into the sport proper until the late 90s, with those epic duels between Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen.

My Irish pride also found reasons to swell thanks to the late great Eddie Jordan and his Jordan F1 team, whose roster included amazing drivers like Giancarlo Fisichella and Heinz Harald Frentzen.

(I mean yeah, technically we also had Eddie Irvine, the George Best of F1, but he drove for Ferrari so, y’know…)

Schumacher would retire from Ferrari in the early 2000s, making way for Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and the subsequent rise of Max Verstappen. 

The latter, in particular, helped to add some excitement to proceedings, but ultimately, I feel as though the sport has lost some of its bite. Still, the fond memories remain.

Brad’s target audience has no such memories. Formula 1: The Movie is a movie about Formula 1 for a nation that’s as clueless about real motorsport as it is about, well, most things quite honestly.

Which gives me two reasons to feel superior before the movie has even begun. Always a good start.

In a perfect meta moment, the obligatory sleazy investor character admits that, although he knew nothing about the sport before joining the board, he’s started binging Drive to Survive to catch up.

One thing I am curious about is whether or not American trailers for the movie featured Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain.

The song was the de facto theme of the sport on this side of the pond – specifically the second part of the song when that iconic bassline kicks in and the guitar goes into high gear.

Every time I hear that song my brain automatically adds in the sound of F1 engines – “vrrrrm!”

I need to establish my F1 bone fides first because it impacts my opinion of the movie and I’m unable to switch that part of my brain off.

For example, when Brad’s character Sonny Hayes arrives on the scene, one of the characters proclaims in hushed reverence, “He raced against Schumacher and Senna!”

… What? Schumacher AND Senna?!

How fucking old is he?

Fair play, Brad’s in good shape for a man in his 60s, but c’mon!

Alright, alright I’ll stop. You want the plot? …You sure now? Ok… fine.

Well, it’s pretty much the same plot as 2006’s Rocky Balboa – old white dude miraculously skirts all health regulations and comes out of retirement to upstage a young black dude because… Hollywood.

So yeah, there’s your first clue this isn’t going to be an accurate depiction of Formula 1 racing.

Here’s another: Sonny Hayes has not been behind the week of an F1 car since the 90s, but, after his initial disastrous first drive, is able to get to grips with a modern F1 race car quicker than you can say montage.

Ok, ok, I’ll allow all that, it’s Hollywood. Old guy comes out of retirement to help a struggling team and ends up inspiring the world.

It’s an underdog story within an underdog story. A sub-underdog story if you will.

Also, there’s a spate of deus-ex trackinas in here, mostly Sonny Hayes’s doing, but again… It’s a Hollywood take on F1, so I’ll allow it.

Because as long as they’re on the track, this movie is incredible.

Unfortunately, most of the movie is set off track.

And that’s when this movie switches from being Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari to Gaston Mazzacane in a Minardi.

I can live with the fact that it’s a formulaic (no pun intended) sports-themed underdog movie which needs to hit certain emotional beats.

And I can also forgive it for going full throttle on the cheese, because the target audience is clueless Americans with zero knowledge of F1 history.

But I can’t excuse the dreadful dialogue.

Despite having to wade through garbage, the cast is strong and holds it all together.

Javier Bardem in particular feels oddly familiar. He’s a composite character, but I wonder if he’s modelled most on Fernando Alonso. (Then again, the character of Sonny Hayes has far more historical similarities given the wide scope of his racing career.)

Together Brad and Bardem feel authentic, like they raced together and know each other years. This helps to sell the movie and gloss over some of the shitty dialogue.

Ditto Kerry Condon as no-nonsense head engineer Kate McKenna. She gets some of the worst dialogue, but she also gets the best performance out of Brad despite it. 

The Good

Cinematography: This movie deserves credit for its vision, using real cars on real racetracks (with added real driver cameos). It boasts some of the best driving sequences you’re ever likely to see and, although the movie is pure Hollywood, the action, at least, feels authentic.

If only there were more of it.

Brad Pitt: Despite its ludicrous premise, Brad Pitt works in this movie because we believe his character. He has this rugged, uncompromising veteran energy that works for the story.

We first meet him during his Daytona victory, and straight away, he convinces us that this is his world. We don’t doubt for a second that he’s a race car driving thoroughbred.  

Javier Bardem: Surely the bromance of the summer, Bradem, Bardad? These two guys are great together on screen, and I want to see them in more movies together.

As with Pitt, we don’t doubt Bardem’s performance for a second and 100% buy into the idea that he’s been a part of this world for decades.

Kerry Condon: Yet another fantastic performance from this up-and-coming Irish actress. She makes her scenes with Brad count, despite the sloppy script, and here’s hoping her portrayal inspires more women to get into the sport, not just as fans but as participants. (Hashtag Edwina Jordan.)

The Bad:

ChatGPT – Write Me A Rocky Movie About Cars: The biggest issue with this movie is that the ratio is wrong, with an overabundance of cheesy, predictable melodrama and far too little action.

So, while the action on track feels authentic, scant though it is, the chatter off the track feels like it was written by an AI with severe concussion.

And, thanks to an insipid score by Hans Zimmer in full-on, phone-it-in mode, every single dragged-out conversation drowns in gorgonzola.

The Slippery

Hans On The Wheel: Right, first of, let me say that Hans Zimmer is hans down (sorry) one of the greatest living movie composers today and has made some of the most inspirational scores of all time.

But his score for F1 feels like it was stitched together from off-cuts of other projects.

And fuck me, does this movie smear it on thick!

The combination of terrible dialogue and swelling crescendos at four-minute intervals became torturous at times.

/Cue abandoned rousing speech score #6

I am Maximus Crashimus Verstappenus, son of a wife-beating father, driver for an insipid taurine pusher – and I shall have my vengeance, in this life or the next!

AI Brad Pitt: At one point, we’re shown footage of young Sonny back in the 90s, an AI-generated atrocity with a fluffy blonde mullet. It’s every bit as cringy and hilarious as it sounds. But I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meant to be.

Chekhov’s Zen: There’s a scene where Sonny describes the feeling of being in the zone where everything around him ceases to matter. Unless this is the first movie you’ve ever seen, it should be obvious we’ll witness this exact phenomenon by the movie’s end.

Only problem is they seemed to have ripped off that bit wholesale (AI training data?) from Ford Vs Ferrari (more on this movie in a moment), and it doesn’t have anywhere near the same emotional impact.

Race Highlights

• Racing in the rain at Monza.
• The final race at Abu Dhabi.
• Brad GPT – I know we’re not supposed to laugh at AI de-aged 90s Brad Pitt, but seriously, you try keeping a straight face!

On The Podium

I wanted to see this on the biggest screen I could, and I advise you to do likewise; however, F1: The Movie is already getting shunted off track by Superman and The Fantastic Four.

If you like fast cars and action, so much that you can endure the cheese, see it now, because this is not a movie to watch on streaming.

I went into this expecting a Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt and realised, midway through, what I paid for was a Brad Pitt movie with some cool Formula 1 bits in it.

To reiterate, I think they got the ratio ass backwards here.

At least with Top Gun Maverick, the emphasis was on the planes more than on Tom Cruise.

I mean, sure, there was lots of cheese in that movie too, but the higher action to bullshit ratio helped even things out.

From a technical standpoint, this is certainly a step up from anything we’ve seen previously, but there are plenty of better racing movies out there (see next section). 

Viewed as the sum of its parts, this movie is kinda, well, shit.

As a cinematic spectacle, however, it’s a joy to behold.

Which makes it the second summer blockbuster I’ve watched with the exact same problem.

F1: The Movie has precisely the same issues that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has, with cutting-edge cinematography and incredible action sequences using real stunts and practical effects on the one hand, and a piss-poor script with horrendous dialogue on the other.

Like MI Final Reckoning, F1 spends far too much time talking and not enough doing.

Though of the two, at least F1: The Movie has a shorter runtime and a far more coherent, albeit predictable, script.

In both cases, I felt that, due to the sheer audacity of the stunts and overall cinematic experience, I had to meet somewhere in the middle when giving a final score.

This sets a dangerous precedent, however. And if the trend continues, it’s likely to leave audiences feeling dissatisfied.

The danger is that studio idiots will take the wrong message from it and decide to abandon practical effects and revert to over-rushed CGI bullshit, before churning out more $400 million blockbuster bombs and trying to figure out what the problem is…

HIRE GOOD WRITERS YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!!!

Speaking of future bombs, apparently Kosinski’s next project is a Days of Thunder sequel with Tom Cruise.

Will it do for NASCAR in Europe what F1: The Movie did for Formula 1 in America?

Will it fuck?!

Aside from the fact that NASCAR is bollocks, Days of Thunder was also a terrible movie with zero audience goodwill. (It was a shit movie with shit video game tie-ins and fuck you too Maria McKee!)

But it’s established IP which is still considered bankable by Hollywood executwats looking to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at what they consider a “safe bet.”

Whereas those in the know already have a blockbuster in mind – Moto GP, the movie starring Keanu Reeves. Make it happen Hollywood!

Staying Out On Track

Ok, before you box, we’re keeping you out on track for four more laps.

Because I’ve got two inspirational biopics plus documentaries about the two best drivers that ever lived. A double bill of double bills, if you will. (My rhyming game’s on fire today!)

Ford Vs Ferrari / Le Mans ’66 (2019): James Mangold’s (Cop Land, Logan) love letter to motor-racing tells the story of the rivalry between Ford and Ferrari and their subsequent battle at 1966’s 24-hour race at Le Mans.

It stars Christian Bale as the headstrong British driver Ken Miles and Matt Damon as the legendary driver-turned-car-designer Carroll Shelby.

Keep an eye out, also, for Jon “The Punisher” Bernthal as a stressed-out Ford exec caught between the all-or-nothing winner mentality of the drivers and the play-it-safe-at-all-costs company men.

Unlike F1, this is not a drama with racing elements – this is a racing movie full of dramatic tension.

No romance, no cheese, no Hans Zimmer – no bollocks.

It’s about cars, it’s about drivers and never misses an opportunity to demonstrate its love for both.

If you watch F1 and then this, you’ll also see how Brad’s speech is just a poor man’s version of Bale’s “7,000 RPM” speech, and his corresponding scene has far more impact.

That said, it’s a Hollywood biopic, so expect a fair amount of poetic licence and generous helpings of all-American horseshit thrown in.

But not the scene where the door didn’t close. That did happen, but then any Ford owner and they’ll tell you plenty of similar stories given half the chance.

Rush (2013): I have fond memories of this movie, coming out during the aftermath of a particularly demented breakup as I lived in my tiny little “halfway house”.

What a delight it was to finish a week’s work, fix myself a Bloody Mary and sit down with the dog on my lap watching this underrated classic.

Rush stars Chris Hemsworth as the brilliant yet frequently shambolic James Hunt, set during a time when Formula 1 was much more dangerous than it is today, but also considerably more glamorous and exciting.  

Playboys like Hunt were still a thing in the 70s, but already we have the emergence of the new, more disciplined breed of driver.

Daniel Brühl steals the show as Hunt’s long-time rival, racing legend Niki Lauda. I first discovered Brühl back in 2002 in the German-language movie Good Bye, Lenin!

He graduated from Babelsberg to Hollywood shortly after, rising to prominence in movies like Inglourious Basterds.

He would eventually join Hemsworth in the MCU as the villain Baron Zemo, before lampooning the superhero genre in the underrated series, The Franchise.

All testament to his incredible range; though his depiction of Lauda in Rush remains my favourite performance of his to date.

And speaking of range, let’s talk about the director. Ron Howard is the Bruce Lee of directing; his style is no style, the art of directing without directing.

Unlike others in Hollywood, you’ll never be able to point at a clip and say – oh, that’s a Ron Howard movie! But what he lacks in idiosyncrasy Howard more than makes up for in versatility.     

I was particularly surprised to learn he directed this one, because the action is so visceral. And that’s usually not what we associate with Ron Howard at all. Which I guess is exactly why he took on this challenge. Lucky for us he did as I think it’s one of his best movies.

Schumacher (2021): If the F1 movie piqued your interest in the sport and you want to know more, I’ve compiled the perfect primer, a pair of documentaries on the two greatest drivers in Formula 1 history.

Biopics can be entertaining but often distort the truth, whereas these stick to the facts, helping you to better understand the history and legacy of Formula 1 as a sport. (Or, to put it another way, ignore that sensationalist Drive to Survive bollocks and watch these instead.)

First, we have a recent Netflix documentary about the German wunderkind Michael Schumacher, which goes right back to the early days when he and his brother Ralf raced go-karts on their father’s track.

There’s quite a lot of history here I wasn’t aware of, namely how far back his rivalry with the Mika Hakkinen actually went – turns out they were already rivals since their early teens!  

Schumacher was an enigmatic character, sometimes a gentleman, sometimes a brat, but always sensational behind the wheel.

Seriously, this guy was too damn good. Winning in shit cars, lapping world champions in the rain, setting fastest laps for breakfast, then breaking world records for lunch.

And when Ferrari finally got their shit together, he got so far ahead of the rest of the drivers that the only person he was racing was his hyper-perfectionist self.

After a while, it got ridiculous. And, amazing though he was incredible to watch, us non-Ferrari fans did kinda get sick of the guy. 

Which is why, for me, the defining Schumy moment was not on the track, but rather that emotional interview where he was asked about breaking a record previously held by Ayrton Senna.

Schumacher was the first person to witness Senna’s fatal crash at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994, as the two men raced hard for pole position – and it’s not something any driver wants to be reminded of.

Flanked by his main rival Hakkinen (McClaren Mercedes) on one side and his brother Ralf, (BMW) on the other, Michael, the ordinarily cool, calculating and seemingly invincible German, is suddenly overcome with emotion and breaks down on live TV.

Even Mika Hakkinen, a man we believed had ice in his veins, is visibly moved, trying to hold his composure. Yet the cameras keep rolling and the interviewer, who’s either utterly gormless, a twisted sociopath, or both, keeps pressing when any normal person would know to back off.

The interview appears in edited form on the documentary, but you can find the full clip on YouTube. It’s one of those things which always stayed with me. Even now, it’s hard not to be moved watching it.

Triumph and tragedy – I mean, it’s something of a cliché when discussing sports documentaries, but Schumacher and Senna’s stories have plenty of both, their destinies forever intertwined.

The Schumacher documentary is a bit sappy in places with the music to match, but, well, it’s Netflix, so what can you do?

I would have preferred a little more about the racing, but that said, we still get some fascinating insights into the life of one of the best racing drivers of all time.

Senna (2010): But not the best. Senna is the best. Senna will always be the best.

Any Formula 1 driver who’s come up since, sure, they might be cocky, but deep down know they’ll never be as good as Senna.

Ayrton Senna was many things to many people. To his native Brazil, he was a hero on par with Pele. To other drivers, he was their greatest threat.

But all agree he was the best.

Extremely cocky but never arrogant; a gent, a genius, relentless, ruthless, often reckless and a devious prick whenever he needed to be. Because Senna never believed in second place.

In the end that’s what cost him his life, pushing too hard in a car that, by his own admission was a death trap, and on track conditions he already knew to be dangerous.

Is it the rockstar effect? Will his legacy always be elevated because we lost him so young? No, it’s more than that.

Senna was a rockstar driver for sure, but watch how he moves.

Throwing the car around the track at insane speed, tires hopping along the tarmac as he brakes aggressively, glancing off the chicanes, those deft adjustments of the steering…

This 2010 documentary conveys a sense of that speed and the awe the man inspired, not to mention the animosity he instilled in his rivals (who, more often than not, were also his teammates).

But they always respected him, and though he infuriated them at times, you can sense the grief at his loss though the interviews.

While the structure and pacing of this documentary falters at times, it nonetheless offers a fascinating insight into the greatest driver that ever was.

Essential viewing for F1 fans and the perfect introduction to the sport for newbies.