REVIEW: F1: The Movie Review
When Brad Pitt rolls onto the grid in F1: The Movie, I knew straight away what kind of ride I was in for. This isn’t a gritty documentary or a fly-on-the-wall look at Formula 1. It’s Hollywood spectacle, directed by Joseph Kosinski with the same swagger he brought to Top Gun: Maverick. People have already called it “Top Gun on wheels,” and honestly, that’s spot on.
The story follows Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a driver who walked away from the sport decades ago and suddenly finds himself coaxed back to help the struggling APXGP team. Pitt does what Pitt does best. He brings a mix of cool confidence and quiet vulnerability that makes Sonny believable, even when the setup itself stretches reality. His young teammate Joshua Pearce, played by Damson Idris, gives the film its raw energy, and together they carry the familiar mentor-protégé dynamic that powers so many sports dramas.
For me, one of the standouts was Kerry Condon’s Kate McKenna. She plays the team’s technical director and, while fictional, she’s clearly influenced by real-world figures like strategist Bernie Collins. Condon actually worked with Collins and other women in F1 while preparing for the role, and it shows. Kate adds weight and credibility in a way Hollywood often fumbles, and it was good to see that side of the sport represented.
The production leaned hard into authenticity, and that’s where I think the film earns respect. A lot of it was shot trackside during actual Grands Prix, with the blessing and involvement of F1 itself. Lewis Hamilton, who came on board as a producer and advisor, made sure it carried at least some truth from the paddock. And the choice to film at McLaren’s Technology Centre in Woking was a masterstroke. Casual viewers might just see a sleek modern building, but for fans it’s sacred ground, a home of championship-winning cars and a sign that the filmmakers were paying attention to detail.
Still, the biggest question any F1 fan will ask is whether a man in his sixties could really jump back into a car and race at this level. The answer is simple: no chance. To drive in Formula 1 today you need a Super Licence, earned through years of recent results in junior categories and a level of fitness that most elite athletes in their twenties struggle to maintain. Sonny would never qualify in reality, and the film doesn’t hide that it’s asking you to suspend disbelief. I rolled with it, because this is entertainment, not a sports documentary.
Once you accept that, the on-track action is a blast. Pitt’s character pulls off some audacious moves to fight for positions and rack up points. A few of them are far-fetched, the sort of tricks that would earn an immediate penalty in real life, but they keep the drama alive and give Hayes his edge. I caught myself smiling at the sheer audacity, even while knowing they would never fly in the real FIA rulebook.
One of the stars of the film isn’t even a person but the wardrobe. Pitt’s clothing was chosen carefully to reflect Hayes’ old-school roots and effortless style. The jeans he wears are genuine sixties originals that cost a fortune to source, grounding him in a different era of racing culture. And then there are the sunglasses. Believed to be a pair of red Sun-Jet Carreras, they carry all the makings of a cultural icon. Costume designer Julian Day has said the pair Pitt wears actually came from his own father’s vintage collection, a man who had ties to F1 sponsorship in the seventies. That heritage gives them an extra layer of authenticity, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up doing for Carrera what Tom Cruise’s aviators did for Ray-Ban in Top Gun.
The sound design is phenomenal. You feel the scream of the engines and the thump of tyres through the corners. On an IMAX screen the racing sequences become a physical experience, and I don’t think I’ve seen Formula 1 translated to cinema with this much clarity before. The flipside is that the story itself is predictable. Fallen veteran, cocky rookie, climactic showdown, emotional redemption. You can see the beats coming a mile away, and in some ways that took the edge off for me.
Even so, the film has heart. It brushes against themes of legacy, ego, teamwork, and the harsh commercial realities of Formula 1. It doesn’t dwell on them for long, because it’s too busy revving up the next action sequence, but they’re there if you’re paying attention.
It’s not a perfect film. The F1 cameos felt like a missed opportunity. Real drivers and team bosses do show up, but mostly as background noise rather than meaningful characters. Still, the details, the McLaren headquarters, the wardrobe choices, the feel of the paddock, and Hamilton’s fingerprints on the production give fans something extra to latch onto.
I enjoyed it, even if I found the setup and execution a little too predictable. I’d actually like to watch it again, not because I missed the plot, but because there’s so much going on visually and sonically that one viewing doesn’t cover it all. It isn’t a documentary, and it doesn’t pretend to be. You don’t need to know every rule of F1 to enjoy it, but if you do follow the sport, those little touches in the background make it even better.
In the end, F1: The Movie is exactly what it set out to be: a stylish, high-octane blockbuster that puts the world’s most glamorous sport onto the big screen. It won’t satisfy purists who want every detail right, but it roars when it needs to. For me, that was enough.