‘F1 The Movie’ Review: Brad Pitt Racer Delivers on the Need for Speed

What happens when you toss a major movie star and a world-class director into the full-throttle world of Formula 1 racing? F1 The Movie; a spectacle that takes you behind the wheel and into the heart-pounding rush of motorsports. With grounded realism, jaw-dropping stunts and a great cast, this is racing redefined for the big screen. Buckle up.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski (who brought us Top Gun: Maverick), F1 does for motorsport what Maverick did for fighter jets—placing audiences into the driver’s seat for a thrilling visual experience. But it’s not just speed and spectacle; it’s a story about trust, team dynamics and the raw ambition that fuels drivers on the track and in life.

Fast & Furious

Brad Pitt is Sonny Hayes, a former prodigy who’s talked into making a comeback to save the struggling F1 team APXGP, owned by his friend and former racing rival Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem). The team is led by hotshot rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), who is eager to leave his mark on the sport and doesn’t have time for an old-timer with opposing ideas. With two egos at odds on the track, technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon) and the APXGP team must convince them to work together, or risk the team falling apart.

Man of the hour Brad Pitt is as engaging as they come, donning the weathered Sonny like an old driving glove. As with Tom Cruise in MI:8, Brad Pitt isn’t just acting; he’s actually behind the wheel, bringing a level of authenticity that’s impossible to fake. He’s got the chops too, having driven real race cars some 6,000 miles while training for F1. The pit crew, anchored by Kerry Condon, brings emotional depth to the narrative, ensuring the stakes are high on and off the track. The real-life F1 drivers, who play themselves in the film, inject a further air of authenticity.

Shifting into Overdrive

As with any great sports movie, the races themselves are the heartbeat of F1 The Movie and there are no CGI cars zipping through digital backdrops here. Kosinski’s crew shot the film during actual Grand Prix weekends. The one and only Sir Lewis Hamilton, a producer on the film, calls it “as authentic as a racing movie has ever been”.

With unprecedented access to actual F1 tracks such as Silverstone, Monza, Las Vegas and Sazuka, the trust between the filmmakers and the pinnacle of motorsports pays off in spades. From the deafening roar of engines and the sheer thrill of cornering at 200 mph, this movie takes you to places other films might just fake. Kosinski says the real challenge was shooting during the tight schedule of a live sporting event. Rather than having a few hours to shoot a scene, the filmmakers may have only had three minutes, meaning the actors sometimes had just a couple of takes to get the moment right.

The Final Lap

Kosinski takes the groundbreaking camerawork from Top Gun: Maverick and pushes it to the next level, giving us immersive shots that pull you into the action. With 180-degree camera flips that put you in the driver’s seat, every race feels like a visceral experience.

Tight, muscular direction makes the first half of the film a perfect formation lap, with Kosinski pacing with precision and setting the stage for the high-speed showdowns to come. As much as the action hits all the right notes, the inherent downtime of F1 starts to show later on as the momentum drops off in between races. There’s not quite enough drama happening off the track to keep the story moving before the next race kicks off.

Is F1 The Movie the best sports movie ever made? Maybe not, but it’s one of the best in recent memory. With Brad Pitt at the wheel and a director who knows how to stage a spectacle, this is a must-watch, and if you can catch it in premium formats like IMAX or D-BOX, you might just feel the G-force yourself. Whether you’re a die-hard Formula 1 fan or just love a good sports drama, F1 The Movie makes a great ‘Pitt’ stop.

★★★★☆