F1® The Movie (dir. Joseph Kosinski)

by Jack Martin | Jun 24, 2025

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 156 mins

UK Distributor: Warner Bros

UK Release Date: 25 June 2025

WHO’S IN F1® THE MOVIE?

Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Kim Bodina, Javier Bardem, Shea Whigham, Joseph Balderrama, Sarah Niles, Samson Kayo, Callie Cooke, Will Merrick, Layne Harper, Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz Jr., Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Nico Hülkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, Nyck de Vries, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Logan Sargeant, Alexander Albon, Guenther Steiner, Benoît Tréluyer, Simone Ashley, Abdul Salis

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Joseph Kosinski (director, producer), Ehren Krueger (writer), Jerry Bruckheimer, Dede Gardner, Lewis Hamilton, Jeremy Kleiner, Chad Oman and Brad Pitt (producers), Hans Zimmer (composer), Claudio Miranda (cinematographer), Stephen Mirrione (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A former Formula 1 driver (Pitt) is brought in to mentor a new racer (Idris)…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON F1® THE MOVIE?

It’s going to be hard to resist calling F1® The Movie a “dad movie”. Beyond the fact that the phrase is overplayed, having been used to describe almost anything filled with leisurely testosterone (i.e. Western movies, Star Trek, anything with Harrison Ford, and so on), it is a somewhat condescending term that tends to pigeonhole fathers of all kinds in a category of things that some of them may not even have a fondness for.

But if ever there was something that deserved to be designated a “dad movie”, F1® The Movie is it. Not only does it combine two of the most quintessential components of dad culture – the racing championship known as Formula 1, and the magnetic star power of Brad Pitt – but it’s also made by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, aka the provider of many films added to the “dad movie” canon over the past few decades, and director Joseph Kosinski whose previous film, an obscure indie called Top Gun: Maverick, has slowly climbed the ranks over the past few years to become a permanent fixture among fathers everywhere. But anyone expecting F1® The Movie to reach those heights, even with the talent involved, will be slightly let down by its much more pedestrian storytelling, though it still contains moments that will have anyone, dad or not, physically spellbound.

Pitt is Sonny Hayes, a former F1® driver who, after a career-ending accident, now spends his days drifting from one international race to another, helping his team achieve victory before heading onto the next car-related excursion in his makeshift van/home. He’s soon approached by his old racing pal Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) who now owns a multi-million racing team that, due to its poor performance on the F1® circuit, could be forced to sell its assets to another body. Ruben specifically wants Sonny to join his team of racers, which is currently fronted by hot-headed rising star Joshua Pierce (Damson Idris), but Sonny’s arrival quickly causes friction between the two racers, as well as romantic tensions with the team’s technical director Kate (Kerry Condon), all of which must be resolved if the team is to have any shot of improving its performance and maybe, with a little bit of luck, actually finishing on a podium position during the F1® global tour.

While there have been plenty of films set within the world of F1® racing, from Ron Howard’s underrated Rush to the award-winning documentary Senna, to even the recent video-game adaptation Gran Turismo, few have done as stellar a job of actually inserting the audience onto the racetrack itself. Similar to how he and cinematographer Claudio Miranda (also the DP for this film) fitted cameras in and around actual jets in Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski applies a similar method to the cars, putting the viewer in prime position as we glance straight ahead at the exceptionally fast-moving track, or flipped around to see the likes of Pitt and Idris (and, presumably, their perilous stunt driving doubles) reacting as they overtake other drivers or spin out onto the tarmac. It’s exceptionally done, as you really feel the intensity in every single race since you’re not only there with these drivers, but thanks to a barrage of sound design and fast-paced editing you’re also in that sternly focused mindset of doing whatever it takes to succeed, and often it leaves you just as breathless as actual F1® athletes.

It’s a shame, then, that much of what remains about F1® The Movie is disappointingly conventional. The script, written by Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Ehren Krueger, relies heavily on crowd-pleasing moments for a general sense of satisfaction, because otherwise there’s very little to get invested in as you’ve seen this kind of plot before done in other sports movies, not just car racing ones, and it follows those beats without putting a single toe out of place. The characters themselves are largely types, ranging from the mysterious loner with a chequered past to the hot-headed rookie to even the sneering financier with villainous motives, and while the actors bring healthy portions of charisma to their roles, it’s hard to care or be interested in most of them when they’re no deeper than the tarmac they’re racing on. Certain actions between rival teammates come off as exceptionally petty, which isn’t so much a plot advancement as it is a general annoyance that doesn’t exactly make these characters sympathetic, and a romance sub-plot involving Condon’s Kate is more of an afterthought, for although she has decent chemistry with Pitt it comes off more that they’re becoming closer just because Krueger needs to fulfil the romance quota of his script.

At over two-and-a-half hours, it’s also longer than it needs to be, and you feel that length even more because you’re not nearly as invested in this plot and set of characters as you should be for a film of this gargantuan size, with only the incredible filmmaking carrying you across the finish line. Again, that wasn’t a problem for Top Gun: Maverick, because its own exceptionally made production wasn’t the only thing it was relying on, for there were genuine dramatic stakes with well-written and likeable characters who you really wanted to see complete their mission successfully, whereas with this Kosinski-directed movie you don’t feel half as much of the emotional exhilaration.

It’s a shame, because there’s much to admire about F1® The Movie from a filmmaking standpoint alone, but beyond that it’s difficult to see the film stretching beyond its fate as a go-to “dad movie” for years to come.

SO, TO SUM UP…

F1® The Movie boasts some incredible filmmaking that plants the viewer directly in the driver’s seat of Formula 1 racing, but an overly conventional plot and paper-thin characters stop it from finishing in first place.