F1 The Movie: A High Octane, Logic Defying Blockbuster.
2025 has already been a great year for films, and F1 keeps that streak alive with style, speed, and serious star power.
From the very first scene, it grabs your attention and rarely lets up. The direction is slick, the race sequences are visually stunning, and the sound design makes you feel like you’re right there on the track. Brad Pitt brings effortless charm to his role, while the supporting cast—including Javier Bardem and Damson Idris—hold their own with solid performances across the board. It’s intense, it’s emotional, and it’s built for the big screen.
Sure, it’s not a perfect film—and we’ll get into that later—but as a cinematic experience, F1 is one of those movies that delivers exactly what a blockbuster should: spectacle, energy, and just the right amount of heart.
Brad Pitt stars as Sonny Hayes, a former American F1 prodigy who walked away from the sport after a brutal crash nearly 30 years ago. Since then, his life has taken a few hard turns—most of them off track. With a string of failed marriages, a gambling problem, and no fixed address, Sonny now lives out of his van (big up to #VanLife on YouTube), drifting from race event to race event to keep himself going.
The movie opens with him racing a Porsche in the 24 Hours of Daytona, so he’s still active—but a far cry from the elite world of Formula 1. That’s why, when his old teammate Ruben (played by Javier Bardem), now the owner of the F1 team Expensify APXGP, shows up and offers him a shot at returning to the grid, I had to press pause on logic and just roll with it.
Let’s be real—Ruben has investors to answer to. F1 isn’t some small-time operation; it’s one of the most expensive sports on Earth. A single F1 car costs $10–15 million USD to design, build, and maintain across a season. Top teams like Red Bull and Ferrari burn through $300–450 million USD annually. Sonny may have been a prodigy, but he’s decades removed from top-tier F1, and he wouldn’t even qualify for an FIA Super Licence, which requires recent competition, simulator hours, peak physical condition, and deep knowledge of modern car tech.
Realistically, no investor or team principal in their right mind would let him near a modern F1 cockpit. But here’s where it starts to feel familiar—because if this sounds a bit like Top Gun: Maverick, that’s not a coincidence. Same director, same playbook: aging legend pulled back into the spotlight for one last ride. Just like Tom Cruise’s Maverick had no business flying billion-dollar jets in 2022, Sonny has no business being strapped into a Formula 1 car in 2025—and yet, it works.
It’s cinematic fantasy, not a documentary. And once you accept that, the absurdity becomes part of the charm. You laugh a little, nod along, and then get swept up in the spectacle. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about realism—it’s about big moments, big emotions, and big engines. And in that department, F1 delivers.
Without getting too deep into the story—because hey, I still want people to go out and see the movie—F1 also stars Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce, the cocky, inexperienced counterpart to Brad Pitt’s seasoned veteran, Sonny Hayes. Damson gives a solid performance, doing a great job of making his character unlikable for much of the film, which sets the stage for the character development that follows.
The tension between Joshua and Sonny creates space for the kind of light comedy we’ve come to expect from blockbuster films like this one. That said, I do wish the film explored Sonny’s past a bit more. It would’ve helped Joshua—and the audience—connect with him on a deeper level and added more emotional weight to their dynamic as teammates.
Joshua is a young driver hungry to prove himself in the F1 world. Though he hasn’t won anything yet, he carries himself like a champion—sometimes to his own detriment. His character feels like a reflection of many modern young men: constantly seeking validation, obsessing over public perception, and caught in the trap of comparing themselves to others. His ego, while clearly his biggest obstacle, also makes him a more layered and relatable character. You may not always root for him, but you’ll understand him—and that’s what keeps him interesting.
Lastly, we have Kerry Condon as Kate McKenna, and unfortunately, this is where the film falls flat for me. In 2025, it’s disappointing to see that movies are still reducing women to one-dimensional love interests, especially when the character had the potential to be so much more.
Kate is introduced as the first female technical director in F1 history—an achievement that should’ve been monumental within the story. Instead, the film uses her position mostly to highlight the fact that the car she designed is a disaster, repeatedly referred to as a “shitbox.” She starts off strong—sharp, no-nonsense, and clearly competent—but that edge is softened as the story progresses, mostly to serve Sonny’s arc. In fact, it’s only after Sonny wins a bet and gives her advice that she’s suddenly able to "fix" the car and make it competitive. It’s weak character development and leans heavily into the outdated trope of the man swooping in to save the woman, which feels tone-deaf—especially coming from a film with this kind of reach.
The irony here is that women make up nearly 40% of the global F1 fanbase, and that number is growing fast, particularly among younger viewers. Real-world initiatives like F1 Academy and Girls on Track are actively pushing for greater female representation—not just in marketing and fan engagement, but in engineering, strategy, and leadership roles within the sport. As of 2023, women were increasingly entering STEM fields, with female engineering graduates making up over 20% of the field in many countries—a number that continues to rise. These are the women who deserve to see themselves reflected on screen in roles that aren’t just plot devices or romantic side quests.
Kate McKenna could’ve been a trailblazing character—someone young women watching could truly look up to. But instead, she’s reduced to Brad Pitt’s love interest, whose big professional breakthrough is handed to her by a man who hasn’t been active in the sport for decades. It’s a missed opportunity for the film to push the needle forward on representation in a way that really mattered.
All in all, F1 is a thrilling, emotionally charged film with striking cinematography, a pulse-pounding soundtrack, and plenty of blockbuster energy. While die-hard fans of the sport might wince at the liberties taken with realism—and others may side-eye some of the outdated character tropes—there’s still a lot to enjoy here. Once you suspend your disbelief and embrace it for what it is, F1 delivers an entertaining ride that’s easy to recommend. It’s now playing in cinemas nationwide, so whether you’re bringing friends or flying solo, grab a ticket—and if you can spare the extra cash, go see it in IMAX. The big screen does this one justice.
