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F1… or F1 The Movie, as the film has been later known, so as to make the title stand out a bit more, and not get it confused in a Google search with Formula 1’s live racing season, nor any iteration of the videogame.
Or, what looked like F1R The Movie, on the BBFC title card, as it has a Registered Trademark ‘R’ after the original title. Damn, who knew this film could be so confusing?
What is simple, however, is the plot. We’d already learned from the trailer that Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt – Fight Club) is the archetypal old-hand whose career was cut short in his prime, albeit with this film showing a magazine from 32 years ago, showing Brad looking much younger than he does now, along with footage on the track from that fateful day.
He’s known as the greatest who never was, his marriage failed, he was a bad gambler, missed his shot, etc… but can he finally become F1 Champion after all these years? Take a wild guess…
Back in the present day, Sonny forever lives in his trailer, but his career could be back on the rise, as along with his teammate, they win the 24hrs at Daytona, trousering a $5K bonus in the process.
Old friend and colleague Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem – Dune Part Two) takes a chance on him, partnering him up with up-and-coming Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris – Swarm), and a team including the first female technical director – and potential love interest for Sonny – Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin). Still, she’ll have to compete with the endless willy-waving contest between the two men, as they argue back and forth like schoolboys.
F1 has the most predictable plot you’ll see on the big screen – such as how newbie pit girl Jodie (Callie Cooke – Doctor Who: Dot And Bubble) is crap at first, but learns to improve, but for this movie, it’s all about the visuals, and the driving scenes are spellbinding from start to finish. See it on the biggest screen if you can, and especially in IMAX, when the entire film is opened up to 1.90:1 from start to finish… well, bar a few seconds at the very start, of some driving circa 1993, which is in 2.39:1, and initially made me think… oh blimey, doesn’t this open up, then?!
But after that, it was fine. Phew!
I did wonder how much driving really was Brad Pitt? According to ESPN, both Pitt and Damson Idris learnt to drive up to 180mph! Ouch! I hate going over 65 on the motorway!
Plus, for one scene where Brad needs new tyres, lets them rip instead, thus causing a mess on the track, leading to the safety car slowing everyone down, and thus allowing him to then go into the pit on the NEXT lap round, so he doesn’t lose his position on the track… I’m not sure that would be allowed in reality. Any racing experts, please confirm.
As an aside, there’s a scene where Pitt and Ms Condon go for a pint of lager each at the Globe Inn Pub, which I later learned is an actual pub, so not a pub that they’ve filmed in, but renamed with a new CGI logo outside.
What I did notice, however, is that both of them start with a full pint of lager, but as the conversation goes, the levels vary. Yes, they barely touch it as they have a conversation, but then when the chat is over, she gets up and leaves, and doesn’t appear to have drunk anything! Who walks off and leaves a pint unfinished, let alone completely untouched!!!
I also noticed one of those situations where the trailer alters the chain of events that end up in the film. This came in the trailer when Sonny and Joshua meet and argue about who last won an F1 event, only for the former to confirm it was the same time as the young upstart, and Kate raises her eyebrows in surprise.
In the film, it actually happens at the end of the previous part of the conversation, where Joshua thinks Sonny’s taking his place, only for Ruben to tell him, “Your seat is safe. Sonny is here for the audition.”, and THEN she raises her eyebrows in surprise.
And I know two people who definitely didn’t like this film, and that’s the two who left an hour into it! Well, glad you gave it a chance(!)
NOTE: There are no mid- or post-credits scenes.
F1 is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 156 minutes
Release date: June 21st 2025
Studio: Apple Original Films
Aspect Ratio: 1.90:1 (IMAX Version, most scenes); 2.39:1 (IMAX Version, one scene), 2.39:1 (non-IMAX, CinemaDNG (6K), ProRes RAW (4K), Redcode RAW (6K), X-OCN ST (6K, 8.6K))
Cinema: Vue Printworks Manchester
Rating: 6/10
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Dede Gardner, Lewis Hamilton, Jeremy Kleiner, Joseph Kosinski, Chad Oman, Brad Pitt
Screenplay: Ehren Kruger
Music: Hans Zimmer
Cast:
Sonny Hayes: Brad Pitt
Joshua Pearce: Damson Idris
Ruben Cervantes: Javier Bardem
Kate McKenna: Kerry Condon
Peter Banning: Tobias Menzies
Kaspar Smolinski: Kim Bodnia
Bernadette: Sarah Niles
Nickleby: Will Merrick
Fazio: Joseph Balderrama
Dodge: Abdul Salis
Jodie: Callie Cooke
Cash: Samson Kayo
Don Cavendish: Simon Kunz
Lisbeth Bampton: Liz Kingsman
Herself: Simone Ashley
Liesl: Ramona Von Pusch
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.