When the late, great Tony Scott released Days of Thunder back in 1990, it was a huge box office hit, though many critics at the time dismissed it as “Top Gun on wheels.” Thirty-five years later, that comparison hilariously rings true once again with F1 THE MOVIE, director Joseph Kosinski’s follow-up to Top Gun: Maverick. It’s a decidedly old-school blockbuster, all the way down to sharing Days of Thunder’s Jerry Bruckheimer as producer, and it succeeds at delivering classic thrills, whether or not you’re familiar with the sport.
F1 THE MOVIE centres on Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a former Formula One prodigy whose career was cut short by a brutal accident. He has since spent the past 30 years working as a racer-for-hire across the U.S. One day, he’s approached by his former colleague Ruben (Javier Bardem), now the owner of a new Formula One team called Apex GP. The problem? Despite APXGP’s cutting-edge tech and a talented lead driver in brash up-and-comer Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team has yet to earn a single top-10 finish, let alone win a race.
With Ruben’s mounting debts and the looming threat of the team being sold off if they can’t secure a win by the end of the season, Sonny reluctantly joins the team. And despite butting heads with nearly everyone—from Ruben and Pearce to the pit crew and the team’s chief technical director, Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon)—his unorthodox methods might be exactly what APXGP desperately needs.
“F1 THE MOVIE is essentially Top Gun: Maverick all over again—only this time, it’s behind the wheel of a $15-million supercar.”
In other words, F1 THE MOVIE is essentially Top Gun: Maverick all over again, combined with a classic underdog sports story—only instead of a ball or a puck, it’s a $15-million supercar. In fact, Ehren Kruger’s script gleefully races through every sports movie cliché in the book. You’ve got the familiar archetypes: Sonny, the aging legend looking for one last shot at redemption; Pearce, the media-obsessed, know-it-all upstart who needs to be humbled; and Kate, the headstrong intellectual who will inevitably fall for Sonny’s reckless charm. It’s not a spoiler—everything is telegraphed from a mile away.
Despite the overabundance of clichés, it’s a tried-and-true formula that works for a reason—and in this case, it works thanks to strong performances from the ensemble cast.
Brad Pitt leans into his movie star cool to maximum effect in F1 THE MOVIE, entering every scene like he’s the most confident man in the room. That said, Damson Idris more than keeps up, already giving off leading-man levels of presence on screen. It’s hard not to be charmed as the two learn to work together and their rivalry gradually evolves into a genuine friendship.
“Brad Pitt enters every scene like he’s the most confident man in the room, and it never stops being entertaining.”
The real stars of the movie are the races themselves. Filmed during real Formula One events, director Joseph Kosinski reunited with Top Gun: Maverick cinematographer Claudio Miranda, mounting cameras in and around Pitt and Idris’ cars. Every one of these races is beautifully shot—the dizzying camerawork whipping between vehicles and delivering a palpable sense of speed, as if you were hurtling along at over 220 miles per hour. Combined with impeccable sound design and Hans Zimmer’s thumping score, the races alone justify the price of an IMAX ticket.
Even the pit stops maintain the same intensity—one in particular nearly had me jump out of my seat. It helps that real-life commentators Martin Brundle and David Croft provide lively narration during each race. There’s a whole host of cameos from current Formula One stars like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who also co-produced the film. I did wish at least one of them had played a more significant role as an external threat to the team, but it’s understandable given they were balancing real-world races alongside filming these intense sequences.
F1 THE MOVIE is cinematic adrenaline in its purest form. I grew up a Formula One fan, back when names like Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve were as significant to me as Jordan or Tyson. Although I fell out of the sport over the years, the best thing this movie could do is reignite my interest in it again. Even if it runs a little long, it’s such an entertaining crowd-pleaser that it still makes it to the winners’ podium.
