F1

Hey everyone, and welcome. Today, we will be talking about the movie F1. Fun Fact: Filming was done at various actual grand prix races, and during the UK grand prix in 2024, they actually set up a fake garage to film scenes. This film came out in 2025 and stars Brad Pitt, Damnson Idris, and Javier Bardem and was directed by Joseph Kosinski. So without further ado, let's get right into it.

F1 tells the story of Sonny Hayes, who returns to F1 after 3 decades to help a friend pull off a miracle by not only winning a race but also raising the value of the team. He must learn how to work with his younger counterpart while being cautious because he still has trauma from a past injury.

F1 is a high-octane racing movie. It has similar vibes to Ted Lasso, Speed Racer, or Gran Turismo.

I am not a sports person, so I actually had very minimal interest in this movie, but I decided to give it a go because the cast was kinda stacked. I was impressed how they were able to pull me in as a non-F1 racer, and by the end, I was ready to cheer like I was at an actual race. I think one thing about racing movies that I worry about is if they will just show races all film, but they find a good balance between the races and the behind-the-scenes story, so you can get to learn more about the characters. You see how rewarding the racing can be, but also how dangerous.

I love how they introduce Sonny, who is played by Brad Pitt, but don't exactly tell us what's wrong with him. When we meet him, we learn he hates touching the trophy and is a good driver, but we don't know much about his past with F1. It's interesting to slowly learn what happened in the past while the events of the present are unfolding. I loved to learn about his injury and why he stepped away from racing, and what keeps him going today. It also comes at the perfect time when Peter offers him a type of coaching/team leader job, because after listening to why he does it then you realize he would never take that job. He has a love for the races, not the trophies, and at the end, we see him taking on a new challenge in the world of car racing.

Damson Idris plays Joshua, who is the younger driver and the future of the team. He is nervous about the team getting sold and him getting dropped, but in public, he tries to put on this confident face. He is cocky and will never admit Sonny is right but I love how behind the scenes he test out what sonny says and realizes he is right. I love that in the end that he gives Sonny a chance for redemption and to win the race, and tells him that he has plenty of chances to win, but Sonny doesn't, so he lets him. I do wish they got more of a significant scene where he tells Sony how his advice actually helped him, but I'm glad they ended on good terms.

Kerry Condon plays Kate, who is the technical director and the first woman in her role for the team. I wish the film showed how pivotal her role was more because she was breaking barriers, and I thought it should be highlighted more. I didn't really like the love storyline with her because it felt very forced, didn't add much to the overall story that couldn't have been told without that, and took time away that could have been spent learning more about her role and how important she and her team are. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed seeing her in this role and seeing how there is a science behind the cars and how adding even a 10th of a second is important.

Javier Bardem plays Ruben, who is the team owner of APXGP, and is trying to save his company and reputation. I love how he was able to see potential in people whether that be getting Kate to leave what she was doing to join his team because he saw how beneficial her work was, Getting Sonny to return to f1 because he knew that he had what it takes, or getting Joshua on the team because he knew he had potential. He had his failures, but I'm glad in the ned he proved everyone else wrong.

Peter, being a bad guy, kinda caught me off guard, but it could be because I was distracted that it was Tobias Menzies, and then he generally seemed nice. When there was a leak, I honestly thought it was someone more in the know, but it ended up being him, and he wanted to make more money, get rid of Ruben. The plot was a little misplaced and was overshadowed because they still overcame, and the big race felt more important than his trying to overthrow the current regime.

I feel like the general story is one that I've seen in racing films before, or any competition-type program like Glee, which may sound random, but it's true. The story starts off with an underdog, in this case it's Sonny, but also the APXGP team, then they slowly get better. There is some type of accident, and at the end, they pull off a feat many thought wasn't possible and win. It's interesting and I love to see how the underdog comes out on top, but the structure of the film seems like it's the same for most sports films, or at least the racing ones I have seen.

Even though I am not very familiar with the sport, I was able to spot some real drivers like Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, and, of course, the man who produced the film, Lewis Hamilton. I love how they included these people in the film, considering their role in the sports popularity.

This movie had a great soundtrack and score. The score was done by the legendary Hans Zimmer, which was shocking to me becuase I didn't expect him to be doing this type of film, but of course he delivers a masterpiece. The music from the soundtrack also meshed well with the film, offering a lot of different genres of music.

There is a woman who, in the beginning, messes up in the pit crew and slowly, because better, which I thought was a fantastic way to show a redemption arc. I think in films they too often show someone do something that should be unforgiveable and then have someone forgive them and it doesnt seem realitic and this seems like the way to do it, show someone messing up but the harm is not crazy and its because of a lack of skill or overnight not intentioal harm and showing how she gets better. Redemption arcs can be good, but they should be like this, not someone who commits a hate crime and is redeemed, because we shouldn't be promoting that people deserve redemption and just forgiving and forgetting. I love how the Pitt crew is shown and how important it is for them to be on their A game, but also how they're like a family.

As one who doesn't watch sports, I feel like they captured this feeling of how someone who is actually watching the race might feel, which is stressed and excited. This was my favorite part of the film because it made me feel so invested in the story and want to learn more about the sport and maybe even watch a race, even though I most likely will not, but it made me feel like I would want to do that.

F1 is a solid movie that showcases an underdog story and how you can overcome. The cast is amazing, and I was fully invested in the story, but also interested to see where we go next.