For a long time, the promotion of F1: The Movie to motorsport fans focused heavily on how much effort went into making the film feel truly authentic. The filmmakers took extra steps—like shooting at real Formula 1 events and designing custom cameras to fit inside the cars—to make it as immersive as possible.
And to be fair, that effort is clear in the final product. From beginning to end, the movie looks and sounds incredible. Unfortunately, despite these technical achievements, the Brad Pitt-led Hollywood version of the sport falls short in other important areas due to some major flaws.
Over the years, many movies about motor racing have been made, and while some are decent, a lot suffer from weak storylines and poorly developed characters. Even though this film, directed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski, put in a lot of effort during production, it unfortunately faces the same problems.
Brad Pitt has shown great charisma in many roles over the years, but as retired F1 driver Sonny Hayes—who is brought back to racing by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (played by Javier Bardem), now the owner of the struggling APXGP team—his character isn’t very likable. Plus, his entire emotional backstory is completely dropped as soon as he returns to the F1 world.
Very few of the characters feel fully fleshed out, and although it was a great choice to make Kate McKenna (played by Kerry Condon)—the APXGP technical director—F1’s first female in that role (even if she’s fictional), this turns out to be a huge missed chance. Her skills are somewhat overshadowed when the car only becomes competitive thanks to a suggestion from Hayes.
There’s a lot of talent on screen, with big names like Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem—who’s one of my personal favorites—alongside Kerry Condon, Damson Idris, and Tobias Menzies. Despite their strong performances, the weak writing doesn’t give these actors enough material to truly bring their characters to life.
Why has F1 become so popular? Over time, it has revealed much about the lives and personalities of the drivers behind their helmets. Fans have connected more with these individuals than just the racing on the track. The sport has turned figures like Daniel Ricciardo and Guenther Steiner into we