The amount of concessions made to play to Brad Pitt’s character of the alpha male race car driver Sonny Hayes leads to a few unnecessary storyline decisions. The most egregious one being the completely frivolous and underdeveloped romance between Hayes and race car designer Kate played by Kerry Condon. But then this work was never intended for the motor racing purist, it’s squarely aimed for mass consumption.

The overall presentation is very bright and shiny. The integration into the real world of F1 aided by the governing body’s acceptance of cast and crew’s into the actual grid proceedings is very effective. This Illustrates the many lessons learned by the audience building aspect of Netflix’s ongoing soap opera that is Drive To Survive.

Once you come to terms with its intention, it becomes a lot of fun to just experience. And the visual onslaught and underdog ethos helps to sell that vision. It is not a thinking person’s racing movie, it’s a buttered popcorn thrill ride that will keep you engaged throughout its 155-minute running time. The real world drama does however continue this year as it’s a racing season that holds surprises on a weekly basis.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

Dubbed “the greatest that never was,” Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was FORMULA 1’s most promising phenom of the 1990s until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, he’s a nomadic racer-for-hire when he’s approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling FORMULA 1 team that is on the verge of collapse. Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to FORMULA 1 for one last shot at saving the team and being the best in the world. He’ll drive alongside Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team’s hotshot rookie intent on setting his own pace. But as the engines roar, Sonny’s past catches up with him and he finds that in FORMULA 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition—and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.

F1® The Movie also stars Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Kim Bodnia, and Javier Bardem, and was shot during actual Grand Prix weekends as the team competed against the titans of the sport.

Kosinski directs from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger, story by Kosinski & Kruger. The film is executive produced by Daniel Lupi. Collaborating with Kosinski behind the scenes are his creative team, including director of photography Claudio Miranda, production designers Mark Tildesley and Ben Munro, editor Stephen Mirrione, costume designer Julian Day, casting director Lucy Bevan and composer Hans Zimmer.

Apple Original Films and Warner Bros. Pictures Present A Monolith Pictures / Jerry Bruckheimer / Plan B Entertainment / Dawn Apollo Films Production, A Joseph Kosinski Film, F1® The Movie, distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in cinemas nationwide on June 26, 2025.
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/