Ivan Radford | On 29, Aug 2025

Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon
Certificate: 12

What do the CEOs of F1 and McLaren and the co-owner of Mercedes have in common? Apple TV+, thanks to F1: The Movie, Apple’s heavily branded blockbuster. Inevitably, given its commercial endorsements, it drives safely in the middle of the road – but still finds tension when in motion.

The film stars Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a once-young F1 hotshot who – after a near-fatal crash – now lives one race at a time, travelling the world chasing the high of crossing the finish line without the pressure and commitment that comes with the professional career. But, fresh from winning Daytona, his nomadic existence is disrupted by the arrival of Rubén Cervantes (Javier Bardem), a former friend and teammate who has his own F1 team, APXGP. With APXGP about to go under, and Rubén being kicked out by the rest of his board, he begs Sonny to join them as their second driver and help them win one Grand Prix.

A retired former prodigy given one last chance at the big time against all the odds? Nobody is pretending that the script by Ehren Kruger (Arlington Road and Scream 3, but also Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) is anything close to original. Instead, what the film is banking on is comforting familiarity, star power and the glossy appeal of every F1 dollar going – and F1: The Movie doesn’t disappoint. This is Dad Cinema at its peak.

No comeback story would be complete without a plucky, upcoming antagonist, and so Sonny finds himself jostling for position in the grid with APXGP’s first driver, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). A naive and arrogant rookie, he resents Sonny for upstaging him – and himself for not being good enough on his own. And so the stage is set for some macho posturing as the pair compete to see who has the biggest engine, or at least the biggest ego. Thankfully, there’s Kerry Condon also in the mix as Kate, APXGP’s technical director, who cuts through their machismo with a breezy humour and focused determination.

Brad Pitt is effortlessly charismatic as Sonny, swaggering around the track while still having two hands on the wheel. Damson Idris, meanwhile, elevates Joshua into far more than his character could have been, delivering a thoughtful study of insecurity, ambition and humility. But while there’s a lesson about teamwork sitting under the surface, the film is far more interested in the surface itself: a surface full of shiny cars moving at speed and occasionally scratching some of their shininess off each other.

As you’d expect from a film that comes with countless company ties, the production benefits from a colossal level of access. We go everywhere in the F1 world, from behind the wheel to on the track to off the track and into the virtual test rigs. There’s a whole swathe of racing stars lined up for cameos, from Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, and the filming itself took place during the F1 season of 2023 and 2024. That means racing sequences with genuine racing footage, and the fictional APXGP team seamlessly inserted throughout. It’s a masterclass in corporate synergy: every vehicle and every costume in almost every shot is plastered in logos and sponsors, but they only serve to immerse us more convincingly in a sport that’s defined, in part, and fuelled by its product placement.

There are enough fan-pleasing details in the plot to keep any F1 fan happy, but Kruger does well to find rule-bending fun for the rogue Sonny to deploy that even newcomers can enjoy – sprinkling in zippy dialogue and accessible exposition, he crafts a ride that’s at once bloated and streamlined and makes it look easy.

Director Joe Kosinski, meanwhile, follows up Top Gun: Maverick with more of the same aesthetic, swooping through set pieces that are slickly orchestrated and visceral in their physicality. Not unlike Ron Howard’s Rush, Kosinski knows how to capture adrenaline through camera position and movement, always placing us in just the right spot between the characters or between the vehicles to ramp up the suspense. The casting, meanwhile, is spot-on, with Tobias Menzies stealing scenes as a self-serving suit who doesn’t really get the sport, and Samson Kayo and Will Merrick both getting deserved moments in enjoyable supporting roles.

The result isn’t a groundbreaking piece of art by any means, but it’s no mean feat to produce something so gripping while playing by the rulebook of a global industry. You wish it could have been more subversive or surprising, but when it moves this fast, it’s satisfying just to strap in. Is it smart? No. Is it Barbie? No. Is it entertaining? Absolutely.

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