F1 (film)

F1 (marketed as F1 the Movie) is a 2025 American sports drama film starring Brad Pitt as Formula One (F1) racing driver Sonny Hayes, who returns after a 30-year absence to save his former teammate's underdog team, APXGP, from collapse. The film was directed by Joseph Kosinski from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger. Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, and Javier Bardem also star in supporting roles.

Development of the film began in December 2021 with Pitt, Kosinski, Kruger, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer attached to the project; the latter three had previously collaborated on Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Supporting cast members were revealed in early 2023, before the start of principal photography at Silverstone that July. Filming also took place during Grand Prix weekends of the 2023 and 2024 World Championships, with the collaboration of the FIA, the governing body of F1. Racing sequences were adapted from the real-life races, with F1 teams and drivers appearing throughout, including Lewis Hamilton, who was also a producer. Hans Zimmer composed the film's score, while numerous artists contributed to its soundtrack.

F1 premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 16, 2025, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures and Apple Original Films on June 27. The film grossed $633.2 million worldwide against a $200–300 million budget, becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2025, the highest-grossing auto racing film of all time, the highest-grossing film by Apple, and the highest-grossing film of Pitt's career. In addition to receiving positive reviews from critics, the National Board of Review named it as one of the top ten films of the year. At the 98th Academy Awards, it received four nominations, including Best Picture.

Plot

Aging former Formula One (F1) prodigy Sonny Hayes has spent the last 30 years living as a racer-for-hire, following a career-ending crash at the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix that has left him burdened by the failure to live up to his potential. After winning the 24 Hours of Daytona, he is approached by his former teammate Rubén Cervantes, owner of the struggling APXGP F1 team, who asks him to be their second driver. Rubén explains that unless APXGP wins one of the nine remaining Grands Prix of the season, his investors will sell the team. Sonny reluctantly agrees after Rubén insists that victory will prove he is the "best in the world".

Sonny meets the team, including technical director Kate McKenna and ambitious rookie Joshua Pearce. Joshua fears the failing APXGP could derail his career and aims to attract interest from another team. Sonny struggles with the modern F1 machinery but quickly diagnoses APXGP's weaknesses, proposing that the vehicles be upgraded with enhanced aerodynamics to compensate for their speed disadvantage.

At the British Grand Prix, Sonny and Joshua compete against each other rather than cooperating, resulting in both crashing out. Acknowledging the team's need to secure a points finish, Sonny exploits the rules at the Hungarian Grand Prix by deliberately colliding with rivals to trigger safety car periods. This allows Joshua to close the gap to the frontrunners and secure APXGP's first top-ten finish. During the rain-affected Italian Grand Prix, Sonny advises Joshua to remain on slick tires, trading grip for speed and elevating him to second place. However, he ignores Sonny's instruction to wait for a straight before overtaking Max Verstappen, skids and flies off the track, while his car bursts into flames. Sonny rescues him, but Joshua is injured and misses the next three races. Joshua's mother and the press criticize Sonny's high-risk approach. He performs well during Joshua's absence, using Kate's new vehicle upgrades.

An increasingly arrogant Joshua returns at the Belgian Grand Prix and deliberately forces Sonny into a crash. Afterward, Sonny criticizes him for foolishly setting the team back for personal glory. Seeking to ease tensions, Kate organizes a poker game to highlight their similar backgrounds, after which Sonny and Kate spend the night together. He later admits to her that he races to recapture the rare moments when he feels untouchable.

Following an anonymous tip alleging Kate's car upgrades are illegal, APXGP is forced to remove them, leaving the team at a disadvantage. Frustrated—and realizing he has skipped his ritual of having a random playing card with him in the cockpit—Sonny drives recklessly during the Las Vegas Grand Prix and crashes. While he recovers, Rubén discovers that Sonny's 1993 injuries left him medically unfit for F1, with risks of blindness or death, and fires him for his own safety. APXGP board member Peter Banning then admits to Sonny that he orchestrated both his signing and the anonymous tip to sabotage the team and force its sale, offering Sonny significant compensation to let APXGP fail. Meanwhile, Joshua begins applying Sonny's racing techniques, admits fault for his earlier crash, and recommits himself to the team. Concealing his blurred vision and headaches, Sonny persuades Rubén to let him return, just as the FIA clears Kate and restores her upgrades.

At the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Joshua battles Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for the lead. After Sonny is caught in a minor crash, the race is red-flagged, allowing APXGP to repair both cars before a three-lap sprint to the finish. On the restart, Sonny overtakes Leclerc and sacrifices his own chance of victory by holding off Hamilton so Joshua can move into first. On the final lap, Hamilton and Joshua collide, clearing the way for Sonny to take his first F1 win and secure APXGP's future. Joshua is offered a seat with Mercedes, but declines. As the team celebrates, Sonny quietly prepares to leave, parting on good terms with Joshua and promising to see Kate soon. Some time later, he lines up for the Baja 1000. When asked what he is racing for, Sonny laughs.

Cast

Simone Ashley was cast in an undisclosed role, but her appearance was cut to only a cameo, credited as herself. Additionally, Craig Dolby and Duncan Tappy acted as stunt drivers, alongside Bacheta.

Formula One drivers, personnel and others

The film is based on the 2023 Formula One season and was filmed during both the 2023 and 2024 seasons. As a result, many Formula One drivers and personnel appear—or are credited—in the film as themselves. The drivers are as follows, with the teams and achievements they had at the time:

Formula One personnel who appear in the film include:

Sky Sports F1 commentators Martin Brundle and David Croft provide commentary for races depicted in the film. Leigh Diffey provides commentary for the 24 Hours of Daytona scene. Cameo appearances include Porsche factory driver Patrick Long as Sonny's other co-driver at the 24 Hours of Daytona race, motorsport presenters Rachel Brookes, Natalie Pinkham, and Will Buxton, Dutch DJ Tiësto and social media influencers Sabrina Bahsoon and Simon Minter.

Production

Development

On December 3, 2021, a bidding war commenced for an untitled film starring Brad Pitt, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Joseph Kosinski, and screenwriter Ehren Kruger, who previously worked on Top Gun: Maverick (2022), on board in their respective roles. F1 driver Lewis Hamilton was also involved in the film as both a producer and actor. Studios involved in the bidding were Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Pictures, and streaming platforms Netflix, Apple, and Amazon. Pitt was paid $30 million for his involvement.

In November 2022, Claudio Miranda announced he would be the film's cinematographer. In April 2023, Damson Idris was hired after a lengthy casting process, which included a shortlist of actors driving the car in January 2023. Kerry Condon and Tobias Menzies would join the cast in the following months. Sarah Niles and Simone Ashley also joined the cast. However, in June 2025, Kosinski revealed that Ashley's role had been cut from the film.

On July 5, 2024, the title F1 was announced. A teaser trailer premiered before the 2024 British Grand Prix. Kruger received sole credit for the film's screenplay, along with story credit with Kosinski. Jez Butterworth, Kara Smith, Aaron Sorkin, and Christopher Storer earned off-screen "Additional Literary Material" credit.

In May 2024, Puck's Matthew Belloni reported the film's budget to be $300 million. Bruckheimer and Kosinski disputed the claim; the former cited rebates and sponsorships as lowering the budget, and the latter said: "I've never had an experience where they were off by this much on a film. I'm not sure where that number came from." In 2025, ahead of the film's theatrical release, some industry sources reported the film's budget to be $200 million, though others still claimed the $300 million figure (Apple would regularly dish out $200 million for its pictures).