‘F1: The Movie’ Review: Brad Pitt Steers a Predictable but Thrilling Racing Drama (Apple TV)

The intention behind F1: The Movie couldn’t be clearer: to craft a racing film that delivers the same visceral “you are there” immersion that Top Gun: Maverick brought to aerial combat. The parallels are obvious. Both films share director Joseph Kosinski, both have a global superstar at the center (Tom Cruise then, Brad Pitt now), and both work with the proven blend of emotional drama, light romance, and large-scale technical spectacle. But F1 also comes with a distinctive advantage—and disadvantage—of its own: full cooperation from Formula 1’s organizers. The result is a movie that often feels like a piece of cross-platform promotional synergy not far removed from Drive to Survive.

F1 is exactly what its premise promises: 150 minutes of high-adrenaline racing shot from inside the cockpit, interwoven with a by-the-numbers sports drama that remains engaging even while entirely predictable. Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a veteran driver who has long passed the age when he should still be competing but keeps doing so because speed is his only way of mending old wounds. Living out of an RV, unconcerned with money and drifting from Daytona to beachside circuits, Sonny moves according to his own internal compass—until an offer arrives that simply cannot be refused.

That offer comes from Rubén Cervantes (Javier Bardem), a former racer and longtime friend from Hayes’ short-lived and disastrous Formula 1 season in the ’90s. Cervantes now owns APXGP, a back-marker team on the brink of collapse. The board has given him an ultimatum: win at least one race in the nine remaining or be fired unceremoniously. With young, inexperienced drivers unlikely to improve fast enough, he turns to someone who already knows every trick in the playbook. Sonny hesitates, then accepts, and after a difficult “audition,” secures his return to the grid.

But Hayes is no magician, and the team is far from ideal. His teammate, British rookie Josh Pearce (Damson Idris), is talented but arrogant and has no interest in partnering with an aging legend. The car, despite the exhaustive efforts of technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), simply cannot keep up with the frontrunners. From race to race—through crashes, strategic gambles, backstage tension, and touches of romance—Hayes must find a way to win, or at least ensure that APXGP takes one checkered flag before the season ends. Complicating matters further, Sonny is far from the most collaborative mentor, deepening the friction between him and the headstrong Pearce.

The film incorporates real teams and drivers from the 2024 season, blending actors into actual race footage and giving the competition sequences a reasonably convincing backdrop—even if the on-track drama remains far more cinematic and unrealistic than anything that would survive real FIA regulation. Kosinski and his technical team mount cameras inside the cockpits, placing the audience directly behind the wheel; several sequences make it appear as if Pitt himself is steering a real F1 car. In these moments, F1: The Movie truly takes off, making the most of unprecedented access and the visual possibilities of modern camera rigs.

Away from the asphalt, the storytelling rarely strays from the genre blueprint that has been largely unchanged since John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix (1966). The film’s greatest asset is Pitt’s charisma in a role that taps into the stoic, individualistic spirit associated with figures like Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, or Clint Eastwood. Pitt, now increasingly resembling Robert Redford, uses the role to good effect within the limited emotional territory the script offers—territory that is familiar, comfortable, and rarely surprising.

In terms of character depth, F1 can’t compete with Ron Howard’s Rush or James Mangold’s superb Ford v Ferrari. This is, above all, competent entertainment with a noticeable promotional sheen, filled with brand logos that appear naturally yet relentlessly throughout. It follows the classic pre-superhero blockbuster formula—no coincidence, given that producer Jerry Bruckheimer built his empire on that very model in the 1990s—and delivers exactly what that approach promises. Still, in a landscape dominated by sprawling cinematic universes and digital excess, a straightforward old-school crowd-pleaser with practical energy and real engines has its own charm. Much like its protagonist, F1: The Movie proves that the old ways, seasoned with experience and a bit of grit, still work.