F1: The Movie

Apple’s F1 spectacle features real racers, but the plot is stuck in neutral

Despite being one of the most popular sports in the world—and featuring many dramatic real-life stories—Formula 1 has rarely appeared in Hollywood sports films. This is likely due to the U.S.-centric approach of the film industry, which tends to focus on sports that primarily Americans watch, like baseball and American football. However, that is starting to change with the success of the docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019–). F1 is beginning to make inroads into the American market, making Ron Howard’s excellent Niki Lauda–James Hunt biopic Rush (2013) seem ahead of its time. In contrast, Apple’s F1: The Movie (2025) arrives just in time to ride the crest of this growing wave.

F1: The Movie follows a fictional 11th team on the F1 grid: the down-on-its-luck Apex GP, run by former driver turned owner Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem). In a desperate Hail Mary after the board threatens to shutter the team, Ruben recruits his former teammate—washed-up veteran driver Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt)—alongside temperamental rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). Can they achieve the impossible goal of winning a race to save the team?

Directed and co-written by Joseph Kosinski, F1: The Movie continues his streak as the go-to director for practical-effect spectacles, following the success of Top Gun: Maverick (2022), where he filmed actors flying in real jets. Here, cars are mounted on actual F1 chassis, driven on real circuits by actors. Combined with appearances from actual F1 drivers from the 2023 and 2024 seasons, this lends the film an immersive authenticity. Moments like Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff chirping a remark at the protagonists, or Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso patting Sonny on the back at a press conference, make viewers feel as if they’re watching a true insider story.

Nevertheless, F1 is very much a corporate product, backed by Apple’s entertainment arm with a reported $300 million budget—making it one of the most expensive films ever made. As such, there’s little creative risk involved. Apple assembles a proven team: Kosinski at the helm, Jerry Bruckheimer producing, Hans Zimmer composing, and Pitt starring. The result is a story that sticks to familiar sports-movie beats: a struggling underdog team, internal friction, and an inspiring comeback finale. Kosinski and co-writer Ehren Kruger clearly did their homework, injecting the film with technical detail and behind-the-scenes realism that F1 fans will appreciate. But the characters feel underwritten, with vague backstories and stock personalities given only the slightest variation.

This narrative blandness is partially redeemed by the performances. Pitt, despite playing a relatively flat, know-it-all role, brings enough charisma to make his experience behind the wheel believable. Bardem is electric in a smaller role, and Kerry Condon, as Apex’s technical director, cuts through the testosterone with sharp clarity and no-nonsense quips, reminiscent of her Oscar-nominated turn in The Banshees of Inisherin (2022). Idris, as the rookie, faces a tougher challenge. With less experience and a thinly written character, he gives a competent but unmemorable performance.

In the end, F1: The Movie is a satisfying, if risk-averse, racing film that stands out for its immersive realism, practical effects, and commitment to authenticity. It lacks the dramatic tension of the real-life rivalry in Rush, and its story feels closer to a video game’s story mode than a fully fleshed-out cinematic drama. Still, Pitt’s charisma and Kosinski’s high-octane direction make F1: The Movie a visual spectacle and a solid, if formulaic, entry in the sports film genre.

6.9/10