Joshua Pearce: “We just gotta hope for some lucky breaks.”
Sonny Hayes: “Hope is not a strategy. Create your own breaks.”
After director John Kosinski got the need for speed while making the big smash hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick back in 2022, he clearly wanted to stay in the fast track, deciding to co-write and direct what has become one of the 2026 Academy Award Best Picture nominees – F1: The Movie (2025).
With racer Lewis Hamilton on board as a producer and the film making team getting permission from all of the actual F1 racing teams, they shot at real Grand Prix weekends throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons, with a faux garage set up between the Mercedes and Ferrari pits. . . making things look as accurate and impressive as possible.
Following longtime driver Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt – who did most of his own racing), he has become a jack of all trades of sorts – driving everything from F1 and Daytona, to taxi in New York, he is basically a meandering racer-for-hire. Tracked down by longtime friend Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), the APXGP F1 team owner, after many failures, is looking for the veteran to mentor their current young hot shot, Joshua Pierce (Damson Idris – also doing most of his own racing), as their team seriously struggles. . . so much so that if they don’t win a race by the end of the year, Ruben will be out of a job thanks to Peter Banning (Tobias Menzies) and the other board members.
Not about the money, Sonny, despite all of his injuries and losses along the way, decides to jump on the offer as a final chance to find redemption and peace of mind after his many failures from decades earlier. Ruffling many a feather, his old school demeanor and rebellious ways do not fit within the modern racing world, including with his fellow team driver Joshua and much of his pit crew, such as technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon).
Driving dirty, will Sonny’s sneaky ways be able to win over his team? If so, could the savvy vet Sonny and the brash young hot shot Joshua finally work together to move their way up the leader board and perhaps save Ruben’s job? Or, rather ironically, is board member Peter Banning hoping none of this will come to fruition?
Looking and sounding absolutely glorious, this is a fabulously fun frolic through the elite world of F1 racing. Arguably unlikely to ever happen in real life with someone Brad Pitt’s age, nonetheless, the competition and dramedy that unfolds between the main players within the driving and background racing world makes things all the more entertaining. When combined with cameos from many F1 members (like Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc, and Toto Wolff), an engaging score from the great Hans Zimmer, and that aforementioned ‘need for speed’, it makes for some pedal to the metal entertainment.
A crowd pleaser this Oscar season, F1: The Movie is not the type of motion picture to bring home the big prize, but will certainly make the crowd cheer in glee. Featuring a fantastic cast, stunning direction and editing, an enjoyable story, visually arresting action and sound design, as well as plenty more, it is most certainly quality viewing. It is also worth mentioning the engaging opening scene – a rocking sequence edited to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. Lastly, a simple suggestion. . . if they decide to make a sequel, it’s probably best not to name it F2 – that may make it sound inferior if you know your racing. So, find the Sonny side of life in this speedy adventure, it’s a wily winner!