REVIEW: ‘F1’ Is A High-Octane Blockbuster

Formula 1 is considered the pinnacle of motorsport racing. The open-wheel series is where the best of the best push the boundaries of the laws of physics in search of a thrill that few other experiences can match. F1 (2025), directed by Joseph Kosinski and written by Kosinski and Ehren Kruger, brings that thrill to the big screen so viewers can see firsthand what it takes to be one of the best drivers in the world.

F1 (2025) opens with driver Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona, an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) endurance race. Hayes immediately comes across as arrogant, threatening his teammates and driving aggressively against his opponents. Hayes is not here to make friends; he is out to prove something, either to himself or to others. 

While his exact motivations aren’t clear, it is obvious that he is a natural-born winner. Nothing else matters to him, and he will do whatever it takes to win. That’s why his refusal to even touch the trophy with his teammates after winning the race is so peculiar. Instead of reveling in his victory, he sets off on the road to find a new racing series to compete in. 

This opening sequence makes it clear that Hayes isn’t as successful as his victory might make people think. He is seen at a laundromat when his old friend and former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) approaches him with an outlandish proposal. Cervantes is the owner of APX GP, a Formula 1 team on the verge of being sold, with Cervantes hundreds of millions of dollars in the hole.

F1 (2025) is the reason we call movies blockbusters. 

It is such a wild premise that any team would even consider relying on a driver in his 50s living in his van and showering at truck stops. Instead of asking viewers to just pretend that this is a normal situation, Hayes and Cervantes both talk about how ridiculous the idea is, but Cervantes is out of options.

Hayes’ ultimately decides to travel to Silverstone in England to see what Cervantes is offering, and the initial meeting with the APX GP team sets the tone for the rest of the film. Joshua “JP” Pearce (Damson Idris), the team’s young rookie driver, is shown failing to set a fast time in the car so affectionately described as a “shitbox,” that has never scored points in Formula 1.

The entire APX GP team is skeptical of Hayes, which again helps make it clear how ridiculous the whole situation is. Hayes isn’t even particularly impressive, with a lap time slower than JP’s that ends in a brutal crash on an open track. However, Team Principal Kaspar Smolinski (Kim Bodnia) and Technical Director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon) see something there. Hayes and his new team have nine races to win a race, an impossible task given the state of their car and lack of any previous top ten finishes.

What is great about how the story is laid out is that it is always meant to be impossible. Hayes’ first few races are complete chaos, with the veteran driver pulling off controversial moves on track to supposedly help the team. This isn’t a story about a guy who comes in and drives fast, but instead one who uses crafty knowledge built up over more than three decades of racing.

The relationship with Hayes and JP is the focal point of F1, with both drivers needing to get along in order to succeed. They both see the other as an arrogant idiot incapable of winning races, adding to the tension. Idris does a wonderful job of portraying JP as a young hotshot more obsessed with the image of being a Formula 1 driver than winning races. This counters Pitt’s portrayal of Hayes as an exasperated driver just trying to help his friend’s team regardless of the cost.

Things start to change when Hayes is fighting to help JP win the race in Monza, calling the strategy from the cockpit and telling the rest of the team what to do. Even though this isn’t how a normal Formula 1 team operates, it feels so seamless thanks to how Pitt portrays him. The rest of the team slowly catches on to his plan, but JP still thinks he knows best and ultimately decides to ignore Hayes’ instructions on when to fight for first place.

This ends in a fiery wreck and is the first major turning point of the film. It was completely unexpected, and the fiery inferno engulfing JP’s car as it explodes sucks the air out of any room. Hayes jumps out of his own car and rushes to help his teammate, something no one did for him in his own brutal crash in 1993.

The crash is the first real moment we see Hayes for who he really is. Yes, he is arrogant on the surface, but much of that is a cover for his own fears and insecurities. There are hints at this building up to this moment, such as his brief hesitation every time he gets in a car, but here we see just how much this all really means to him and how frightening the sport can be.

The aftermath also brings one of the best scenes in F1 (2025) when JP’s mom Bernadette (Sarah Niles) confronts Hayes at the hospital. She blames him for the crash, and Hayes does nothing to defend himself. It is an emotionally charged moment where we get to see how scary racing can be for the family members of those involved. Formula 1 has claimed the lives of several drivers over the years, and despite increased safety regulations, there is always a serious risk involved. Drivers might not care, but their families do. Niles’ performance makes that fear palpable in an impressive way.

F1 (2025) captures the danger and intensity of the sport we don’t often see.

JP hears this and, instead of standing up for his teammate and admitting fault, internalizes it and ultimately decides that when he comes back to racing after three weeks, he is going to fully embrace his villain era. Idris does a wonderful job of playing up JP’s insecurities as he tries to fight back against someone he has been told is out to sabotage him. Instead of working with Hayes, he fights against him.

This back and forth eventually leads to a meeting between Hayes, JP, and McKenna in a casino in Las Vegas. McKenna is attempting to get her drivers on board and to realize that it is more than just their careers at risk. This unfolds through a poker game, something former gambling addict Hayes has an upper hand in, but as the conversation unravels, it is clear that he and JP have some common ground.

The issue with this scene is that the breakthrough that Hayes and JP ultimately find is overshadowed by a forced and awkward romance between Hayes and McKenna that has been building since they first met. There is an earlier scene where the two go to a local pub in England, and Hayes tries hitting on her, but McKenna makes it clear she wants nothing to do with it. That scene is a reminder that McKenna’s position is a historic first in the sport, and she is more than just a character added in as a sex symbol.

That’s why it is so frustrating that she turns on a dime from being an engineering savant to just arm candy for Hayes. Her earlier scenes focus on her brilliant designs, giving the team an advantage, but she quickly becomes a one-dimensional character, only there to check on Hayes and be concerned for his safety. It is a waste of a fantastic performance by Condon to limit her character this way, and it takes the focus away from some of the impact of Hayes’ and JP’s relationship growing stronger. 

While Brad Pitt’s Hayes gets to soar, Kerry Condon’s McKenna gets reduced to one dimension. 

An earlier scene with Hayes and APX GP mechanic Jodie (Callie Cooke) shows that F1 does understand the life of women in a male-dominated sport, which makes what McKenna becomes even more frustrating. Jodie tells Hayes not to stand up for her in front of everyone, that she can handle herself. It is a moment for Hayes to reflect on his macho approach and address the challenge female members of the team face. Throwing that away in service of giving the leading man a woman to fawn over him just doesn’t fit with what the film tries to establish earlier on.

McKenna isn’t the only character whose arc ultimately takes away some of F1‘s impact. Cervantes tells Hayes early on that the nebulous Board wants to force him to sell and take a loss on the team he loves so much. Instead of leaving the board as an outside agitator that is talked about but never seen, F1 chooses to bring in board member Peter Banning (Tobias Menzies), an alleged ally of Cervantes who is really trying to tank the team and take it over himself.

Menzies plays the role well, making Banning a hated outsider from the start, but his character just feels so cartoony in an otherwise down-to-earth film. F1 does not add anything by giving viewers a physical representation of the board; it actually removes some of the immersion that the film tries so hard to present.

On the flip side, Bardem’s performance as Cervantes steals the scene every time he appears on screen. He doesn’t show up often, only when he is most needed, but when he does, he drives the narrative forward. Whether it is desperate Cervantes begging Hayes to join his team or a concerned friend trying to keep Hayes safe from himself, Bardem delivers an emotional range that makes every scene he is in significantly better.

While the performances and plot in F1 (2025) are mostly good, minus a few hiccups, what really makes the film special is the on-track experience. Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton serves as a producer on the film, and his attention to detail is obvious when you see how much realism F1 has to offer. 

Part of that detail is down to how the races were filmed. The scenes of Hayes and JP in the cars are real, with Pitt and Idris undergoing rigorous training and getting behind the wheel of Formula 2 cars dressed up to look like real Formula 1 cars. Little things like the neck strain on the drivers bring the experience to life, and it all adds up quite quickly.

The fact that they are driving against real Formula 1 drivers in many of the scenes, with real race footage being spliced in at other moments, makes it seem like APX GP is a real team that was actually out there fighting for wins in real life. Real Team Principals like Fred Vasseur of Ferrari and Guenther Steiner, formerly of Haas, even pop up with excellent cameos that add to the realism while also injecting a bit of comedy that works perfectly. 

But F1 doesn’t just cater to Formula 1 fans. The use of real-life commentators David Croft and Martin Brundle serves to explain what is happening on track for those who might not be well-versed in the sport. Rules and regulations that come into play are explained the same way they would be on a live television broadcast, although the commentary can feel a bit stale at times. Still, they help simplify what is being shown on screen and allow newcomers to feel like they understand what is happening without being a Formula 1 expert.

F1 (2025) does the most to ensure even people unfamiliar with the sport understand its intensity. 

However, the overt commercialization is one bit of realism that is distracting. It makes sense that the cars and drivers would all be plastered with sponsor logos like Tommy Hilfiger and AMG, but the non-racing scenes also feature plenty of annoying product placement. The entire film serves as a commercial for Formula 1, it doesn’t need to also be advertising the sport’s direct sponsors off the track in the process.

The final touch that delivers a win for F1 (2025) is the heart-pounding musical score by the legendary Hans Zimmer. Zimmer’s use of pulsating electronic beats brings the racing to life, and the softer moments feel more intimate thanks to his deft touch. There is one particular scene towards the end where Hayes appears to be suffering from a concussion and can’t hear anything from the cockpit but the beating of his own heart. Zimmer’s music amplifies that feeling, and it adds a sense of dread as the finish line approaches.

That combination of real driving and impactful music keeps anyone from truly knowing how F1 will end. Can Hayes or JP pull off the win? No one really knows until the last possible second, something that makes the entire journey an edge-of-your-seat thriller from start to finish. F1 (2025) is a thrilling race to the finish that brings the exciting world of Formula 1 to life like never before. It is an excellent entry point into the sport for newcomers, but there is still plenty for long-time fans to enjoy along the way as the team at APX GP tries to create their own miracle.

F1 (2025) releases June 26, 2025, in theaters.