F1: The Movie (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

I've been following Formula One, the sport, since I was a young teen and was a BIG fan. I have watched a lot of the more recent films covering the subject. Many of them being biopics of some of my favourite, famous drivers of the era - like Ayrton Senna and James Hunt. I've not followed it as closely recently when most of the coverage went away from terrestrial TV - but I've kept my hand in and still have a fairly good idea what's going on the F1 world.

This film was made in collaboration with the FIA, the governing body of F1 and lots of the current drivers and teams. It brings us bang up to date with the modern world of the top tier of four-wheeled motor racing.

APXGP is a fictitious team, struggling at the very tail-end of pit lane and managed by former F1 driver, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem). To bolster the flailing fortunes of the team, he recruits a contemporary of his, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt). A very talented journeyman racing driver whose F1 career was cut short in a terrible crash but after a longish recovery, has kept competing in multiple motorsports. Initially Hayes has trouble getting on with his teammate, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) - who is also a prospect, but finding things difficult in a failing organisation. Ruben is convinced that this partnership is the key to the team getting at least 10th place in one of the remaining races, and a point in the championship table, to avoid being consigned to motor racing oblivion and not competing next year.

This is a pretty stock plot with stock characters. Reminiscent of both Top Gun Maverick (2022) and Days of Thunder (1990). It's the charismatic visage of genuine moviestar, Brad Pitt, that keeps the interest. Everybody else's performances are solid though and I especially liked Kerry Condon as Kate McKenna, the team's Technical Director. A woman holding her own in a still mainly male-dominated world.

The production is definitely top notch as we ride along at unbelievable speeds, right in the middle of the action - on the track and in the pit lane, on some of the most legendary F1 circuits in the World. Hayes' methods to get his team any kind of advantage over the 'big boys' could be viewed as a bit far-fetched but everything looks pretty authentic. Quite a few of the currently-active top drivers are constantly name-checked and appear on the various grids and podiums as themselves. If you're not a fan of motorsport or sports films in general, you may well not like this but I kinda did!