F1® THE MOVIE – The Best Racing Movie Ever Made.

F1® THE MOVIE is directed by Joseph Kosinski. The film stars Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, and Javier Bardem.

In the 1990s, an accident on the track derailed the F1 career of Sonny Hayes, who eventually returned to racing in many different forms. When his longtime friend Ruben returns to his life, offering him the opportunity to return to the F1 racing circuit to help his struggling race team, Hayes reluctantly agrees to return to the track, serving both as a racer and a mentor figure to the team’s hottest young driver, JP. But will Hayes be able to return to being part of a team, or will his self-serving attitude be a detriment to their attempted comeback?


Joseph Kosinski has been making movies for many years, but it was TOP GUN: MAVERICK a few years ago that made him a household name. F1® THE MOVIE swaps the skies for the race track, uniting an all-star cast, gorgeous cinematography, a brilliant musical score, and thrills around every corner in its 156-minute duration. While it’s perhaps a bit too long and isn’t always a paragon of character development, there’s no denying F1® THE MOVIE is sheer cinematic entertainment at its finest. It’s certainly the best racing movie this moviegoer has ever seen. Mr. Kosinski is here to stay.


Casting can make or break a movie, but F1® THE MOVIE has a brilliant group of actors assembled, all of whom are perfect for their parts. Brad Pitt has long been one of Hollywood’s best leading men, and he further establishes himself here in a story of many highs and lows. Despite misfortunes, he’s always in search of his next challenge, and makes for quite the interesting lead. The cast also includes Damson Idris as the young man on the team, who Mr. Hayes hopes to whip into shape so that he can use his abilities and skill to the team’s advantage, helping them to get to heights they’ve never reached before. Kerry Condon portrays the team’s technical director, and its ex-driver/owner is portrayed by Javier Bardem, a fantastic leading man who’s played everything from murderous psychopaths to Desi Arnaz, and somehow manages to nail every single role he’s given. The film is serious and dramatic, but it isn’t above throwing in some humor to prevent the final product from becoming too melodramatic. Several actual F1 racers/team members appear in the film as themselves as well.

The crew behind the cameras is just as talented as the one in front of them. Joseph Kosinski knows how to enthrall his audience and take them on a thrill ride for two-and-a-half hours. F1® THE MOVIE is straight-up entertainment with no agenda or overarching message or moral to speak of; movies like this are the ones that remind me of why I fell in love with cinema in the first place. Hans Zimmer’s musical score further adds to the atmosphere, particularly during the tensest moments of the races. Kosinski brings along his usual cinematographer, Claudio Miranda, who beautifully captures the action firsthand, be it from the perspective of a driver on the track, an overhead shot of the racecourse, or even from the stands and the pit crew, with the movie taking place on racetracks all around the globe, which further adds to the atmosphere. F1® THE MOVIE’s cast is an amazing one, but it’s the crew that truly takes this one to the finish line.

F1® THE MOVIE scores points for not just being a series of mindless races with no depth. It’s not long before we’re enthralled by the goings-on, both on and off the track. Much like in an F1 race, things in F1® THE MOVIE can change in a split second. In many ways, the film is more or less “TOP GUN on a racetrack.” But that’s not a bad thing. I’m not a sports or racing fan by any means, but none of that mattered when I was watching F1® THE MOVIE. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen, and found myself genuinely caring about these characters, not to mention their final fates and outcomes.

Only a few minor nitpicks keep the movie from perfection. At 156 minutes, one can’t help but wonder if the movie had to be this long. F1® THE MOVIE is never boring or uninteresting, but would a tighter edit have helped the final product? The love story also feels tertiary at best, and particularly in the final 15 minutes or so, the product does seem to drag slightly, and doesn’t seem content to end with what could easily have been an ideal final scene.

F1® THE MOVIE’s flaws are minor; it’s still the best racing movie I’ve ever seen. It unites an amazing cast and crew and some of the best looking racing sequences ever captured on film. This high-speed thrill ride isn’t the most original movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly one of the most entertaining, bringing these elements together perfectly. One of the best movies of 2025 so far. Absolute highest recommendations.