Brad Pitt’s new movie “F1” is set to hit the theaters on June 27, 2025. The movie highlights Brad Pitt’s character towards the end of his racing career, and how he is set to come out of retirement to help a new Formula 1 team and to mentor a younger driver.
Producers and Directors
The movie was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who is known for his work on “Top Gun: Maverick.” The producers are Jerry Bruckheimer, Joseph Kosinski, Pitt and 7x World Champion and Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton.
The Team
Pitt is cast as a character named Sonny Hayes, teammate of Jushua Pearch, who is played by Damson Idris. The two drivers have teamed up at a fictional 11th team called ‘APXGP.” The movie details the battle between the two teammates throughout the 24-race F1 season and highlights the conflicts between the two.
The Film Process
The movie was filmed throughout multiple race weekends of the 2023 and 2024 Formula 1 season. Tracks included were Silverstone, Hungary, Spa, Monza, Zandvoort, Japan, Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi and Mexico City, with filming also taking place behind closed doors at various circuits. Many of the staff involved also worked on the set of “Top Gun: Maverick.” There will be many similar camera shots, as the crew used model Formula 1 cars to replicate the cars used in real life.
Throughout the film process, the directors and producers used onboard camera shots from Formula 1 teams and used technology to make it look like the onboard of the APXGP cars. For the camera shots, each car had up to seven cameras attached at a time. Throughout the season, I remember seeing the two cars set up before the race along with the rest of the grid doing filming for the movie. There were also instances of Pitt and Idris standing with the 20 drivers during the national anthems for the country they were in.
As someone who has been a Formula 1 fan for years, the movie seems to be more directed towards new fans who don’t know very much about the sport. It is a fictional movie, but the everyday Formula 1 fan will notice small things in the movie that other people may not, such as different driver suits or liveries on the cars, since the movie was filmed over the course of two seasons. With that being said, one of the most intriguing aspects is seeing how producers can use modern technology to film a racing movie, unlike ones that we have seen before, and seeing it done in all different races and locations.
