F1 – The Movie. Certificate 12A

Before I saw this movie, and having possibly been influenced by seeing Tom Cruise at the premiere with Brad Pitt, I expected a “Top Gun – Maverick” set in the world of Formula 1.

My expectations of a story where a “mature” expert comes back to the fold to convince a young rookie that he can achieve greatness weren’t disappointed. It’s a familiar story but what is achieved in F1 – The Movie (not quite sure why it needs the “The Movie” subtitle, as everyone would know it’s a film!) is a little different to what I initially thought the film would be.

Brad Pitt stars as Sonny Hayes, a wandering racer who seeks the thrills and spills more than the money, joining forces with a fledgling Formula 1 team, APX [Apex] GP, to save them with a limited number of races to go before the end of the season.

Damson Idris plays the rookie, Joshua Pearce, who is torn between marketing his image and winning races and who – with the help of his mother, Sarah Niles – manages to stay on the right side of arrogance and remain humble when it’s necessary.

Kerry Condon is the inevitable love-interest for Pitt, playing Kate McKenna, touted as the “first female technical director in Formula 1”, who magnificently holds her own against the huge egos and testosterone.

There are plenty of likeable characters in lesser roles, most notably the pit-stop tyre changer, Callie Cooke as Jodie and Javier Bardem as the troubled owner of the Formula 1 team and Hayes’ long-time friend.

Fans of Formula 1 will delight in spotting their heroes, of which there are several, from the 2023 and 2024 seasons during which the movie was filmed, along with familiar commentary from Martin Brundle and David Croft.

Throughout, the capture of the excitement of racing cars at 200-300 MPH, including an excellent opening set-piece at Daytona, is stunning, nail-biting stuff! Not many films make me vocalise my feelings during them, but I was forced to utter “Wow!” at one point.

The direction from Joseph Kosinski is assured and the editing by Stephen Mirrione is top-notch. This is a film that’s best seen in a movie theatre, namely because the sound, along with Hans Zimmer’s blistering soundtrack, is incredibly good. The “thump” of the sounds of the cars as they pass is something unlikely to hit you in the chest if viewed at home in the same way it does in an auditorium with a decent sound system.