What happens when you give Joseph Kosinski, the director of Top Gun Maverick, and Brad Pitt almost $300 million and full access to the Formula 1 grid? The Apple and Warner Bros.-produced film, creatively dubbed F1, perfectly illustrates the outcome of this very query.

F1 is centred around the fictional ex-Formula 1 driver Sonny Hayes (played by Brad Pitt), who at the introduction of the film had been out of commission for almost three decades. Hayes is the typical American Blockbuster underdog character. He’s gritty, witty, charismatic, and most importantly… American! Having been a rookie driver who posed a challenge to the likes of real three-time Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna in his prime, he never achieved his potential due to a horrific accident that forced him to permanently retire from the sport. In modern day, we witness Hayes at his lowest—a multiple ex-divorcee and gambling addict who lives out of a van, competing in various racing competitions simply for the ‘thrill’. Coming off a win in Daytona, the real plot of the film begins when Hayes is cornered by his former F1 teammate, Ruben Cervantes (played by Javier Bardem), who begs him to save his debt-ridden failing Formula 1 team APXGP by becoming a Driver for him, and mentoring his new rookie driver Joshua Pearce (played by Damson Idris).

What made F1 incredibly interesting (for better or for worse) was the choice to set itself and its fictional characters in the real world of current Formula 1. What I mean by this is that not only did Sonny Hayes in his youth ‘face’ real-life driver Senna, but on the big screen, you witness these fictional characters act and even engage in scenes alongside existing drivers and team personnel. This makes it incredibly immersive for a modern audience, whether they are a fan or not—giving the film almost a documentary-like illusion. Yet, it is this same aspect that fails the film. The film takes heavy inspiration from many real-life events. While an outside observer with no knowledge of the sport would generally overlook this dramatised modification of real-life events, anyone who is a fan could perceive the writing as lazy. The choice of reimagined events seemed like a checklist of the most dramatic crashes or controversies in the sport's history, rather than selective incidents that fit the spiteful-and-inexperienced-rookie vs. the old-brooding-experienced-driver internal rivalry and eventual allyship plot they seemed to have had in mind. To give an example, Joshua Pearce’s big crash imitates that of two incidents. The first being a horrific Formula 3 crash in Monza 2019, where Alexander Peroni flew in the air over the barriers. Alongside that, Pearce’s crash ends in a heated moment where the car bursts into flames, and his resulting hand injury is identical to the aftermath of Romain Grosjean’s famous 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix crash. On the other hand, another massive plotline that I honestly found amusing and effective was the series of montages in the first half of the film, where Hayes purposefully crashes out of the race multiple times to help Pearce score points. This plotline appears to be inspired by one of the biggest controversies in the sport, when Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to purposefully ram into the barriers to help his teammate Fernando Alonso win the race—further proven through Alonso’s easter egg cameo in the film, where he applauds Hayes in a press conference after the event, which was quite humorous when you knew the context. Where my biggest criticism comes in is the use of ‘inspiration’ for Sonny Hayes’ career-ending crash. The footage shown in the movie itself is a complete repurposing of a past accident wherein driver Martin Donnelly almost lost his life in 1990. Although Hayes’ injuries differed from Donnelly's, their decision to use footage of the real crash for a fictional story set in the ‘real world’ does make the movie's timeline and world-building a little messy in that regard.

Although I am critical, one of the film’s biggest standouts is its incredible soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer, which brilliantly complements the engaging and innovative racing. Built to enhance the audience’s experience with speed, the Sony 6K action cinema camera (created for and used in the film) was placed on repurposed Formula 4 cars and rigged into F1 cockpits to smoothly shoot multi-cam footage of high-speed action. This incredible new technology perfectly immerses the audience into its high-stakes, engaging action sequences. Zimmer’s epic strings and synth beats perfectly complement the increasing racing tension and drama racing, ultimately creating an incredible cinema experience that makes it the most solid and best feature of the film.

Maybe I am sounding like a broken record, but I feel you cannot write a review on this movie without addressing the big elephant in the room: its depiction and treatment of women. The film completely erases actress Simone Ashley, who was originally cast as a side-character and love interest to Idris’ Joshua Pearce, only for her entire character to be rendered into a split-second cameo in the final cut. When asked to address Ashley’s removal from the film, Kosinski said to People Magazine, "It happens on every film, where you have to shoot more than you can use. There were two or three storylines that ultimately didn't make it into the final cut." In my eyes, this would make complete sense, until you look at the film’s female protagonists and each of their arcs. My biggest issue is Kate McKenna’s (played by Kerry Condon) character, who is APXGP’s Technical Director… and Sonny Hayes’ love interest. Kate is fundamental to the plot, especially for her direct involvement in car development, which enables Hayes to inevitably win his first Grand Prix race at the emotional conclusion of the film, allowing his underdog hero's journey to come full circle. What felt forced and irrelevant was the need to push a romance between the characters of McKenna and Hayes. While I understand the blockbuster format of including a romance sub-plot. The dynamic felt forced, and the unprofessionalism in portraying an inter-workplace relationship between coworkers demeans women who work in motorsports. As this representation was presented to mass audiences, who may be consuming Formula 1 for the first time through this film. On a slightly more positive note, a better female character, whose arc almost mirrors Hayes’ underdog story, is mechanic Jodie (played by Callie Cooke). At the beginning of the film, Jodie is a reserved and shy character who makes a mistake in the first race, consequently singled out by Pearce with a snarky remark, which I do believe should be criticised for its representation of women as inferior and incapable workers in male-dominated fields. Jodie’s arc forgives a part of that representation as she develops confidence. Implying Jodie’s character arc as a representative of the team’s overall growth, where she becomes a celebrated character by the film’s conclusion.

Pitt plays the role of a leading man well, with Sonny Hayes showing slightly more personal depth than that of Tom Cruise's Maverick in Kosinski’s other hit action blockbuster. Yet while I enjoyed his character, nothing he did was revolutionary or stood out significantly. He played the role of Hayes in a way that was typical for a stock action hero—central to the plot, with all the action revolving around and relying on him. I will say, I do find it humorous that Pitt, as a significant producer with power over the making of this film, almost places himself in a dramatised version of the real Formula 1 grid—like a high-budget self-insert fanfiction project.

Although the film is purposefully centred around Pitt’s character, I cannot help but give applause to Damson Idris for his incredible performance as the boyish and scrappy rookie as Joshua Pearce. I would have honestly loved to see a reality where Pearce was the lead of this film, as his narrative arc was engaging and interesting to witness. Idris is a star who I can only see becoming more and more successful after this film’s box office performance.

Even though I addressed plenty of critiques towards many aspects of this film, Kosinski brilliantly created an engaging action film that keeps you on the edge of your seat with teeth-biting action. F1 shows the brilliance of how new technology can create incredible visual cinema. Lights out and away we go!