F1 Review: Brad Pitt Anchors Exhilarating Racing Thriller

Alex Schlerf
Jun 29
5 min read

Director Joseph Kosinski follows his immense success with Top Gun: Maverick in F1, a racing thriller that captures the absolute highs and lows of the sport.

Synopsis:

"In the 1990s, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was Formula 1's most promising driver until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, the owner of a struggling Formula 1 team convinces Sonny to return to racing and become the best in the world. Driving alongside the team's hotshot rookie, Sonny soon learns that the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone."

Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, Sarah Niles

Release Date: In Theaters Now

Intense Racing Scenes Are The Standout

The most important thing for this film's success was that the racing scenes had to be on point. You won't win anybody over if you fail at the first hurdle and luckily, this was where F1 really shined the most. Kosinski was really the absolute perfect choice as a director, with his standout flying scenes in Maverick translating seamlessly to this film. The racing scenes are intense, action-packed and even have a serious sense of emotion. It's clear that Kosinski really committed to making this aspect of the film as accurate as possible, with many of the scenes being filmed in actual F1 cars and on actual racetracks.

There could always be a concern that these races could get repetitive over the course of the film, but this absolutely wasn't the case here. Each race felt new and fresh due to the circumstances that are presented beforehand. I know some felt that F1 struggled with it's non-racing plot, but to me, those less action-packed scenes being as good as they were are the only reason the racing scenes are as strong as they are. The writing gets you actually invested in the characters before they go and risk their lives on the track. Without the setup before and between each race, you wouldn't be leaning forward in your seat when Pitt attempts an overtake. When you get that it sets up for some incredible scenes on the racetrack and I was so impressed with how engaging they actually made it. This was by far the best aspect of the film and really makes me want to go for a rewatch just to see those tense races once again.

Pitt Leads An Outstanding Cast

Now the second best thing of this film, after those standout racing scenes, is the amazing cast. You have to start with Brad Pitt as the lead, who is still as good as ever. Pitt brings actual nuance and depth to his role, with the movie really serving as a character study of the role of Sonny Hayes. As much as the actual story attempts to make you hate Sonny as much as possible, Pitt's performance makes it so he ends up being the most likable one in the whole movie. There's a lot of exploration of his past, looking into why he acts the way he does and I think the slow build up towards that realization is played out very well. For a film that was expected to have fun racing scenes and nothing else, I still came away really enjoying his character arc in this film. When he succeeds, you really do feel genuine joy.

Past Pitt, the ensemble cast is also great. This is the first time I've seen Damson Idris in anything and I really enjoyed his performance. His arc is a bit more streamlined and predictable, but it was still interesting to watch. Honestly, I felt he was little underutilized, but it makes sense when you have him in a cast that contains PItt. Those two had great combative energy for the majority of the film and their dynamic is definitely really entertaining to watch. Kerry Condon also ends up being a real standout. She has a love plot that didn't totally work for me, but outside of that she portrays a really enjoyable role that becomes really integral to the main plot. Javier Bardem is amazing as always, with his characterization making him really easy to root for. That bromance between him and Pitt takes many turns throughout the story, but eventually comes to a conclusion that is very satisfying. Sarah Niles has a very small role, but is great as always!

Hans Zimmer's Score Shines

Shocker alert: Hans Zimmer delivers a excellent score for this film. I'm not saying this is up there for one of his best film scores ever, but it's really good and fits the tone of the film. The key part of his score was the music that had to be paired with the racing scenes and I think he really nailed it. His music always worked to keep things tense or suspenseful, especially with the de facto main theme "F1". That particular beat plays towards the beginning of the film and it's so strong that I've been playing it on repeat while writing this review. There's also a couple really good lighter beats in the non-action scenes that work as a great build up towards the racing sequences. Whenever Zimmer does a score for a film it feels like its own character and that was absolutely the case here.

Prior Knowledge Required?

I have a few slight drawbacks for this film that don't totally matter in terms of entertainment value, but do limit its rating slightly. The first was that there were many points where I felt a prior knowledge of the sport was required to fully understand what was going on. I'm not saying I was totally confused, but there were many aspects relating to the rules of the races and the tour that I didn't feel were properly explained. I think they did a good job with the basic aspects and not playing it out with a boring exposition scene, but there were certain things that dampened the experience of the races because I truly had no idea what they meant by "blocking" or "undercut". It didn't bother me too much but as someone who's never watched an actual F1 race in his life, it's something that took me out of the film at certain points.

My other small complaint is that the film did slightly start to drag towards the end. This film clocks in at just under 2 hours and 40 minutes, with that runtime being felt towards the end. I'm not sure if this was due to the repetitive nature of the story or maybe even certain plot lines being explored in the wrong way, but it did hurt this film towards the back end. I don't have any problem with longer films, but this feels like one that could have cut 10 or 15 minutes and created a more engaging experience. Not a huge problem, but something I think most people will also feel when watching this film.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, F1 gives you exactly what you'd want out of racing film. It's intense, suspenseful and led by a great cast of characters. Joseph Kosinski's amazing direction once again allows for a notable summer blockbuster that shoud be seen on the biggest screen possible. Go see this movie!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Note: I only included the top 20 out of the 46 2025 new releases that I've seen so far this year, for editing purposes.