F1 the Movie Review
I went to see F1 The Movie in IMAX with a large popcorn and even larger expectations.
The short version?
If you’re an F1 fan, it’s absolutely worth seeing.
If you’re not, it’s still a slick, loud, glossy Hollywood ride — just don’t expect deep stakes.
Let’s break it down.
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The Moviegoing Experience (An American Interlude)
First, a confession: I rarely go to big multiplex theaters anymore. I prefer small university cinemas showing silent films and obscure European dramas. So stepping into a full IMAX experience felt… intense.
$16.50 for the ticket? Fair.
$15 for popcorn and soda? That’s capitalism.
And 25 minutes of trailers before the film even starts? That’s a hostage situation.
But once the lights dimmed, the sound kicked in, and those engines started screaming — I was in.
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What the Movie Gets Right
The biggest strength of F1 The Movie is how deeply embedded it is in the real world of Formula One.
This isn’t a generic racing film with fictional tracks and made-up series. The filmmakers inserted their fictional 11th team directly into the real grid. You see real drivers. Real team principals. Real race footage.
For fans, that’s thrilling.
You catch glimpses of Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, and Fernando Alonso woven into actual race environments. Frédéric Vasseur and Zak Brown appear in interview-style segments. Even the broadcast commentary feels authentic.
It’s not just cosmetic. The movie talks about:
• Tire strategy
• Aero balance
• Pit windows
• Team politics
They didn’t dumb it down completely. That alone earns respect.
For longtime fans, the integration is genuinely impressive. Other sports couldn’t realistically pull this off — you can’t just insert a fake NFL team into a live season and make it look seamless. Formula One, with its global circus structure, makes it possible.
And visually? It’s fantastic.
The cockpit sequences are immersive. The “driver in the zone” moments — heart pounding, engine screaming, 200 mph tunnel vision — are some of the film’s best scenes. The IMAX format absolutely helps here.
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The Hollywood Treatment
Of course, it’s still a Hollywood movie.
Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, the veteran American racer returning to F1 to rescue a struggling team. The arc is familiar: redemption, mentorship, personal demons, last-lap glory.
Is it predictable? Yes.
Is it fun anyway? Also yes.
The fictional Apex team’s black-and-gold livery (very Lotus-inspired) looks fantastic. The marketing machine behind it clearly worked — the car looks like a real, fully sponsored F1 entry.
But some of the drama feels manufactured.
The rookie teammate is written as a swaggering ego with very little substance. We’re told he’s talented. We rarely see it. He mostly makes mistakes. It doesn’t quite track with how modern F1 rookies behave — especially in an era where drivers like Antonelli or Lawson show immediate discipline and composure.
There are also a few too many crashes. In real F1, constant wrecks would bankrupt a small team. In the movie, parts magically exist. Budgets apparently don’t matter.
And yes, there’s the inevitable romantic subplot. Hollywood can’t help itself. It doesn’t ruin the movie, but it doesn’t elevate it either.
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What’s Missing
For all its realism, the film misses one thing longtime fans love: driver camaraderie.
Because the real drivers appear only in race footage, we never get fictionalized scenes of them hanging out, traveling together, decompressing between races. We don’t see the off-track rhythm of the sport — the dinners, the downtime, the jet-lagged chaos of a global calendar.
We also don’t feel real stakes.
No one’s blowing up a Death Star. No one’s losing the family farm. If Sonny fails, he’ll probably just retire again. The tension is professional, not existential.
That’s fine — but it keeps the film from feeling truly epic.
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The Fun Factor
Here’s the bottom line:
If you love Formula One, this movie feels like a reward.
You’ll catch the cameos.
You’ll appreciate the strategy talk.
You’ll notice the livery details.
You’ll smile when a real driver pops up on screen.
In my theater, people audibly reacted to certain appearances. That tells you something.
For casual viewers, it’s a polished racing movie with high production value and a charismatic lead.
For F1 fans, it’s something more — it’s the first time the sport has been dropped into a full-scale Hollywood blockbuster without feeling like a cartoon.
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Final Verdict
Is F1 The Movie perfect? No.
Is it overdramatic at times? Of course.
Does it occasionally lean too hard into Hollywood tropes? Absolutely.
But it’s fun. It looks incredible. And it treats the sport with respect.
If you’re an F1 fan, go see it.
Just maybe skip the “butter flavoring.”
