F1 (2025) Review

“He’s flying”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

If you want people to remember why you’re the best, show rather than tell.


PLOT


F1 follows racing legend Sonny Hayes who has spent 30 years living as a racer for hire due to a career ending injury at the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix, leaving him burdened to never live up to his potential. After winning the 24 Hours of Daytona, he is reached out by former teammate Rubén Cervantes, now owner of the struggling AXGP Formula One team. With investors intending to sell if they don’t win at least one race by the end of the season, Rubén asks Sonny to be a second driver, giving him the chance to prove he’s the best in the world. It is at the Silverstone track where he meets his team that includes technical director Kate McKenna and rookie driver Joshua Pearce; The latter worries that AXGP’s current failures could derail his career, since he intends to attract interest from other teams. As Sonny tests the new machinery, he proposes upgrading the vehicles’ aerodynamics in order to compensate speed disadvantage. It is during British Grand Prix where both he and Joshua crash out after racing each other rather than cooperating. Knowing they need a points finish, it is Sonny who exploits the rules at Hungarian Grand Prix by colliding with other cars to trigger safety car periods. That helps Joshua secure a top ten finish. When the Italian Grand Prix is afflicted with rain, the latter ignores Sonny’s advice to trade grip for speed, causing him to skid off track and his car bursts into flames when trying to overtake another driver. Although Sonny rescues him and improves thanks to Kate’s upgrades, his mother Bernadette (Sarah Niles) criticizes his high risk approach that causes her son to be out for three races. When Joshua later returns for Belgian Grand Prix, he spends more time forcing him to crash, resulting in Sonny to blame him for their setbacks. This causes Kate to have them both participate in a poker game to ease the tension and better their chemistry. Joshua ends up winning to be the lead driver for Las Vegas Grand Prix, but Sonny lets him win and it results in him spending the night with Kate. He later tells her he keeps racing now to feel untouchable like in his youth. When an anonymous tip reports Kate’s upgrades to be illegal, Sonny would have to race without them, resulting his reckless driving to make him crash again. When recovering at the hospital, Ruben would be livid that his friend would keep from him that his injuries from ‘93 were so severe that they risk him to be blind or worse dead. Ruben would kick him off the team for his protection and Joshua would overhear this feeling sorry for his predicament. After checking out of the hospital, Sonny finds out it was APXGP board member Peter Banning who orchestrated his signing and tipped the complaint to force the sale, offering him compensation if he lets the team fail. As Joshua starts taking Sonny’s advice seriously and Kate gets her upgrades restored, Sonny is able to conceal his headaches to convince Ruben to let him return. On the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix does Joshua collide for the lead with other racers while Sonny gets caught in a minor crash, causing a red flag for both their cars get repaired for a restart. Following the restart does Hayes help Pearce move into first but by the final lap, the latter returns the favor by clearing way for him to win his first Formula One race and secure APXGP’s future. As Joshua turns down an offer by Mercedes, Hayes too would reject Banning’s offer for a new venture. He then quietly leaves the venue but goes on good terms with Joshua and promises to see Kate again. The film then ends seeing him compete for Baja 1000.


THOUGHTS


I RSVPed for an advanced screening at the imax amphitheater hosted by the movie’s producer Jerry Bruckheimer himself. The majority of his filmography is full of excitement over the years, but little would I expect an adrenaline rush that rivals what was done with Top Gun: Maverick. Racing movies are the kind of sports movies that are meant to be most immersive because each one wants you to be zoned into it with each race sequence that follows and I think Claudio Miranda’s cinematography & Stephen Mirrione does a great job creating that atmosphere. If that didn’t exhilarate you, Hans Zimmer’s score will do it for you. I just get chills seeing the camera pan for a 360 view of what the race looks like in the same speed of a Formula One car, especially when realizing the fictional characters are sharing the track with real life professionals like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. While it’s quite the feeling to be so ecstatic of what transpires, this backstory how Bruckheimer said that it is the emotion that makes the movie special. With Joseph Kosinski also directing a stellar cast, it couldn’t be any more true. As of the decade of 2020, Brad Pitt has grown to be an acting veteran to the industry who just knows what to expect out of a protagonist. Sonny Hayes is an instant favorite because you can’t help being enamored that he is a cowboy on the racetracks and on a gambling table hence sleeping in his van. He loves to live in the moment while still knowing when to look out for others and not hold back on his capabilities. The way he’s a natural in being a team player while being true to himself teaches the main lesson how great success comes from collaboration. Javier Bardem made a great friend out of Ruben because his decision to reach out to Hayes wasn’t out of desperation, but more about the passion they shared about how much it mean to feel invincible on the track just for a little bit. They both know they feel most alive on the track, but they were both aware of their limits which is why they had different things to worry at the end of the line. Tobias Menzies is a believable antagonist as Banning because the man takes his greed so far that he was willing to sabotage in order to make easy money. He knew Hayes was most damaged physically that he’d put him on the track anyway knowing he could die. If that don’t make him an asshole, I don’t know what’s. And that alone is why Hayes doesn’t take the deal, knowing he was taken advantage of like that. So getting the chance to prove his worth one last time when he was trying to pave the way for future generations proves that the best rewards come when patient. Fresh off of FX’s Snowfall, Damson Idris is an ideal young buck as one who has determination but doesn’t know how to differ it from arrogance. Being under Sonny’s wing was a must because he was the only one willing to tell him like it is on how he needed to make changes if he wanted to be at his level. Sonny let him win at poker so he can better his confidence and it worked because after, he chose to sleep early rather than party all night like others would. He returned the favor in letting him win at Abu Dhabi because he knew he deserved it more and he has a whole career ahead of him to win as much as he can. Luckily, the only other person Sonny found common ground with that led to victory was Kate. Kerry Condon was great too because she shares the precision needed to make success a reality and too understood the value of teamwork. That said passion she shares with Sonny was all enough to spend the night together. There’s no doubt Sonny was attracted to Kate when he met her, but he didn’t make that a priority since he knew winning was more important to save their jobs. After they got time to know each other and simultaneously find the right upgrade for the vehicle did he let his playboy charisma play out. Now that the hard part is over that is keeping the job, they can now enjoy what makes the sport so exciting. Sonny & Joshua will keep on racing tilt they can’t, Ruben will continue standing tall as a a brand leader and Kate will continue perfecting whatever needs to be fixed. Should they need to pull another miracle, I don’t doubt they’ll be there for each other again. This movie will be one I’ll respect dearly for the foreseeable future, but great things like this have a few moments that confuse me upon rewatching. For instance, it has to be unreasonable for any new racing team needing to win one race within three years because even if the best work better under pressure, it’s unnecessary pressure. Heck, I can find that more confusing than Rubén tracking Sonny down at a laundromat rather than the Daytona. I also don’t think Sonny needed to talk to Kate outside her work station to get his point across what he wanted for the upgrades. The conversation would be as just impactful there instead of a local town. It then felt dumb for the media to try blaming Sonny for Joshua’s crash when they know he kept him out of slick tires because that means they had to have known Joshua chose to ignore his advice. If you’re telling Banning was messing with that too, that should’ve been better implied. Also, how did Rubén even get the paperwork about Sonny’s injuries from ‘93? However long he was out, it doesn’t sound like any hospital can give him that. Ignore these flaws however, then you’re still gonna have an ecstatic good time. In conclusion, F1 is one of the movies I can put in my Mount Rushmore for best movies of 2025 due to being in the same level of a spectacle you want in every blockbuster as it leaves you hooked in a gripping world of sports. If you got AppleTV and that’s the kind of experience you want in a movie, see this now.