With the new Formula One season starting this weekend, the upcoming F1 movie has had a new trailer released and it shows a few more storypoints. We spotted a few details worth mentioning.
Many F1 fans will have been aware of the two black and gold cars appearing at a bunch of Grand Prix, one of them being piloted by none other than Hollywood actor Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood). For the past two years, a movie being directed by Top Gun: Maverick's Joseph Kosinski has been under production.
Brad Pitt portrays Sonny Hayes, a former American F1 protégé who turned away from the series after a crash he sustained driving an F1 car. After moonlighting in other disciplines, he is tempted back by former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem, Skyfall) who now runs the APXGP team, lining up alongside hotshot prospect Joshua 'Noah' Pearce (Damson Idris, Snowfall).
A new trailer has been revealed ahead of the season opener, and it has given us a few more details for the story. So here are three that we spotted in the new F1 movie trailer.
There is a brief moment in the trailer in which Hayes is climbing into an all-yellow car that was identified as a 1990 Lotus 102. This is the same car that Martin Donnelly had his career-ending horror crash in at Jerez, so it is perhaps using Donnelly's crash as inspiration for Hayes' backstory.
In any case, it does seem like a bit of an understatement to say that it is not even a gap between racing in F1, more like a chasm.
There are a few F1 historians who can point out that the record of largest gap between racing an F1 car is ten years. After last entering a Grand Prix in 1982, Jan Lammers returned for the last two Grand Prix of 1992 and even then, the Dutchman was only 36.
In 1990, the youngest F1 driver to have ever raced at that point was 19 years old, so assuming Hayes was 19 when he drives the Lotus, fast forward to 2025 and he would be 54. That is older than the oldest ever F1 Grand Prix winner Luigi Fagioli, who was 53 when he shared a car with Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1951 French Grand Prix.
Of course, this is a whole level of absurd but hey, Fernando Alonso might continue on to prove that someone in their mid-50s can still remain competitive in these cars. Then the F1 movie is not completely unrealistic.
Then for F1 23's edition, it was Jackson against long-time bitter rival Devon Butler then his sister and F2 champion Callie Mayer. No surprise to see that there is a bit of bravado and chest puffing between Hayes and teammate Pearce in the trailer, since every fictional narrative involving F1 needs conflict apparently.
From the trailer, it would appear that the combination of Hayes and Pearce is rather explosive. Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
It does feel like this trope is a bit overly exercised, having the two teammates fighting each other. Could the scriptwriters not think of something else? All we really get from the trailer is that Pearce comes across as a bit threatened by Hayes and is trying to stamp his authority. Whatever good that would do.
Even the most bitter teammate battles in F1 like Senna/Prost, Hamilton/Rosberg and Villeneuve/Pironi rarely resulted in physical altercations. Most of that results between drivers of rival teams, like when Max Verstappen went to punch Esteban Ocon after Brazil 2018. So maybe the filmmakers looked more to NASCAR for human drama, since throwing a few punches are seemingly more popular there.
In any case, there is little in the trailer that shows what drives their conflict. So we will have to wait for when the movie is out in order to see why the duo do not get along.
Many have voiced their discontent, since the character is Hayes' race engineer - a role that only this year was first occupied by a woman, Laura Mueller who will be Esteban Ocon's race engineer at Haas. Reducing her to a love interest may reinforce harmful stereotypes that no matter how capable a woman may be in a predominantly male environment, they are seemingly only ever good for being the object of a man's attention.
That is not even covering the very muddy waters that is a disproportionate dynamic of romance in the workplace. Can Kate and Sonny continue working effectively if they are romantically involved? In real life, they would probably be called into a meeting with Human Resources and Kate would most likely get removed from her role and replaced by someone else.
Romance can work if done right, but this movie just seems to be regressing into clichéed perpetuations about what it means to be a woman in an industry that is male-dominated. Topical in F1 right now in the light of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner's misconduct allegations now resulting in the case going to a tribunal.
As a result though, there is clearly a really big mountain for this movie to climb. Whilst Top Gun Maverick cost around $170M to produce, the F1 movie budget has an apparent estimated production budget of $300M which has been disputed by the filmmakers. That number does seem a bit excessive, especially since there is no guarantee it will make its budget back.
Racing is still very niche, and few racing movies outside of the Fast & Furious and Cars franchises make that much money relative to their budget.
With F1 having captured the interest of more and more fans in recent years, also in the US where it had struggled for a long time, the movie might see considerable mainstream interest. For those who are deeper into their racing fandom (including many sim racers), it might seem rather stereotypical in many areas.
F1 releases worldwide in cinemas on June 25, with the US release on June 27. In the meantime, check out our reviews on other motorsport movies like Rush and Ford v Ferrari.
What did you make of the F1 movie trailer? Let us know in the comments below, and join the discussion on our forums!
Many F1 fans will have been aware of the two black and gold cars appearing at a bunch of Grand Prix, one of them being piloted by none other than Hollywood actor Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood). For the past two years, a movie being directed by Top Gun: Maverick's Joseph Kosinski has been under production.
Brad Pitt portrays Sonny Hayes, a former American F1 protégé who turned away from the series after a crash he sustained driving an F1 car. After moonlighting in other disciplines, he is tempted back by former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem, Skyfall) who now runs the APXGP team, lining up alongside hotshot prospect Joshua 'Noah' Pearce (Damson Idris, Snowfall).
A new trailer has been revealed ahead of the season opener, and it has given us a few more details for the story. So here are three that we spotted in the new F1 movie trailer.
Massive Gap Between F1 Drives
With a 61-year old Brad Pitt portraying the main character, it was always going to be interesting how they explained what age that Hayes would end up being and how he is racing in F1 after all these years. Hayes had his crash in the early 1990s, and the movie is set in the modern day.There is a brief moment in the trailer in which Hayes is climbing into an all-yellow car that was identified as a 1990 Lotus 102. This is the same car that Martin Donnelly had his career-ending horror crash in at Jerez, so it is perhaps using Donnelly's crash as inspiration for Hayes' backstory.
In any case, it does seem like a bit of an understatement to say that it is not even a gap between racing in F1, more like a chasm.
There are a few F1 historians who can point out that the record of largest gap between racing an F1 car is ten years. After last entering a Grand Prix in 1982, Jan Lammers returned for the last two Grand Prix of 1992 and even then, the Dutchman was only 36.
In 1990, the youngest F1 driver to have ever raced at that point was 19 years old, so assuming Hayes was 19 when he drives the Lotus, fast forward to 2025 and he would be 54. That is older than the oldest ever F1 Grand Prix winner Luigi Fagioli, who was 53 when he shared a car with Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1951 French Grand Prix.
Of course, this is a whole level of absurd but hey, Fernando Alonso might continue on to prove that someone in their mid-50s can still remain competitive in these cars. Then the F1 movie is not completely unrealistic.
Inter-Team Rivalry
Back when the F1 games by Codemasters and EA began branching into a story-driven gamemode with Braking Point, one of its biggest criticisms was the forced conflict between the two teammates. In F1 2021, that was between hotshot rookie Aiden Jackson and seasoned veteran Casper Akkerman.Then for F1 23's edition, it was Jackson against long-time bitter rival Devon Butler then his sister and F2 champion Callie Mayer. No surprise to see that there is a bit of bravado and chest puffing between Hayes and teammate Pearce in the trailer, since every fictional narrative involving F1 needs conflict apparently.
From the trailer, it would appear that the combination of Hayes and Pearce is rather explosive. Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
It does feel like this trope is a bit overly exercised, having the two teammates fighting each other. Could the scriptwriters not think of something else? All we really get from the trailer is that Pearce comes across as a bit threatened by Hayes and is trying to stamp his authority. Whatever good that would do.
Even the most bitter teammate battles in F1 like Senna/Prost, Hamilton/Rosberg and Villeneuve/Pironi rarely resulted in physical altercations. Most of that results between drivers of rival teams, like when Max Verstappen went to punch Esteban Ocon after Brazil 2018. So maybe the filmmakers looked more to NASCAR for human drama, since throwing a few punches are seemingly more popular there.
In any case, there is little in the trailer that shows what drives their conflict. So we will have to wait for when the movie is out in order to see why the duo do not get along.
The Romance
It would seem that no movie is ever complete without some romantic element, and the F1 movie has Hayes in a romantic relationship with his race engineer Kate (portrayed by Kerry Condon, voice of F.R.I.D.A.Y. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies). This has caused some controversy within the F1 fanbase.Many have voiced their discontent, since the character is Hayes' race engineer - a role that only this year was first occupied by a woman, Laura Mueller who will be Esteban Ocon's race engineer at Haas. Reducing her to a love interest may reinforce harmful stereotypes that no matter how capable a woman may be in a predominantly male environment, they are seemingly only ever good for being the object of a man's attention.
That is not even covering the very muddy waters that is a disproportionate dynamic of romance in the workplace. Can Kate and Sonny continue working effectively if they are romantically involved? In real life, they would probably be called into a meeting with Human Resources and Kate would most likely get removed from her role and replaced by someone else.
Romance can work if done right, but this movie just seems to be regressing into clichéed perpetuations about what it means to be a woman in an industry that is male-dominated. Topical in F1 right now in the light of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner's misconduct allegations now resulting in the case going to a tribunal.
Odds Stacked Against It?
With these details, it may seem like there is not much to look forward to, but the racing sequences look incredible. The claim going around that the movie is trying to be "Top Gun with cars", the amount of practical effects they have clearly dedicated themselves to seems to back up that claim since Top Gun: Maverick did the same with jet fighters.As a result though, there is clearly a really big mountain for this movie to climb. Whilst Top Gun Maverick cost around $170M to produce, the F1 movie budget has an apparent estimated production budget of $300M which has been disputed by the filmmakers. That number does seem a bit excessive, especially since there is no guarantee it will make its budget back.
Racing is still very niche, and few racing movies outside of the Fast & Furious and Cars franchises make that much money relative to their budget.
With F1 having captured the interest of more and more fans in recent years, also in the US where it had struggled for a long time, the movie might see considerable mainstream interest. For those who are deeper into their racing fandom (including many sim racers), it might seem rather stereotypical in many areas.
F1 releases worldwide in cinemas on June 25, with the US release on June 27. In the meantime, check out our reviews on other motorsport movies like Rush and Ford v Ferrari.
What did you make of the F1 movie trailer? Let us know in the comments below, and join the discussion on our forums!
