F1 (2025) Movie Review – Brad Pitt’s High-Speed Comeback Delivers Thrills

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski 
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer

Executive Producer: Lewis Hamilton

There’s a moment early in F1 where Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes, a retired racing legend, leans against a sunbaked garage in Monaco, watching a younger driver scream past in a blur of carbon fiber and arrogance. He doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t need to. The smirk, the sunglasses, the way his knuckles tighten around a wrench—it’s all there. This is Pitt doing what Pitt does best: making effortless cool look like an Olympic sport. And F1, Joseph Kosinski’s petrol-headed follow-up to Top Gun: Maverick, is at its best when it lets that energy drive the film.

This isn’t a deep dive into the soul of motorsport. It’s not Rush, nor does it want to be. What F1 delivers is something closer to Maverick’s playbook: a big, loud, beautifully shot crowd-pleaser that treats Formula 1 like a battlefield, complete with hero shots of Pitt squinting through visor glare and Javier Bardem snarling through team radio like a Bond villain who traded espionage for aerodynamics. The races are shot with the same immersive, seat-shaking intensity Kosinski brought to fighter jets, and the sound design—oh, the sound design—turns every downshift into a symphony.

But here’s the thing: F1 knows exactly what it is. It’s not here to reinvent the wheel (pun very much intended). The emotional beats are familiar, the rivalries are broad, and the third act goes exactly where you think it will. Yet it’s hard to care when the execution is this polished. Pitt and Damson Idris, as his hotheaded protégé, sell the mentor-rookie dynamic with enough wit and grit to make the clichés feel fresh. And Bardem? He’s having the time of his life, playing a team boss so deliciously slimy you’ll wish he’d twirl a mustache.

Is it groundbreaking cinema? No. But like a perfect lap, F1 doesn’t need to be revolutionary to leave you buzzing. It just needs to stick the landing—and with Pitt behind the wheel, it does.

Verdict: ★★★★☆ (4/5) – A high-octane blockbuster that’s all vibe, no pretension.