Watching F1 The Movie felt almost exactly like watching the real thing. And I don’t just mean how insanely immersive the race sequences are—especially in IMAX, with some of the best sound work I’ve ever experienced—but how it mirrors my relationship with the sport itself. When I was younger, I used to watch F1 races and would always start excited, trying to understand the rules and get into the rhythm, only to slowly drift as the laps dragged on, the novelty faded, and everything started to feel a bit too drawn-out and familiar. The movie gave me that same sensation: thrilling at first, then gradually losing momentum—until I kind of wished it could end a few laps sooner.
Let’s start with the thrilling part: the races. Shot partially during real F1 events using modified cars—with both Brad Pitt and Damson Idris actually driving—the racing sequences literally had my heart pounding. Director Joseph Kosinski clearly aimed to recapture the intensity he brought to the flying scenes in Top Gun: Maverick, and in those moments, he absolutely succeeds. There are stretches—especially early on—where the sense of speed is electric, thanks to tight editing, jaw-dropping sound design, and Hans Zimmer’s rhythmic, downright cool score. Despite how I felt about the rest of the film, it more than warrants being seen in theaters for the spectacle alone.
But for all that impressive craft, it eventually started to feel like empty spectacle. The intensity rarely turns into real suspense—even during the races. The exception is an early sequence where Pitt races against the clock, which genuinely had me sweating. But for most of the film, I saw cars gaining or losing positions without feeling anything. Part of that comes down to how the film explains the sport—it tends to drop rules in right as they’re needed (like someone saying a car must exit the pit before the safety car… and five seconds later, there’s the car exiting the pit before the safety car). It all feels too scripted, too convenient.
The bigger issue, though—and maybe the most expected one—is what happens between the races. You look at recent great racing movies like Rush or Ford v Ferrari, and you can see how much the off-track drama made the races even more exhilarating. F1, instead, is weighed down by how familiar—and how insistent—it is on sticking to formula. Where Top Gun: Maverick made old-school beats feel classic, F1 just makes them feel old.
My issue isn’t with the clichés themselves. It’s more about how the film keeps circling the same beats without much build or payoff. The cocky older mentor and the even cockier rookie bring some good laughs at first, but by the second half, when the film is still pushing that dynamic, I was just waiting for the characters to grow up and move on. Same with the traumatic backstory, the predictable romance, the capitalist villain… we’ve seen it all before, yet the movie spends so much time on these elements as if they’re big revelations.
And that’s the thing—F1 is a technically stunning movie. The racing is exciting, the camera angles are clever, the production value is top-notch. But it’s not a truly dynamic film. I kept wishing for more energy during the dramatic moments—bolder montages to show the evolution of the car, or more visual personality. Even 10% of what Speed Racer (2008) dared to do would’ve gone a long way toward lifting the downtime. For a film about passion being crushed by corporate forces, it ironically feels… kind of passionless. It’s so focused on being precise and impressive—which it absolutely is—but it never hits top speed.