^{By: Amanda Guarragi}

The world of F1 is an international event that unites people from all over the world. With each new circuit, the drivers become well-known and their skills are unmatched on the track. Racing has been treated as a dangerous sport because anything can go wrong on the track, especially if you’re not a seasoned driver. 

There have been film adaptations of racing video games, like Gran Turismo and Need for Speed, but those did not come with a fan base that has been circling tracks for decades. Apart from racing, Formula 1 has its politics as an organization, which films have also explored. It has never been about the construction of the car or the curve of the tracks, but more so about the drivers who risk it all for glory. 

Joseph Kosinski’s F1 is a true sports underdog story about an old-timer, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), returning to the track after an accident that knocked him out of pro racing. Sonny is recruited by his friend Ruben (Javier Bardem), who wants a seasoned driver paired with up-and-comer Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) for his team APXGP. 

After the success of Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski had major shoes to fill. To some, Maverick cannot be touched because of the high-octane thrill it gave audiences, and to others, they still had optimism going into F1. Similar to Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt does have the leading man energy to star in a summer blockbuster and make it the movie of the summer. 

Unfortunately for me, F1 was lacking in thrills and didn’t feel compelling enough to lock in with these characters. It very much felt like Days of Thunder was remade with a modern take on the world of Formula 1 racing. Of course, the international tracks have evolved, and so has the construction of the cars themselves, but even a generic sports film needs to have something to set it apart from the rest. 

The main issue with F1 was the lack of depth for its characters. The relationship between Joshua and Sonny was integral to making the veteran/newcomer banter believable on and off the track, but sadly, it wasn’t developed to its full extent. It felt as though the scenes between them were cut short, and they couldn’t build off each other. Idris had more of a presence than Pitt in this case, and it’s because he could be more playful, whereas Pitt was more stoic and reserved. 

The film went through the motions and felt repetitive. The racing sequences were strong for the most part, but they still didn’t bring the same thrill level as Top Gun: Maverick. 

Normally, it’s unfair to compare, but having the same director and writer on board for F1 and underperforming is questionable. Two racing sequences did have some juice, and it’s because Joshua and Sonny were working off each other on the track. 

Claudio Miranda also made the entire film look and feel authentic with his cinematography. What he and Kosinski did on the track was playful and felt like a first-person video game simulation. There is a level of difficulty when placing the audience in the shoes of the driver, and they did it well. 

However, it also became repetitive with the shots, and the editing was another reason why the film didn’t quite work. The characters needed to be more developed than to coast on generic underdog sports conventions. 

F1 does have some strong moments on the track, but it’s the lack of character development that holds this back. The pacing in a racing-based film is important. It shouldn’t feel like it’s dragging or that there aren’t any stakes to make the audience care about the characters.

It felt like a by-the-numbers sports film lacking heart with a messy script. They could have done so much more with Damson Idris and Brad Pitt, and, unfortunately, this fell short. F1 does feel like a summer movie, and if you’re a fan of Formula 1, you most likely will enjoy how they incorporated all aspects of racing.