From the earliest whispers about the prospect of a big Formula 1 movie, the word “authenticity” has been at the forefront. With Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski at the helm and Apple funding the budget, the movie was filmed alongside real F1 teams, at real racing circuits, in real racing cars, with the intention of making “the most authentic racing movie” in Hollywood history. No mean feat.

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For context, the story follows Brad Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, an aging racing driver who returns to Formula 1 when he’s approached by his former F1 teammate, Ruben Cervantes (played by Javier Bardem), whose struggling F1 team, APXGP (pronounced "apex"), is under risk of being sold if they don’t win one of the nine remaining races in the season. Sonny — an F1 prodigy 30 years ago, who hasn’t driven in the division since — must race alongside a fiery rookie teammate, Joshua Pearce (played by Damson Idris), as he navigates the road to redemption.

And so, now that F1: The Movie is in theaters worldwide and well on its way to becoming one of the box office hits of the year, let’s put the authenticity to the test and break down what the movie got right about the real F1 world, and what was maaaaybe exaggerated for the Hollywood cameras. (Spoilers to follow!)

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Before we get into it, it’s worth mentioning that I’m a massive motorsport fan. Like, huge. I’ve attended F1 races and interviewed drivers and team principals from up and down the grid. And if that wasn’t cool enough, I just got to join Ferrari in the paddock at the British Grand Prix this month, so I’m talking from experience, here! Big thanks to CELSIUS, one of Scuderia Ferrari’s sponsors, for the invite! But more on that later.

Right: Speed, excitement, and fanfare.

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Let’s get this one out of the way first, because this is something that the film’s creators undoubtedly nailed. With cameras literally fitted onto the cars that Brad and Damson were actually driving on the tracks, there is no denying that the movie did justice to the speed at which the cars are going in real life. While watching the film’s on-track racing sequences in the cinema, I was gritting my teeth in the same way I would be while watching F1 cars fly round a circuit in real life — and that’s quite a testament. On top of that, the film also very accurately portrays all the glitz, glam, and excitement that comes with an F1 race weekend, particularly at a race like Las Vegas. Top marks!

Wrong: Sonny Hayes probably wouldn’t have gotten that F1 race seat.

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Formula 1 is one of the only sports in the world where only 20 (soon to be 22) people in the world can actually do it at once. For that reason, even getting to race for one of the teams is incredibly competitive — and, unfortunately, it’s not always just about how good you are. Getting a race seat in F1 involves not only masses of talent and years of success in other racing categories, but is also quite political and can have a lot to do with a driver’s personal connections. For example, maybe their aunt is a billionaire who can bring in some money to the team, or perhaps they have a tie to a big company that’s willing to sponsor them — yep, nepotism goes a long way in motorsport. 

For that reason, it’s pretty unlikely that, even for a struggling team like APXGP, Sonny would’ve gotten the call-up or been approved for the F1 seat, particularly midway through the season. This is something that’s addressed at the start of the movie when team boss Ruben briefly explains why he wanted to opt for an experienced driver instead of promoting a rookie from one of the Formula 2 or Formula 3 categories. Despite this, the prospect of a 60-ish-year-old man with a has-been reputation being offered the job still feels a little far-fetched. Sorry!

Right: Yep, coming in 10th place can be a really, really, really big deal.

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In your average Formula 1 season, top drivers like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are scoring hundreds and hundreds of points to take home the championship. But, away from the big team names, there are mid-to-lower field teams where scoring a single point in a race can potentially be the difference between bankruptcy and millions. Of course, this is the case for the people of APXGP, who, in the movie, risk losing their jobs if the team doesn’t drastically improve. And so, it’s safe to say that this is a very realistic depiction of the pressure faced by struggling teams in F1, whereby a 1-point win for a 10th-place finish can literally feel like the biggest triumph in the sport, because, for them, it kind of is.

Wrong: The representation of women in F1 jobs.

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While watching F1: The Movie, I had a notepad and pen and was tallying the number of women depicted as employees of APXGP, both at the track and the factory. It’s possible I missed some in the split seconds that I was reaching down to snack on popcorn, but still, by the end of the film, I had spotted only four women in the team’s uniform. 

Now, I don’t want to complain too much, as I think it was great that Kerry Condon’s character, Kate, was portrayed as the team’s kick-ass technical director and one of the film’s key players. However, given that she was the most prominent female character in the movie, I wasn’t obsessed with the fact that they brought her professionalism into question by having her fall in love with Sonny, as if she couldn’t help herself. 

Additionally, I think we could’ve done with a few more women working on the fictional APXGP team. Sure, the F1 paddock has long been dominated by men, both in the cars and out of them, but times are changing, and there are more women than ever before working in roles up and down the paddock. With that in mind, I would’ve loved to have seen a better depiction of that in the movie. Would it have been that hard?

Right: Prep, performance, and recovery are EVERYTHING.

Celsius

While the racing sequences were spectacular, the movie also shares some realistic insight into what the drivers get up to out of the car and the lengths they go to perform at their best. From Joshua’s track runs to Sonny’s garage ice baths, preparation and recovery are paramount, which undoubtedly shines through in the film. Energy is everything for athletes, which is why you’ll see Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fuel up on CELSIUS energy drinks to help them perform at the highest level throughout the long season. Just like “F1: The Movie,” there’s pretty much something for everyone when it comes to CELSIUS drinks. The new flavors include Peach Vibe (white peach), Fantasy Vibe (orange), Cosmic Vibe (fruit burst), and Sunset Vibe (mango passion fruit, my favorite of the bunch!). CELSIUS has been a Scuderia Ferrari Team Partner since 2023, and the two organizations share a passion for extracting the strongest performance each day. And that’s something we can all agree on!

Wrong: The super, super dramatic crashes.

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It’s no secret that Formula 1 is a very high-risk sport. However, tons of advancements (in terms of car design, race regulations, and what the drivers wear) have made it much safer in the past decade or so. With this in mind, you could say that a couple of the big crashes during the racing scenes are a little inaccurate and probably wouldn’t have played out that way had they occurred in an actual F1 race today. If you watch F1, you know that the big crashes are dramatic and scary enough as they are, so the exaggeration was probably a little unnecessary. But that’s showbiz, baby!

Right: Yep, the drivers really are under that much media pressure.

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Away from Sonny’s storyline, Joshua is navigating the future of his Formula 1 career. As part of this, both his manager and the APXGP publicist are constantly buzzing around, reminding him about media appearances, brand deals, and social media engagement. In the current F1 era, whether a driver’s season is thriving or not, a surprisingly large part of their day-to-day work is about not what they’re doing in the car, but what they say and do out of it, from Instagram posts to press conferences. This is honestly ironic, when, for the most part, all these drivers care about is getting behind the wheel and racing.

Wrong: Driver beefs aren’t usually that dramatic.

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One of the most engaging arcs in the movie is the rivalry between the newbie Joshua and the veteran Sonny, but whether the heated beef between the teammates is actually plausible is up for debate. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some fierce rivalries in Formula 1 — and there definitely still are. But, in a sport where image and PR are everything, it’s unlikely that you’ll see two teammates getting into a physical altercation in front of photographers at a race. If that were happening in the paddock today, there’s the risk that one of the drivers might be reprimanded and perhaps even lose their seat. With that in mind, even if a set of teammates come to blows on track, there’s usually some level of respect and sportsmanship in their dynamic off track; however, for Sonny and Joshua, this didn’t always appear to be the case.

Right: Familiar faces in the paddock.

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The unique crossover between real life and fiction might be what makes this movie so fascinating — and, IMO, what will probably make the film age really well in years to come. As we mentioned, the movie was created in collaboration with all 10 Formula 1 teams and was shot at actual F1 races throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons. And so, the real-life F1 drivers are fully integrated into the movie in a way that feels quite seamless. 

On a slightly deeper level, though, the film also featured a ton of prominent media and F1 personalities, who’d be instantly recognizable to those who actually watch the sport regularly. For example, there are appearances from Toto Wolff, the real CEO of the Mercedes F1 team, Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren Racing, Fred Vasseur, the Team Principal of Ferrari, and Stefano Domenicali, the big boss of F1. On top of that, the press conference scenes see Sonny, Joshua, and Ruben being interviewed by actual F1 journalists, which is a fun touch, similar to how the race sequences are commentated by David Croft and Martin Brundle, who are the voices of Sky Sports’ F1 coverage in the UK.

Wrong: You can’t just show up before the race and get in the car. You’re literally not allowed.

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If we’re being petty, this was perhaps one of the funniest inaccuracies in the movie. After being let go from APXGP, Sonny rocks up to track in Abu Dhabi and unexpectedly takes part in the last race of the season to take home the win (Yay!). Now, this is all well and good, and obviously a critical plot point in the story's conclusion. However, it’s worth noting that this is literally against the rules of Formula 1, as the FIA regulations state that a driver must take part in at least one practice session and the qualifying session in order to drive in the main race. In other words, you can’t just rock up on a Sunday afternoon and hop into the car, not even if you’re Brad Pitt on a mission to save the day.

Well, those were my hot takes, but on the whole, I loved this movie and thought it did an exceptional job of portraying the fun, passion, and excellence at the heart of Formula 1. It’s also worth mentioning that Sir Lewis Hamilton served as an executive producer and was an integral part of the making of this film. So, if the seven-time world champion was happy to let Hollywood take a few creative liberties, then who am I to judge?

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