The first teaser for Brad Pitt’s anticipated Formula 1 film has been released. Will it satisfy motorsport fans?
Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun Maverick) and produced by legend Jerry Bruckheimer, the film revolves around a former F1 driver, Sonny Hayes (Pitt) who comes out of retirement to mentor a rookie driver, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris).
As expected, the film will feature top teams like Red Bull, Ferrari and AMG, along with appearances by real F1 figures such as Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr, Sergio Perez and Benoit Treluyer – with Hamilton also serving as a co-producer.
“We want everyone to love it and to really feel that we can encapsulate what the essence of this sport is about,” Hamilton told media in 2023.
The teaser’s footage appears to capture the high stakes world of F1 racing, with cameras – and likely some computer effects – offering up-close views of the racers tearing around the track.
Much of the footage is taken from real races, too, and Pitt drove an adapted F2 car for many of his scenes.
“There are cameras mounted all over the car,” Pitt told Sky Sports last year. “You’ve never seen speed; you’ve never seen just the G forces like this.”
How realistic the scenarios and dialogue will be, however, remains to be seen. Among the limited spoken parts of this first teaser, Brad Pitt’s character is seen scoffing at safety concerns after asking that the team’s new car be designed “for combat”.
Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, is a retired driver from the ’90s who returns to the sport at the request of his friend Ruben (Javier Bardem), the owner of the struggling team APXGP.
Pitt told Sky Sports that his character Hayes had his career ended early by a horrible crash, but he’s unable to resist Ruben’s call. The APXGP team aims to rise from the bottom ranks with the help of Hayes and their rookie phenom Pearce.
“They’re a last place team, they’re 21-22 on the grid, they’ve never scored a point. But they have a young phenom, played by Damson Idris, and they bring me in as a kind of Hail Mary and hijinks ensure,” Brad Pitt said.
The film is expected to debut in theatres in mid 2025 and later stream on Apple TV+.