In 1986, director Tony Scott released his Navy (not Air Force), Tom Cruise starring classic, “Top Gun”. In 1990, Tony Scott released his Nascar racing, Tom Cruise starring, cult-classic, and “Top Gun” pseudo sequel, “Days of Thunder”.
In 2022, Director Joseph Kosinski released his Navy, Tom Cruise starring sequel, “Top Gun Maverick”. In 2025, Kosinski’s follow up film is a Formula 1 racing, Brad Pitt starring, “Top Gun Maverick” pseudo sequel and “Days of Thunder” pseudo remake, “F1”.
This is to say that “F1” walks all the familiar paths. The camera being mounted straight in the seat of the action and taking in every detail, the intense speed of cutting, the semi-rogue protagonist that goes their own way, the trust that builds among the team through trials of fire, the always charming romantic subplot with the female lead being in an, at least somewhat, authoritative position over the protagonist, and so on.
This is not a criticism on my part. Tropes are tropes for a reason, the only time they typically bring down a film is when they’re not handled properly. Here, they are handled properly.
Throughout “F1” we follow Brad Pitt’s character of Sonny Hayes. Sonny was a Formula 1 prodigy back in the 90s before a major crash ruined his career. At the start of the film we find him in the modern day and while being cocky as ever, he’s not settled on any one path. Having just finished his 1 year contract with a GT racing team, he’s searching for the next gig and comes into contact with an old fellow driver, Javier Bardem’s character Ruben Cervates.
Ruben is leading APXGP a, you guessed it, Formula 1 team. Due to a series of losses and a car that is not quite up to snuff, the board of APXGP is considering an ouster of Ruben and a sale of the team’s assets. Ruben already has one rookie driver in Damson Idris’ character of Joshua Pearce, but due to Formula 1 being a team racing sport, he needs another. Sonny is Ruben’s 9th choice and his last hope for a winning season.
As Sonny soon finds out, APXGP is a mess of a team. Their Engineer, Kate McKnenna (Kerry Condon), is having trouble garnering respect. This is partially due to the fact she is unable to get the car to perform at peak ability which is a problem furthered by Joshua’s inexperience as a driver, since he can only provide vague insight into the car’s on-track issues. The pit crew is also a problem, after having been demoralized by a series of mistakes due to the pressure of shaving pit time.
When Sonny comes in, he begins to fix many of these problems. After driving the car he’s able to formulate what Kate will need to modify in order for them to win and he is even able to get the disorganized team together on a group run before each race, which serves as a bonding exercise.
Still, not everyone is happy with this arrangement. Joshua is worried about a veteran racer coming in and not only showing him up, but also taking his spotlight and possibly his career with it. With Sonny having an ego himself, the two inevitably bump heads before putting their differences aside for the betterment of the team.
Where “F1” finds success is in the same areas Kosiniski finds success with his 2011 film “Tron: Legacy” and his “Top Gun” sequel. While the action is the extremely well crafted centerpiece of the work, it doesn’t take away from who these people are. These characters are written likeably and the performances provided by the cast help to sell them to the audience.
There is a human heartbeat with the characters that the viewer relates to on a base level. The old man coming back to his job for one more run in the arena is emotionally satisfying. The young hot-shot coming to terms with who he is and getting knocked down a peg or two is relatable to everyone past the age of 21. Likewise, women trying to make their way in a male dominated field has been a common theme with many characters in film for the past 50 years for a reason, it resonates. Even Ruben’s character could serve as a metaphor for financial concerns after retirement. He retired from his dream job, Formula 1 racing, to a glorified management position and now sits at risk of losing that, too.
The aspects that could be criticized as faults, I consider minimal. It is filled with cliches, but they all work for the story, so who cares. It is slightly long and it is slightly repetitive. There are a lot of crashes, a lot of fights with the crew, a lot of training montages, a lot of scenes with the press, a lot of over the top exposition from the race’s announcers, and a lot of celebrating after finishing a race. But, while being aware of these aspects during my viewing, I didn’t find them to detract from the overall package or even the overall pace. The repetitive bits are saved by really solid editing and a great soundtrack, which both help to make the training montage viewable for the 4th time over.
“F1” is the summer blockbuster that hasn’t been seen since “Top Gun: Maverick”. It’s cheesy and very American in style. It’s a film that doesn’t apologize for using its tropes because those tropes benefit the story you’re watching.
~ DC ~