A Formula One driver comes out of retirement to mentor and team up with a younger driver.

I suppose a movie based on Formula 1 Racing has every right to be formulaic. And hey, formulas exist for a reason: they work. F1 is every bit of a formulaic movie. There’s nary a plot point you can’t see coming, but it is enjoyable throughout, albeit a tad overlong.

Brad Pitt is Sonny Hayes, an aging driver who never won his big race, pulled back in the fold by his old friend, Ruben (Javier Bardem). Sonny matches wits and skills with hot young driver Maverick  Joshua Pierce (Damson Idris) who thinks he’s hot shit but has a lot to learn. Kerry Condon is the technical whiz who, naturally, has a thing with Sonny. It’s basically Top Gun on the racetrack, not unsurprising given it’s co-written and directed by Joseph Kosinski, who helmed Top Gun: Maverick in 2022.

Idris is a supremely charming screen presence, and there is a great vibe between him and Pitt. Ted Lasso alum Sarah Niles is great in her too-brief appearances as Pierce’s mother (despite the fact she’s only four years older than him). The racing scenes are truly energetic, and Pitt uses his expert screen presence to great effect here. It’s a decent film, if, as aforementioned a bit expected.

Jonathan’s grade – B