F1 racing, also known as Formula 1, is the latest sensation that’s sweeping the nation(s). It seems like everywhere, people are getting into the high-speed world of the fastest cars around. And that involves those of us going to the movies. Barreling into theaters soon is the high-octane, thrilling (though heartfelt) racing film, F1, from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski. F1 is no normal race car movie though, much of the film was actually made and acted in real F1 cars going at top speed. And a lot of the footage was captured during actual F1 races because well, you just can’t fake the energy of that crowd. And now, to get us extra excited, the first trailer for the F1 movie, starring Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, and Damson Idris has arrived.
You can check out F1‘s trailer in all its glory below.
At a special event celebrating F1‘s trailer, director Joseph Kosinski revealed that no regular car was going to be able to capture the magic of a real F1 race car. And so the actors, including Brad Pitt and Damson Idris were actually filmed inside cars going at over 100 miles per hour. That’s a truly fast-moving movie. Pitt and Idris also learned how to drive the cars themselves in order to get the most realistic moments possible for F1 (as we can see in the F1 trailer.) Kosinski called the movie a live stage play at 180 miles per hour. That’s not something you see every day.
Additionally, we learned that Pitt and Damson were thankfully adept at driving fast while filming F1. Famed Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton gave them his very own seal of approval. Had they not been able to drive, the whole movie would have been very different.
F1 was also filmed in quick bursts right in the middle of F1 races, during Grand Prix weekends. Takes had to be nailed down in the fifteen minutes F1 had between the practice run and the actual F1 race. And the crowd that’s present in the movie is a real crowd, too. Something that makes all the difference.
But, of course, as we see in the F1 trailer, F1 has thrills but also deep emotional beats. Kosinski shared that the relationship between Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, what he called a three-decade friendship, really brought a true level of camaraderie to the movie, one that cannot be faked. Of course, seeing Idris and Pitt act opposite each other was also an incredible experience.
In addition to the trailer, F1 shares a robust synopsis:
Dubbed “the greatest that never was,” Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was Formula 1®’s most promising phenom of the 1990s until he spectacularly crashed and burned. Thirty years later, he’s a nomadic racer-for-hire when he’s approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling F1® team that is on the verge of collapse. Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to Formula 1® for one last shot at saving the team and being the best in the world. He’ll drive alongside Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team’s hotshot rookie intent on setting his own accelerated pace. But as the engines roar, Sonny’s past catches up with him and he finds that in F1®, your teammate is your fiercest competition—and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.
F1 releases in theaters and IMAX nationwide on June 27, 2025 and internationally beginning June 25, 2025.