Sitting in the freezing movie theater in early July watching “F1,” starring Brad Pitt as newly returning driver Sonny Hayes, was quite a confusing experience. Throughout the movie, Hayes traverses the film like an obnoxious American pop star. His team has to pay for his damages, his teammate has to deal with his recklessness, and some of his actions gave me second hand embarrassment.
As a longtime Formula 1 fan, I did not care for the movie.
If I weren’t already an F1 fan, I would have loved the action-packed film with a decent plot line, and would have immediately looked up to see when the next race was. Having the camera attached to the front and back of the cars gave the audience a full 360-degree view of the scene, while also giving us the point of view of the drivers, which was incredible. Getting to see an overtake or a crash on the big screen was enamoring, and something I really loved about the movie.
However, as an F1 fan, the only good parts of the film were the racing shots, and everything else was unrealistic. If you’re looking into seeing the film, maybe wait until you can see it at home, and from there, take it with a grain of salt.
The film seemed like it only used F1 as a backdrop, not the main plot of the movie, as it was advertised. It was overly focused on the reality-TV-drama aspect, and was extremely unrealistic in terms of racing punishments and crashes. For example, there is no way Hayes wouldn’t get a huge penalty after crashing through all the plastic barriers and flipping two cars all in one day.
On a similar note, the film’s portrayal of women also sets back female F1 fans decades by having the only two female characters be the ones to sleep with the drivers and consistently mess up. It underestimates women who have been in the sport for years to basic fangirls who only fancy the drivers. In a sport where women are already severely underrepresented, it only fuels the constant backlash that women do not belong in F1. Many team principles, older drivers, and many older male fans themselves have condemned women in the sport, and consistently leave them out. This movie only emphasizes that point, that women are just there for the men, not for their love or passion for the sport. For me, that hurt.
Despite its good qualities, the film’s alienation of women in motorsports and its negative portrayal of American characters outweighs the good parts. I expected more accurate focus on racing, as was advertised, and left feeling like I had watched a corny action movie.