F1 Movie Teaser: What are we in for in the Brad Pitt racing film?

A brand new movie set in Formula One is coming in summer of 2025, starring Brad Pitt. The first teaser to the simply-titled 'F1' gives a taste of what awaits.

There is no denying that Formula One has risen to an even bigger worldwide popularity than it already had in the last few years. The 'Drive to Survive' docuseries is often given credit for getting new fans into the sport, and the upcoming movie - simly titled 'F1' - is another testament to this.

Starring Brad Pitt, the film is set to debut on June 25, 2025 (June 27 in the US). Its plot outline is told rather swiftly: Pitt's character Sonny Hayes, who raced in F1 in the 1990s but retired after a major crash, is asked to come back to mentor Joshua Pearce (played by Damson Idris) at the Apex Grand Prix Team. So far, so similar to the Silvester Stallone arc of Joe Tanto coming out of retirement to mentor Jimmy Bly in 2001's CART movie 'Driven' - which is not exactly the second coming of 1966's 'Grand Prix', to put it mildly.

Assuming that Hayes last raced in F1 in 1999 and the movie is set in 2025 indeed, he would make his comeback after 26 years away from the sport. If that seems a bit excessive to you, we do not blame you. For reference, the record of the longest gap between Grand Prix starts is held by Jan Lammers at slightly over 10 years. The Dutchman had raced in his home Grand Prix for Theodore in 1982, getting his final shot at F1 for the final rounds of the 1992 season with the struggling March team.

"Who said anything about safe?"​

Anyway, eyebrow-raising statistics aside, let's look at what the teaser actually showed us. 'F1' scenes have been shot at actual races in 2023, and with the actual Formula One backing the film, all the teams, drivers and other personnel fans already know are there. Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, the Hungaroring and Monza feature prominently in the teaser, mostly in the driving scenes. We have to say: The wide-angle onboard shots do look cool, as they give an increased sense of speed.

The teaser does not give away much regarding the storyline, only really touching upon it at the very start. Pitt's character lists Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin, and McLaren as having "the speed on the straights." APXGP's shot: "We need to build a car for combat" to take it to the competition in the turns. Hayes' cheesy reply to what we can only assume to be the constructor of the car (played by Kerry Condon) wondering how to make that safe is "Who said anything about safe?"

No further dialogue features in the teaser, but we are treated to Queen's 'We Will Rock You' instead. Shots alternate between the pit crews, Hayes getting ready to get in the car on the grid, crews on the pit wall (including a Günther Steiner cameo in which he gets flipped the bird), and on-track action.

Story Does Not Seem To Be A Strength​

And let's face it: The latter is most likely the most important aspect, at least to racing fans. Sure, a good plot adds to any film, but 1971's 'Le Mans' - generally regarded as one of the greatest racing movies ever made - hardly has any. Aside from the race itself, that is. And personally, the story in the aforementioned 'Grand Prix' is not exactly why I rewatch that movie from time to time - it is all about the portrayal of the racing itself.

Judging from the scenes in the teaser, this could be 'F1's strength. The camera angles used for the on-track clips pulls the viewer in to be in the middle of the action, without any overdone effects that we could spot in this teaser, anyway. Since F1 supports the film, we should assume that they would want a decent portrayal of their own series on the big screen - whether or not that is actually the case, we will see once more teasers and trailers of the film are published leading up to its premiere.

What are your first impressions of the 'F1' movie teaser? Are you looking forward to the film? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!