The world of Formula 1 is revving up bigger and bigger every year. With every race that occurs, audiences everywhere are pulled into the high stakes, high speed thrills of their favorite drivers zooming at top speed down the most challenging tracks ever. This year, Warner Bros, Apple, and director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick, Tron: Legacy) are going to immerse fans deeper than ever into the driver’s seat with their tentpole film F1, hitting theaters June 27!
This week, fans got their first glimpse of what Kosinski is cooking up with star and producer Brad Pitt when the first full trailer for the film officially dropped online. And we were lucky enough to attend a trailer event with Kosinski, as he shared the trailer with us, and spoke about his experience crafting the movie alongside Pitt and seven-time Formula 1 champion and producer Lewis Hamilton.
We’re excited to share what Kosinski had to say about the film at the event! But first, you need to check out the high speed thrills of the F1 trailer, right here:
Joining Pitt on the track will be stars Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, and Snowfall star Damson Idris. Nigerian-British star, Idris, was absolutely brilliant in Snowfall, and it looks like he’s absolutely holding his own against Pitt, meaning he’s on his way to becoming the next great leading man!
Kosinski joined moderator and host Edith Bowman to discuss what it was like to bring the world of F1 to life on the big screen. Here’s what he had to say:
Q: Joseph, what made you want to make a movie about Formula 1?
Kosinski: Well, I think, like a lot of people, during COVID, I found myself starting to watch the races and found this great television show called Drive to Survive. And I found that it’s an incredibly unique sport in that your teammate is also, in many ways, your greatest competition. And for me, that makes for great drama. I also loved how the first season of the show focused on the last place teams — the underdogs — rather than, you know, the Ferrari, the Mercedes, the Red Bull- the teams that you see at the front of the pack. And I thought that there was an interesting story to be told about a an underdog team in trying to not win the championship, but just trying to win one race against these titans of the sport. So that’s where it started. And, you know, lucky for me, I had a contact who was in Formula 1, that I could reach out to. So I did.
What steps did you take to ensure the sport’s intense speed feels as real as possible for the audience?
Well, the first thing I did was reach out to Lewis Hamilton… And obviously he lives that sport every day. He’s one of the greatest of all time. And I asked him to be my partner on making this film. So having Lewis gave me this incredible “in” into this world. And one of the people he introduced me to was Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes. And I started talking with them about wanting to capture the speed of this sport. And it was actually Toto who came up with the idea of, rather than making a movie car fast enough to kind of achieve these speeds, he said, “Why don’t you start with a race car, and take that real race car, and then work the cameras you need into that?” So we did that. We we actually bought six F2 cars — real F2 race cars — and worked with Mercedes, AMG, the Formula 1 team and their engineers to build real race cars that could carry our camera equipment, recorders, and transmitters for making this film. So every time you see Brad or Damson driving this movie, they’re driving on their own in one of these real race cars on a real F1 track. So that’s kind of how we approached the making of this film.
Those men and women behind the scenes in this sport are almost the unsung heroes, in a way, aren’t they? In terms of the engineers and all these people who build these cars and are doing all the kind of science stuff as well, they’re, they’re so important to the success and of the sport,
Yeah, those the drivers are certainly the the face. They’re there in the car on the weekend, but there are literally thousands of people at the factory working on these cars, putting them together the day of the race. A lot of the parts are literally manufactured days before the race, and put on the car. So that was the other aspect that I wanted this film to capture. This was not just the story of the drivers, but you know, the engineers, the team principals, the team owners, and all the people who bring the sport to life and put that car on the track every weekend.
Can you share what exactly went into that process for Brad’s training? And was it actually Brad driving in the film?
Yes, it was Brad and Damson both driving in this film. And in order to get them into these race cars, it required months, literally months, of training. But the first day was was really fun. It was me, Brad, and Lewis Hamilton at the track together. All of us jumping in cars and driving each other around in sports cars, which was one of those things I’ll never forget; having Lewis Hamilton as your driving instructor. But what we learned, and what Louis was saying, you know, was did Brad know how to drive? Because if Brad can’t drive, this whole film wasn’t going to work. And what Lewis was very happy to discover was that, you know, Brad had a lot of just natural ability right from the start. And, I don’t know where he got that, or if he was born with it. And, you know, he rides motorcycles, which I think has something to do with it. But he’s just a very talented, naturally gifted driver, which, you know, for Louis, after that first meeting, gave him a lot of confidence that we might have a shot at pulling this off… he’s just had that natural feel for grip in the car. And what we’re doing on this film is dangerous. So, yeah, you have to be fearless. You know, when you see Brad driving, that’s not acting. He’s really concentrating on keeping that car on the track and out of the wall during all those scenes. So that’s something that you just can’t fake. You know, I hope the audience feels that when I watch the movie.
Do you have to be a fan of motorsport to enjoy the film?
Not at all. This is a movie about friendship, teamwork, sacrifice, redemption. You know, the story, I think, is universal. It just happens to be set in this incredibly exciting world of Formula 1. And if you’re a Formula 1 fan, I think you’re going to like this movie. If you don’t know anything about Formula 1, I think you’re going to like this movie. And you might come out wanting to watch some races, or maybe even go to a race. So yeah, you don’t need to know anything going in. We’ll teach you everything you need to enjoy this.
How did Lewis Hamilton’s input influence, or did it at all influence, the film’s narrative and race sequences? How important was that collaboration for you?
Well, Lewis was instrumental in kind of, not only, the technical aspects, obviously, but in the real kind of formulative stage of the movie and formulating this narrative. We tell the story of Sonny Hayes, who’s kind of a veteran racer. And then Joshua Pierce, who’s a rookie. Lewis has been both. He’s been the rookie, almost winning his first season in Formula 1. And now, you know, with seven World Championships, he’s kind of seen it all. So his perspective on shaping the narrative of these two characters and kind of giving me real insight into what it is that drives him — what makes these guys want to do this, day in, day out — it was really, really helpful. We couldn’t have made this film without him.
How important was it to make sure that you have a compelling set of characters that felt authentic within the racing world? And how did you go about achieving that within Formula 1 itself?
It always starts with a great script and a great story. I knew that no matter how accurate or exciting the racing is, it doesn’t mean anything if you’re not telling a story supported with great characters. So it all starts with the script. And, you know, we worked with Ehren Kruger, who also worked on Top Gun: Maverick. He wrote an incredible script for us to start with. And then, you know, the most important thing a director does, beyond developing the script, is casting. Casting is everything. And the group of actors that we pulled together for this film is pretty incredible. You know, Javier Bardem and Brad together. Their friendship, which is an old one — three decades old — really is the core of this story and of this film. And just seeing them together on-screen is really special. Kerry Condon is the team technical director. So she’s the person in charge of designing the car, and, you know, the engineers and the drivers. There’s some healthy tension there on every team, and it makes for a great relationship between the two of them. And then Damson Idris, who, you know, people might know from his television career, but maybe not from the movies. I’m really excited for people to see him here, going toe-to-toe with Brad on a big screen in a big story. So yeah, we have an incredible cast of supporting actors as well. It’s just a great ensemble… The story has everything. It has the tension you would expect in a movie like this with all the action. But at the same time, you know, there’s some real heart here. Especially in the story of Sonny Hayes and this kind of redemption journey he’s on. There’s humor in there. There’s some romance. There’s a little bit of everything that you need to tell a fully fleshed out, rich story like this.
I imagine that part of your research may well have been to attend a lot of races.
I did. One of the nice benefits of making a movie about Formula 1 is a lot of research, and a lot of travel. Got to see amazing tracks all over the world. And one thing I really love about Formula 1 is every race has its own character. Every weekend it’s very different. I mean, Silverstone, you know, which is the home of Formula 1, where it all started. Versus Spa, which is this amazing track that works its way through the forest to Las Vegas. Which is, you know, totally different. We end the film in Abu Dhabi, which is this incredible track that is just a spectacular way to end the film. But every track has its own personality, its own character. And because we went to all of these places for real, you know, you really feel like you’ve gone around the world when you watch the movie… I absolutely wanted to go to Manza in Italy, you know, to see the old track from Grand Prix. So we shot a scene specifically there for that reason. But yeah, it was an amazing journey around the world. And, yeah, I am really excited for audiences to kind of go on that journey with us.
How did each location impact the narrative and the way you wanted to portray the world?
The tracks, the location, is one thing. But on race weekend, it just becomes this whole different world. It’s like a traveling circus. So we couldn’t just shoot at the track without the race going on. It would have been the wrong dynamic. So we were actually there on race weekend, you know, with hundreds of thousands of people watching. Us finding these time slots between practice and qualifying that Formula 1 graciously afforded us. So we get these 10 or 15 minute slots where we’d have to have Brad and Damson ready in the cars warmed up with hot tires ready to go. And as soon as practice ended, they would pull out onto the track. We’d have, you know, 2,430 cameras ready, rolling, and I’d have to shoot these scenes in these very short, intense, high speed windows. But you know, the crowd you’re seeing was really there in the stands. I don’t think, you know, the crowd realized that Brad Pitt was in the car in front of them. So there was definitely this heightened quality to every race. We were also shooting dramatic scenes on the grid before races. So it was a very unique way of working rather than having a whole day to shoot a scene like you normally would on a movie. We had, you know, these nine or 10 minute slots. So it was like, you know, a live stage play. But in front of hundreds of thousands of people, you know, shooting at 180 miles an hour, literally. So it was an adrenaline rush every weekend. But, you know, what we captured is something you can’t fake. It’s really happening. And I think the audience will see that… I remember, like, our first day, you know, shooting at Silverstone with Javier, Brad, and Tobias Menzies, I literally had like, a piece of paper with an American football diagram of where I had to stand and walk and where you would move to. And, yeah, I think we got three takes in seven minutes or something. And, you know, got what you see in the film. So, yeah, but the actors, you feel that in their performance. They know we’re not going to get 15 tries at it. You got to nail it.
Can you talk about the challenges of making the movie?
The big challenge was just the camera system itself. I mean, we had to develop a brand new camera system. Taking everything we learned on Top Gun: Maverick and pushing it much further. You know, you can’t put 60 pounds of gear onto a race car and expect it’s going to perform the same way. So we took, you know, those Top Gun cameras, and we worked closely with Sony on sizing them down to something about a quarter of the size. And then on top of that, something I really want to do on this film was actually be able to operate and move the cameras while we were shooting. Which was something we weren’t able to do on Top Gun so we have motorized mounts on the car as well. So you have transmitters that are, you know, transmitting the picture back. We’ve got transmitters controlling the movement of the camera I’m sitting at. The base station with Claudio, our cinematographer looking at, you know, 16 screens. I’ve got camera operators, you know, on the controls for the cameras, and it’s calling out camera moves like a live television show while they’re shooting. So you know, so much research and technology and development went into just being able to roll a frame of footage, you know, in addition to the training for the actors and the logistics of shooting in a real race. So it was a lot of prep to be able to pull this off.
Kosinski’s innovation and ability to pull off high speed thrills in Top Gun: Maverick is exactly why I feel like his work on F1 will be just as stellar! We simply cannot wait to see Idris, Pitt, Condon, and Bardem blast down the exotic F1 tracks at over 180 MPH this summer!
F1 hits theaters June 27, 2025!
