A Real Car Instead of CGI
F1 (2025) wasn’t just another high-budget sports drama — it was a statement.
Director Joseph Kosinski, known for Top Gun: Maverick, chose authenticity over digital trickery.
Instead of green screens and stunt doubles, he put Brad Pitt and Damson Idris inside real racing machines, asking them not to imitate drivers, but to become them.
The production team used specially adapted Formula 2 cars, reshaped to mirror the look and feel of Formula 1.
They weren’t mere props — they carried the speed, the weight, the raw power of real race cars.
For the actors, this meant training not for a role, but for survival at 250 km/h.
Authenticity on the edge.
In today’s cinema, speed is often an illusion. Here, it’s tangible.
Every tremor in the cockpit, every jolt of g-force, every flick of light on a visor is captured for real.
The audience isn’t just watching racing — they are pulled into its violence and beauty.
Actor preparation.
Brad Pitt dedicated months to mastering the craft.
He began in Formula 3, learning the rhythm of the track, before stepping up to the more demanding Formula 2.
Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion and consultant on the film, called Pitt’s approach disciplined and instinctive — the mark of someone who didn’t just act the part, but felt it.
Technology meets adrenaline.
To bring viewers closer than ever, engineers embedded miniature cameras directly into the cars.
The result is a perspective unseen even in live Formula 1 coverage — the intimacy of sitting in the driver’s seat as the world blurs around you.
Record-Breaking Box Office and Production Costs
F1 (2025) made history long before the final credits rolled.
The film’s production was estimated at around $200 million — an almost astronomical figure for a sports drama.
This budget enabled a unique mix: real Formula 1 tracks, cutting-edge camera technology, and, most importantly, the actors themselves behind the wheel.
The gamble paid off handsomely.
The film grossed over $620 million worldwide, smashing records and becoming the highest-grossing project in Apple Studios’ history.
In North America, it opened with an impressive $55.6 million, while its global debut weekend soared past $144 million.
This was more than just a successful release — it was a bold statement: audiences are willing to pay for authenticity, for the visceral sense of speed and danger that can almost be felt from the screen.