It has now been over a month and a half since I’ve seen F1: The Movie in theaters —- I originally planned this post for early July. What an action—packed, summer thrill ride of a film. Why is it that audiences crave their big action movies during the summertime? Or is that a thing that movie marketers made up?

The first time I saw an F1: The Movie starring Brad Pitt poster in the wild I thought, this looks like some Grade-A Hollywood Trash. I was wrong. First off, F1: The Movie is such a silly name. Why not, Drive or Speed or even Rush —- I guess those are all taken, but there are still plenty more words associated with racing. Also, what if there’s a sequel? F1-2: The Movie? F1: The Movie: Part II? That’s going to get confusing.

For some reason seeing Brad Pitt as an F1 driver also turned me off. This was before I learned about his love and respect for fast cars, racing, and Formula 1. I also love Brad Pitt in everything he’s ever done. I re-watched Burn After Reading last week, and that’s still my favorite Brad Pitt performance.

I was wrong for hating on this flick before knowing anything about it. There are just so many instances where a big name is attached to whatever new movie franchise just for the recognition. We especially see this in voice over roles —- Bee Movie starring Jerry Seinfeld. The trailer really started to change my mind. The more I learned about F1: The Movie the more I wanted to see it.

The big moment when I decided I needed to see this movie in theater on opening weekend came when Brad Pitt was a guest on Dax Shepherd’s podcast (Armchair Expert). That conversation cemented it for me. Brad Pitt is just a chill ass dude who still has imposter syndrome even though he is at the top of the Hollywood Elite and has been for many years.

It’s also crazy that Brad Pitt and Damson Idris were hanging out during last season’s F1 race weekends waiting to get on the track and film some racing sequences with real-life F1 drivers (and stunt drivers, of course). Plenty of movies have been filmed during live sporting events, but they usually take place in the crowd. 

Fever Pitch is one of those movies, and I have to watch any time it is on TV. There is even that cool backstory about how the Red Sox winning the World Series actually changed the movie. They had originally planned on the Sox losing — since there was a curse and all. This will be saved for a separate post —- perhaps coming soon to Ferdi’s Learnings.

Since watching F1: The Movie I have made a complete 180 on my opinion of this film. It also happens to be a great time for a Formula 1 movie, as the sport continues to gain popularity across the world and in the States. We’ve now gone from a single American race to three (Austin, Miami, and Las Vegas).

The Movie in The Game

After the theatrical release of F1: The Movie, six memorable moments were made playable in F1 25 (the video game). The challenges are accompanied by short movie clips, so it’s best to watch the film beforehand. Throughout the challenges you get to drive as both Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) and Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris).

My previous F1 25 post went over the return of Braking Point, the F1 series’s story mode where you take control of Formula 1’s fictitious eleventh team, Konnersport. F1: The Movie challenge mode is almost like a barebones version of Braking Point, where you just focus on the racing portions. There’s no press conferences, no interview clips, no emails or phone calls.

The F1: The Movie challenges are another quick way to continue getting familiar with the controls before heading into a driver career or playing online with players all over the world. You may also replay each challenge at different difficulty levels.

What I like about both the F1: The Movie challenges and Braking Points racing gameplay is how it changes the stakes. When playing online or in a career, your goal is to win every race. Challenges give you a couple of laps to achieve a specific goal. That goal could be making your way past a certain driver or slowing down the pack to help your teammate move forward.

F1: The Movie isn’t about APXGP becoming the best team — they are actually the worst team. It’s about surviving. Hey, maybe Drive to Survive would have been a good name for the film. Wait, that’s also taken by the Formula 1 Netflix series — Drive to Survive: The Movie?

What’s Next?

I have already started my F1 25 driver career as Lewis Hamilton with his new team, Scuderia Ferrari. I found it fitting to try and redeem Hamilton in his first season with his new team —- he also happens to be the cover star of F1 25 Iconic Edition. 

Plus, I definitely need to beat Max Verstappen after last season’s fumble with Enzo Fittipaldi (the F2 Driver). I plan to report back later this year, or possibly next year after Going Ham with Ham[ilton].