Anticipation is building for Joseph Kosinski’s “F1” film, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris. Audiences are set to be amazed by its immersive racing footage. The movie dedicates a significant portion of its runtime to on-track action. This is a departure from typical sports dramas. The realism achieved in the racing sequences is particularly striking.
This Apple-backed project boasts legendary driver Lewis Hamilton as a producer. Think of it like LeBron James producing a basketball film featuring actual NBA players. A core strategy involved partnering with Formula One. This allowed shooting during major races in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris even spent months training. They learned to handle race cars capable of speeds over 200 mph. While access was key, it doesn’t fully explain how the fictional APXGP (Apex) team merged with the real F1 world. Let’s break down exactly how this unprecedented film came to life.
Unprecedented Partnership Puts Film in the Pits
Director Joseph Kosinski, alongside producers Brad Pitt, Lewis Hamilton, and Jerry Bruckheimer, needed to convince Formula One. Their vision was to capture the sport’s speed and behind-the-scenes intensity realistically. F1 saw this as a chance to promote the sport globally. They agreed to a comprehensive collaboration. This partnership granted access like never before.
Tim Bampton, with thirty years in professional sports, joined as an executive producer. His role was to lead and manage the integration of the film production into the racing schedule. The access was truly extraordinary. The massive Apex team traveled with the real F1 teams. They built their garage alongside them at city after city. This allowed the “F1” production to film against a live backdrop. Imagine the electric energy of hundreds of thousands of fans. Iconic circuits like those in Las Vegas and Budapest provided unparalleled production value. Even a $200-million-plus film budget couldn’t create this authenticity. Visual effects simply cannot replicate that real-world atmosphere and detail.
The film incorporates scenes from nine actual races. Dedicated racing fans will spot real-life dramatic moments. These include Checo’s turn one collision in Mexico and Ocon and Gasly colliding in Hungary. Director Kosinski made a promise to the real drivers. The fictional film would preserve the official leaderboards of almost every real race. This decision didn’t compromise the narrative. The story centers on an underdog team at the back of the grid, fighting for survival.
Navigating the High-Speed Schedule
Initially, the filmmakers planned to shoot entirely during the 2023 season. However, the SAG actors’ strike began just as production started. This forced a change in plans. Kosinski’s team filmed race footage without actors for 38 days in 2023. They then returned in 2024 to shoot scenes involving Brad Pitt and Damson Idris. While the strike felt like a major setback initially, Kosinski later noted a benefit. The split season allowed them to edit footage in between seasons. This gave them a clearer idea of exactly what shots were still needed when they returned to the tracks in 2024.
Executive producer Tim Bampton established a crucial guiding principle. The film production could never, under any circumstances, interfere with the integrity of the sporting competition. This rule dictated a unique and challenging filming style. The “F1” team had to be ready to capitalize on any short break in the action. These pauses could be as brief as five to fifteen minutes between practice or qualifying sessions.
Actors and crew had to be prepared for rapid, one-take shooting. Kosinski described it like a “live show.” Brad Pitt and Damson Idris would sit in their cars, tires warm, engines ready. As soon as a real session ended, they would pull onto the track. They had to immediately shoot their required sequences. A critical dramatic scene at the grid right before a race start is a prime example. They had only an eight-minute window to capture it. Kosinski explained this demanded weeks of pre-production rehearsal. Camera crews practiced with stopwatches. Everyone knew their precise positions. This ensured actors could step directly into the shot coverage. It was a completely different approach to filmmaking.
Revolutionary Camera Tech for Unmatched Realism
Joseph Kosinski’s previous film, “Top Gun: Maverick,” was praised for putting the audience in the fighter jet cockpit. Achieving a similar immersive feel was the goal for “F1.” However, there’s a key difference between planes and F1 cars. An FA-18 flying at high speed isn’t significantly affected by fifty pounds of camera equipment. The challenge there was securing the cameras firmly. Formula One cars are different. Every extra pound, every aerodynamic adjustment, critically impacts performance.
Kosinski needed a multi-camera system. It had to capture various angles. Crucially, it needed to be extremely small and lightweight. It also had to allow for panning and tilting to refine compositions. To meet this challenge, cinematographer Claudio Miranda partnered with Sony. Together, they developed a new piece of camera technology. It is now known as “Carmen.” Kosinski describes it simply as a “sensor on a stick.”
Fifteen Sony Carmen camera sticks were strategically placed around the fictional Apex cars. These captured Brad Pitt and Damson Idris while driving. The essential camera bodies, batteries, and RF equipment (for sending video signals) were cleverly built into the floor of the car itself.
Race fans are familiar with onboard cameras used in F1 broadcasts. These are typically mounted behind the driver’s helmet, facing forward through the windshield. The standard broadcast quality is usually 720P. This creates a slightly distant, almost hidden camera feel on television. However, 720P resolution isn’t sufficient for the big screen. The film production team worked with Apple to overcome this. They utilized the camera sensor, chip, and iOS software from an iPhone. This technology helped them build a new camera. It was similar in size to the standard onboard camera pod but delivered cinema-quality footage.
Then came a truly significant step. Formula One granted permission for these new Apple cameras to be installed inside two to three real F1 cars. These cameras captured authentic perspectives during the actual races, not just the fictional Apex cars.
Blending Fiction into Reality with Visual Effects
Kosinski’s team had access to extensive race footage. They could count on having between 30 to 35 camera angles of the real races. Around sixteen of these came from their own cinema cameras. Integrating footage from the standard F1 broadcast cameras presented challenges. Like many sports, F1 races are often shot at high frame rates with fast shutter speeds. This minimizes motion blur. It’s essential for clarity, especially to keep sponsors’ logos visible on fast-moving cars. This results in an image that can feel hyper-real and less cinematic. Additionally, broadcast feeds are compressed for real-time transmission.
Director Kosinski worked directly with F1 to modify this process. “I got them to change their shutter angle for me,” he explained. This helped achieve a more cinematic look. Furthermore, they found a way to intercept the 4K feed. This was done before it was broadcast or compressed. “We were able to put raw recorders on those cameras,” Kosinski said. This allowed them to capture uncompressed footage from up to twenty of F1’s own track cameras at every race.
Integrating the fictional Apex team cars into the actual race footage required sophisticated visual effects. The “F1” VFX team used a technique called “re-skinning.” This method was refined during the production of “Top Gun: Maverick.” It involved transforming a real race car captured in the footage into one of the black and gold Apex cars.
After each race, the editorial team meticulously reviewed and logged every significant event. This created an organized database of moments. If editor Stephen Mirrione needed a shot of a car passing another on the right side, he could quickly find relevant options from a specific race. Producer Lewis Hamilton’s deep knowledge of each track was crucial here. Kosinski noted Hamilton was eagle-eyed. He wouldn’t let filmmakers cheat by using footage from a different race or misrepresenting track details.
Kosinski described the process: “We would cut the real footage from the real race [into the movie] and we would put these little ‘bugs’… on the car that we were going to turn into an Apex car.” For a year and a half, he watched cuts of the movie filled with these small, floating logos. These were completely indecipherable to anyone else. Once a specific shot was approved and committed to the film’s timeline, the visual effects team would perform the “re-skin.”
Storytelling That Speaks to Everyone
Every race sequence in the movie needed its own narrative arc. These often rely on viewers understanding the nuances and strategy of car racing. The goal was to make a film appreciated by dedicated F1 fans. Equally important was ensuring a casual movie-goer wouldn’t get lost.
This presented a constant challenge: exposition. Explaining complex concepts within a film can slow the story down. It risks pulling the viewer out of the immersive experience. To solve this, the filmmakers brought in Sky Sports announcers David Croft and Martin Brundle. They play themselves in the film.
Kosinski observed how Croft and Brundle handle their live commentary. “I noticed [Croft and Brundle] do this amazing thing,” he noted. They naturally weave in explanations of fundamental racing concepts. This provides necessary context for someone tuning in for the first time. For diehard fans, their voices are instantly recognizable. This lends significant authenticity to the race sequences. Croft and Brundle were recorded during post-production. They provided an extensive nineteen hours of voiceover. This gave the editing team plenty of material to integrate naturally into the film’s commentary.
Using Modified Formula Two Cars
Using actual Formula One cars for Brad Pitt and Damson Idris’s Apex team was simply not feasible. An F1 car is incredibly complex and expensive to operate. “A Formula One car requires about 30 people to start it,” Kosinski explained. Running one for a single day costs roughly $250,000. A Formula Two (F2) car is significantly less demanding. “A Formula Two car can be started by two people,” he said. The daily cost drops dramatically to about $30,000.
Crucially, F2 cars offer impressive performance. They provide around ninety percent of the capability of an F1 car. Kosinski pointed out that ninety percent was more than sufficient for filming purposes. Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, despite their training, weren’t expected to operate in that upper ten percent performance realm. The production purchased six F2 cars specifically for the film. These were then shipped to the Mercedes F1 factory. Mercedes engineers and technicians modified them. They were adapted to look like F1 cars and equipped with the necessary mounts for filming cameras.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did the “F1” movie achieve its realistic racing footage?
The movie achieved realism through an unprecedented partnership with Formula One. This allowed the production team to film during actual race weekends in 2023 and 2024. They integrated a fictional team into real events and locations. They used innovative, custom-built lightweight cameras on film cars and even real F1 cars. Visual effects ‘re-skinned’ real cars in footage to represent the fictional team. This combination created highly authentic on-track visuals.
What special camera technology was developed for the “F1” movie cars?
Two key camera systems were used. The “Carmen” system, developed with Sony, is a small, lightweight multi-camera rig described as a “sensor on a stick.” Fifteen were placed around the film’s cars, with components integrated into the chassis. For onboard cockpit views, a cinema-quality camera was built using Apple/iPhone technology. This was similar in size to broadcast cameras and was even placed in actual F1 cars during races.
Why did the “F1” movie use F2 cars instead of actual F1 cars for filming?
Filming with real F1 cars is prohibitively expensive and complex. An F1 car costs about $250,000 per day to run and requires around 30 people to start. The production used six modified Formula Two (F2) cars instead. F2 cars cost roughly $30,000 per day to run and only need two people to start. They also provide about 90% of F1 performance, which was sufficient for the actors driving and filming needs.
The Verdict: Pushing the Boundaries of Filmmaking
Creating “F1” demanded immense logistical coordination and technical innovation. The production team successfully embedded themselves within the high-stakes world of Formula One. They navigated the constraints of live sporting events. They developed groundbreaking camera systems. They leveraged cutting-edge VFX techniques. The result is a film promising unparalleled racing authenticity. This unique approach, blending fictional narrative with real-world competition, sets a new standard for sports cinema. It showcases the incredible effort required to bring the thrill of Formula One to the big screen with genuine realism.
Word Count Check: 1192
