Story

Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is a rebellious former Formula One (F1) driver whose career ended in a crash 3 decades ago. Now living out of a van and racing wherever he can find work, Sonny wins a race at Daytona and catches the attention of his former F1 teammate, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem). Ruben now owns the struggling APX GP team. He tells Sonny that the team will be sold off if they can’t win a race by the end of the season and offers Sonny a position on the squad.

At APX, Sonny meets Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), a talented rookie eager to prove himself so that he might be picked up by another team if APX folds. Sonny and Joshua’s personalities immediately clash, and their conflict carries onto the racetrack. Yet over time, Sonny steps into a mentor role and they begin to work together. With the help of technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), who redesigns their vehicles for aggressive, ‘combat-style’ racing, the team begins to show promise. But as the season winds down, the question remains: can APX secure a victory in time, and can Sonny finally earn the win that eluded him decades ago?

Themes

Serious injury; gambling

Violence

F1 The Movie has some violence. For example:

  • Sonny is battling another driver at Daytona and rams into him, causing the other driver to lose control of his vehicle.
  • Sonny and Joshua get into an argument. Joshua lunges towards Sonny and is held back by some APX team members.
  • Joshua’s mother threatens to put Sonny in a hospital bed if his actions cause Joshua any further injuries following a crash.
  • Sonny collides with other drivers, damaging his vehicle, to take advantage of F1 safety procedures.
  • Sonny shoves Joshua into a wall after he deliberately takes Sonny out of a race.
  • Sonny drives angrily following false allegations of APX using unapproved car parts. This causes him to crash, and he is hospitalised following the incident.
  • There are many bumps with other cars, blown tyres, and damaged vehicles throughout the races due to aggressive F1 drivers.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in F1 The Movie.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

F1 The Movie has some substance use. For example:

  • Sonny and Kate share beers.
  • The winners of the F1 races spray champagne.
  • While at a hotel, Joshua drinks a Heineken while Sonny drinks a clear spirit.
  • After spending the night with Sonny, Kate mentions that she shouldn’t drink tequila.
  • Someone smokes a cigarette.

Nudity and sexual activity

F1 The Movie has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

  • Sonny is shown shirtless on numerous occasions: in an ice bath, while training, while getting dressed, and while lying on a couch.
  • Joshua runs while shirtless.
  • Sonny and Kate kiss and are later shown in bed together. It’s implied they had sex.
  • Joshua visits a club where some female dancers wear revealing outfits.

Product placement

F1 The Movie has some product placement. For example, Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Haas, Honda, Lotus, Mercedes, Porsche, Aramco, Good Year Tyres, Michelin, Mobil 1, OMP, Peak, Pirelli, P Zero, Shell, Sunoco, XRG, Camel, Heineken, Marlboro, Amazon, Apple, Chrome, CrowdStrike, Crypto.com, Dell, DHL, Dyson, EA Sports, Etihad Airways, Expensify, GEICO, HP, IWC, Mastercard, MSC, Oracle, Pioneer, Qatar Airways, Red Bull, Rolex, Salesforce, Shark | Ninja, Slazenger, T Mobile, Tag Heuer, The Wynn Hotel Las Vegas, Tommy Hilfiger, Visa and Workday are displayed or used in this movie.

Coarse language

F1 The Movie has some coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

F1 The Movie is a sports action movie that follows a fictional Formula One team. It’s set in the real world and features top teams and drivers, including Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The movie is directed by Joseph Kosinski who also directed Top Gun: Maverick, and the movies have similar themes and tones. F1 The Movie features scary scenes, aggressive driving, coarse language, and mature scenes that are unsuitable for younger viewers. The movie also shows a constant stream of advertisements across the vehicles, driver uniforms, and racetracks. Because of these things, F1 The Movie is unsuitable for children under 12 years, and parental guidance is recommended for children 12-13 years.

The main message from F1 The Movie is that talent and instinct are important, but true victory requires collaboration, trust, and teamwork. The movie also highlights the value of unorthodox, out-of-the-box thinking. In a sport dominated by superior vehicles and massive budgets, creativity becomes a key advantage. This is demonstrated in the movie by the APX team's use of a bold and chaotic 'Plan C’ to take on the superior vehicles and budgets of the other F1 teams.

Values in F1 The Movie that you could reinforce with your children are teamwork, sacrifice, creativity, trust and resilience.

F1 The Movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the risks and potential negative consequences of gambling. Or the safety risks and ethics associated with bending safety rules to achieve better results.

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