F1 drivers share their views after watching the upcoming movie on the sport, as Esteban Ocon unknowingly spoiled some it, while Lewis Hamilton spills on more to come.
With just about one month to go, F1 held a premier for current drivers, their partners and the team officials, on the eve of Monaco GP in Monte Carlo. It is unclear who from the team side go for it, but among the drivers 18 of them were present apart from Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll.
The Dutchman wanted to spend his private time at home and indicated the same to Formula One Management, while the Canadian didn’t spill the reason for skipping it. The Brad Pitt and Damon Idris-led movie was well received by those who watched for just over two and a half hour.
Majority understood the Hollywood-ness that the movie entails and didn’t feel as bad as they might have anticipated. Most of it stuck to reality apart from few things which is done to catch the eyeballs of a casual viewer. The drivers hope that the movie can entice new followers going ahead.
Some of the current drivers do feature in minor cameos since it was short during the course of the 2023 and 2024 F1 seasons. Haas’ Esteban Ocon unknowingly spoiled some parts of the movie as he wasn’t aware that the media is still to see it. He referred himself as ‘Tom Holland’ for giving spoilers.
He credited Hamilton, who is one of the producers of the film. The Brit wanted to keep it as authentic and real. The work of Pitt was praised as well, even though the storyline is tad bit crazy considering the age he has decided to compete at the highest level of F1 against a new teammate.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was nervous about the whole thing as he wasn’t sure how the movie will be received by his peers. But he felt proud seeing his own name and production company ‘Dawn Apollo’s name in the credits. There is certainly more to come in terms of animations and movies and potentially TV series too.
Here’s what the F1 drivers said – includes Hamilton –
Pierre Gasly: “Yeah. Honestly, it was really cool to be able to watch the movie for the first time. I think it looked great. I think for Formula 1, for the sport, it’s an amazing opportunity to dive into our world. And yeah, it’s a Hollywood movie, but personally, I’m a big fan of Brad Pitt, and he makes us all look very good as Formula 1 drivers. The production did a fantastic job. I don’t want to give too much away, but I definitely hope that people from the outside are going to enjoy it.”
Charles Leclerc: “It was really cool. I mean, obviously, we are looking at it as Formula 1 drivers, and we always try and see all the small details that are not exactly the way we live things. But it’s very Hollywood-like, and I think that’s really cool because it’s not just for F1 drivers in the end. It’s for a broader audience, and I thought it’s absolutely great for the sport to have a movie like that. The scenes are incredible. I’m super impressed by how the camera was put onto the cars and the angles that we see from the cars driving. I know that Brad drove the car a little bit himself, which is very impressive, and I’m sure he enjoyed it. So it’s really cool. And I think for F1 it’s amazing because we are reaching people that we wouldn’t have reached without this movie. There’s a cool storytelling as well, so that’s nice.”
Isack Hadjar: “I think it was weird to watch a movie about Formula 1. Like, it was quite strange, and I think it’s going to send the sport into another dimension again. I think it’s going to make the sport even bigger, which is nice. And as both said, it’s hard to give feedback, as drivers, because we’re really critical. But I think if you’re a kid or someone who doesn’t know about the sport, I think it’s the best way to get started.”
Alexander Albon: “It was good. I think they’ve done a good balance, to be honest. It’s hard to not look at everything with a fine comb and just see it for what it is – just relax and watch it as a movie. I know you were there. I don’t know if you had the same impression, but I think for Hollywood and for what we do, they did a good job.”
Gabriel Bortoleto: “I think it’s a very Hollywood one, but it’s nice. It’s going to be very good for those that still don’t know the sport so much. It’s going to be very good for our sport. For us drivers, we live this every day, so we know every detail. Some stuff we realise – I don’t want to give spoilers or anything – but that’s what I’m sure will be good for the sport. And for those that don’t know so much about Formula 1, they can learn and get involved with us.”
Lewis Hamilton: “Firstly it wasn’t the first time I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it like 20 times already, at least. For me, it was a really interesting and incredible experience to firstly have the opportunity to work with Jo [Joseph] and Jerry and to learn from them, to see what goes on into the making of the movie. Right from the treatment from the first script, which was the first 30 pages, to then see it build into a story. And then to get to work with the writer, Aaron, and Jo on trying to make sure it’s as authentic as it was. As Jerry said, when he announced, when he spoke to all the guys in the team, that’s still Hollywood movie. So I think it’s a thing that’s finally here after all the work that’s gone on and speaking to Hans Zimmer and having Hans come on board and doing this story, which I’m a big fan of his story.
“Just the whole project was incredible. And to do it with Apple as well, really it was the best part. To get to go and meet Tim and Eddie and have them give me a tour of the incredible Apple factory. It was insane. So yesterday to come there and then all of a sudden I’ve got all the drivers there, I was sat in the middle, and I was nervous. I was like, ‘everyone is seeing for the first time’. And it was great to look around and see some of the reactions from particularly the drivers. I do really care what the drivers are thinking. I wanted them to think highly of it and I mentioned them afterwards you know, like, [I] welcome your honest opinions about it because for sure there’s parts you’d be like, the timing may be off on a strategy stop or whatever it might be. I think the great thing is the sound is great. The image is incredible. It’s something that has never been done before. So I’m really proud of it. Yes [about future work]. When you do it, you’re hopefully watching. At the beginning, you see all the different logos for the different productions and houses, which is Dawn Apollo. That came up. It was just amazing to see that.
“Quite early on in the film, it starts telling you who produced the movies. It came up with my name. I was like, ‘ohh, this is crazy’. This has gone in very high. It couldn’t go any higher than the first movie, but we will be producing more concepts that I’m writing. When I’m going to write, I’m going to write all these concepts, these ideas that I’ve come up with for movies. There will be at least two of them will be animations. One of them is already in the phase of the first part of the script. It’s exciting. There will be documentaries. There will be a TV series at some stage but mostly movies. I love movies. That’s what I love most.”
Nico Hulkenberg: “I did [like the movie]. I think it is cool and interesting. It gives some additional and further insights compared to Drive to Survive, some more behind the scenes stuff. It was all right. No [I have not got much screentime]. Look, it’s a movie, it’s Hollywood as well. I think it’s more, you need to take a step back and see the broader picture, it’s not about the fine details that everything is accurate. But I think it is still new and fresh perspective, telling the public what the teams or what the drivers do, how much goes in, so yes, it builds more of a picture again. I think some good actors in there, too. It is good. I love it [that it features an old driver racing]. He’s [Sonny Hayes] my role model now, my new aim. Stefano said some few words and then Jo [Joseph] and Jerry said a bit but not too much, it was just a movie. But no popcorn unfortunately, that was bit of a letdown. We were all really disappointed that there was a lack of popcorn (laughs).”
Carlos Sainz: “I truly enjoyed it. I think for us F1 experts, we are gonna see things that we see on Netflix, that are a bit Hollywood-esque. I truly believe that for the fan, for a new fan, it will attract a lot of new audience and it will do very well for the people that don’t know anything about Formula 1. For the hardcore fan and for journalists and us, we will see things that maybe you think are a bit too American or a bit too Hollywood. But honestly, I enjoyed the whole film. There were things that really surprised me and the team has done an outstanding job in putting together. I think it’s a very good Hollywood movie. But let’s see what the people think. I cannot reveal [things I find odd], as I have the advantage having watched the film, I have total non-disclosure of what we saw last night, so we cannot talk about it but it is not long…there were just a couple of peaks, but honestly not as many as I thought.
“They warned us also. They said, guys, ‘we love your sport, we are in love with your sport, but this is Hollywood. I was like, okay’. I think you’ll see one part and you’ll laugh, it is not on the grid but in a nightclub, you’ll laugh. And I am not in the scene even, I don’t feature it. It [the quality] is insane. Honestly, that’s the best part of it. As long as it attracts new fans, apparently they did a survey with a lot of people that hadn’t ever watched a Formula 1 race, and after watching the film they would say, would you watch a Formula 1 race now and 100% of people said yes. So that just tells you how good I think it’s going to do for the sport, maybe I’m completely wrong but I think it’s going to do a lot of good to it.”
Oliver Bearman: “I thought the movie was fantastic. I think it really depicts in a great way what we go through – in a bit of a Hollywood way as you would expect. That makes it really interesting. I think the goal of the movie is going to be achieved. I think it is going to be a huge hit. And it’s going to make people want to watch F1, which is really the goal of it. The onboard shots and the work that they did was actually quite incredible – it was impressive to see the technology that they can use, seeing what they made happen whilst knowing what actually happened, lets say, some shots were quite impressive. It is cool. There were some funny parts, but it was meant to be like that, so it was really good. Of course, there are some things that aren’t fully accurate as a racing driver we know what really happens.
“There’s few things I thought ‘okay, I wish I could do that’, like the standard movie scene where they’re going side by side in the straights and suddenly the other guy finds another gear. But that’s a typical movie thing, and I think it makes it super captivating for the audience. There’s small minority of us that may find it a bit untrue but I think for the majority it is going to be fantastic movie and it is really going to do well. Honestly, he [Brad Pitt] did a really good job. He was pushing the car, that’s for sure. I also know that he was training in the background and I know the guy his team was training with, he said he was taking some risks and doing a good job. Lets say he did his homework, so that’s cool.”
Fernando Alonso: “It was good. I liked the movie. I think it represents Formula 1 part of it, the sporting part of it quite well, which is never a guarantee in these kind of movies. If everything is fake, it doesn’t…you don’t feel that it represents well what you do. I think they kept that quite good and hopefully the people enjoy. It is a good thing for our sport, because everyone will love to see a Formula 1 race – hopefully – after seeing the movie for new fans. Not many [scenes were like not part of the sort], a few [of them], for sure. It is still a movie, it’s not a documentary or anything like that, so there were a couple of things that will never happen, but I would say that nearly all of the movie, in terms of track action and things like that, was very original and very representative, so that was a good thing.”
Liam Lawson: “I think it’s going to be huge when it comes out – it has the potential to be one of the biggest movies of the year. It captures the feeling of being in Formula 1, and that’s really, really cool. I wasn’t really racing when most of the filming was done, so I was surprised I even featured. I didn’t know what to expect. I can imagine somebody who’s watching F1 for the first time by watching that movie – they’re going to think it’s amazing. You can always poke holes, but it’s a movie at the end of the day, and I’m sure it’s the same if you’re watching Top Gun. I’m sure if you’re a fighter pilot and you’re watching a movie like that, you’re going to pick [apart] things in there that you might see differently.”
Lando Norris: “I don’t know what I can say. I just find it cool, the movie. I think it is way cooler than a Netflix documentary. I think it’s a much bigger stage, it’s a movie, it’s got movie stars in it, and I think that’s something a lot more historical than just a Netflix documentary. It’s something that in 20 years your kids can still watch and it’ll still be kind of cool. I think it was very good, in my opinion. I didn’t really know what to expect because I’ve not been too up to date with what it is, or what it was going to be. I think just the fact that Formula 1 is in a movie, and you get a bit of an understanding about personalities, and what’s good, what’s bad about drivers and engineers, the culture of teams.
“I think it was good for that side of things, that people get that understanding and the work that needs to go into it. For that reason I thought it was good. It is hard to say, it is a lot more Hollywood, it is quite different [from documentary]. It is different. I think maybe both are good for different reasons, one is good because of the scale and movie is you reach more people but the documentary and Netflix is good because I think you see a lot more of the behind the scenes and teams and people a little bit more and I think it is good too. No comment [on if I get a line].”
Oscar Piastri: “I thought it was quite good. I obviously can’t say that much but it is obviously a Hollywood movie, there are things that wouldn’t happen in real life. I think what was impressive and satisfying for me was the CGI in lot of areas, it was very convincing. In some of the things – I can’t give too much away – but some things if you don’t follow F1 fully, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if it is real or not. And I think for all the people involved in F1, they will be at least somewhat satisfied with those scenes and all the little details. So that was nice, there’s definitely a bit of Hollywood involved but overall good review.”
Esteban Ocon: “The first thing I said to Lewis was that it was super immersive. The scenes they were driving the cars were fantastic, and something we’ve never seen before. There were some great racing scenes like Daytona, for example, down the inside and stuff like that. Overall, it was a great movie. I think at some point there were things that didn’t really make too much sense for us as drivers being inside the paddock everytime and racing, but I really see where Lewis has put his touch on it to try and make everything as realistic as possible. What I found really good is that at the last race, they don’t just suddenly fly to win, but because of something happening in the race, putting the red flag and not being in Q3 or having new tyres…[spoilers – I think some of you have seen it? No? Ohh!! Sorry. I thought some of you have seen it..].
“Some parts you can really feel that Lewis has pushed to keep it super realistic, but there were some parts where they needed to make it a little bit more Hollywood. It needs to be catching the eye of everyone, and there are a few things I’d like to have seen more racing-focused, maybe a bit less crashing and more racing. But overall, it is still by far the best racing movie of all time, and I think it will be a mega success. I feature quite a lot in it in racing, but I’m glad I didn’t have too many incidents with Sonny Hayes. That [female technical director] is very Hollywood, lets call it. But it is great that, there is a lot of diversity in the movie. They really pushed the aspect, showing that we are willing to push the boundaries and there’s space for everyone in all the different roles in Formula 1, which is good. That’s obviously cool. There’s a female mechanic doing pit stop which is actually great. And she’s a big part of the winning at one point. I’m spoiling, sorry guys! But I like spoilers anyway. Tom Holland always spoils the new Spider-Man. It wasn’t him apparently, but all good. I think proper racing fans will enjoy it. They are going to comment about some of the things that maybe don’t make 100 percent sense.
“Honestly, for such a big movie with big audience, it is closest to reality that a racing movie that I have ever seen, in comparison to the other ones. It is not like there are 20 gears, not like he’s 20% off throttle all race and goes to the last that we always see, all of these things make sense. Even the strat mode, with the battery and the locking-up in Silverstone, at one point there’s something like that, the last corner to show Pearce losing time, these are things that we have had in reality and that’s quite good. But you’ll recognise in the middle of the movie, for us being in there, but overall yeah, it has been super fun, great to have the privilege to watch it as the first and great to be part of it obviously with my car, my helmet, racing and seeing myself in the movie, so it is a honour and privilege.”
George Russell: “I was really impressed to be honest, because the way they integrated the drivers and the team principals into a Hollywood movie, it was like we are real characters in this Hollywood scene. So as an F1 fan, you kind of find a bit of comedy in that, just seeing us popping up here and there with Brad Pitt. And then of course, the remainder of the movie is very much Hollywood. I think it really struck a good balance and the drivers appreciated seeing part of the action and how the whole crew wanted us to be really involved. It was about three second long performance [from me] but sometimes that’s enough.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: “I think the move is good, especially for a normal viewer, it is a good movie. Of course some things are a bit more movie style but overall it is made well. They have been working so much on it, I was speaking with the director of the movie last night. He was telling me how much work there’s been behind producing such a movie. It is well made. The story is a bit crazy, as you said, a guy who is 43-years-older than me, coming back to racing…but I think the story is very nice as well because it represent as well our sport, especially because also our sport is a team sport. And I think the story really tells a lot about it.”
Max Verstappen: “Yeah. I notified FOM about that. They were well aware that I wasn’t attending. I wanted to spend more private time, because it is private time at the end of the day – the evening also. I think it’s coming out on June 27? I’ll download it on Apple. So yeah. Of course, I get it – there was the opportunity to watch it, but if I watch it now or in three or four weeks, that’s fine as well. I heard good stuff from the movie, so I’m sure it’s going to be exciting.”
Lance Stroll: “Just stuff. At some point I’ll watch it.”
Here’s F1 drivers on FIA revision of Appendix B
Here’s F1 drivers on Max Verstappen’s Nordschleife run
Here’s Yuki Tsunoda, Jack Doohan on online abuse
Here’s FIA revising Appendix B
Here’s second trailer of F1 movie
