The Formula 1 grid was invited to a private screening of the new F1 film on the Wednesday of the Monaco Grand Prix, before its public release at the end of June.
The film won’t be watched by a more knowledgeable audience of the subject matter than the 18 current drivers who attended (Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll were absent). Many of the drivers make cameos within the film itself.
So what did they make of it? Here’s what the drivers said on Thursday in Monaco.
Universal praise - with a universal caveat
There was scarcely a deviation in how drivers opined publicly about the movie, which has been produced by famed American action producer Jerry Bruckheimer for Apple - with star Brad Pitt and seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton among other producers - and directed by Joseph Kosinski of Tron: Legacy and Top Gun: Maverick fame.
Albeit naturally disincentivised from criticising an F1 product, the drivers polled all spoke of their enjoyment of the movie, but the word “Hollywood” - seemingly in reference to dramatic exaggerations or deviations from realism - was used over and over and over again.
“Look, it's a movie, it's Hollywood as well,” said Nico Hulkenberg, who also quipped that 61-year-old Pitt, playing F1 driver Sonny Hayes in the movie, was now his reference point for how long an F1 driver can extend their career.
“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.”
“I think it really depicts in a great way what we go through - in a bit of a Hollywood way as you would expect,” said Haas driver Ollie Bearman.
“I truly enjoyed it,” insisted Williams driver Carlos Sainz. “I think as F1 experts we’re going to see…a bit like sometimes we see with Netflix [the Drive to Survive docuseries], that are a bit …you can tell they’re a bit Hollywood-esque.
“I truly believe that for a new fan it will attract a lot of new audience and it will do very well for the people who don’t know anything about F1. For the hardcore fans and journalists and us, we’ll see things that you think are a bit too American or Hollywood, but honestly, I enjoyed the whole film.”
“It was long - but really well-made,” said Mercedes F1 rookie Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton’s influence felt
Bearman’s Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon went into more details than most - so much so that he really straddled the line between reaction and actual minor plot spoilers (which he apologised for once he realised the attendant media members hadn’t yet seen the film) - but emphasised that he really felt Hamilton’s influence on the script as a producer and consultant.
“I really see where Lewis has put his touch to manage to try and make everything as realistic as possible,” he said.
“You can really feel that Lewis has pushed to keep it super realistic. But there were some parts that they needed to make it a little bit more Hollywood, which is obviously for all the public and needs to be catching the eye of everyone.
“I think proper racing fans will enjoy it. They are going to comment about some of the things that maybe don't make 100% sense. But honestly for such a big movie, with such an audience, it's the closest-to-reality racing movie that I've ever seen in comparison to all the other ones.
“It's not like there are 20 gears; it's not like it is 20% off throttle the whole race and goes to the 20% last, that we always see [in other movies]. All of these things make sense, and even the strat mode with the battery and they're locking up in Silverstone on the last corner…”
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson was even more effusive.
“You can always find holes and poke holes in things. But I think it's a movie at the end of the day. And I think it's the same if you're watching Top Gun [as a fighter pilot].
“But at the end of the day, I think the movie is incredible, and I think that's what most people are going to see.
“I think it's going to be huge when it comes out. I think it honestly has the potential to be one of the biggest movies of the year.”
Lawson even said it “definitely has that potential” to be a major part of the pantheon of go-to racing movies - though the examples that had been put to him were older movies like Grand Prix and Days of Thunder (two movies that are loved by the motorsport community but were met with a relatively mixed critical reception) rather than recent critically-acclaimed fare like Rush and Ford v Ferrari.
George Russell praised "the way they integrated drivers and team principals into a Hollywood movie, it was like we're 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. So, I think it really struck a good balance."
As for Hamilton himself, the premiere naturally wasn't his first look at the movie - in fact, he's seen it "like 20 times already". But there was more at stake in this viewing.
"All of a sudden I've got all the drivers there," he recalled. "I sat in the middle and I was nervous.
"I said, 'oh God, everyone's seen it for the first time'. And it was great to look around and see some of the reactions from particularly the drivers.
"I really care what the drivers think and I wanted them to think highly of it. And I mentioned to them afterwards, 'I welcome your honest opinions about it'."
The spectacle comes across
The filming of the racing scenes in particular is a major draw of the movie, much like the fighter jet scenes were a big selling point in Kocinski’s Top Gun sequel - and here they seemed to make a big impression on the drivers.
“Super-immersive,” raved Ocon. “The scenes with them driving the cars, I think that's that's fantastic, that's something we've never seen before.
“There were some great racing scenes like Daytona, for example.”
“It’s insane - that, for me, is the best part of all it,” said Sainz.
“I think it represents quite well the F1 part of it and the sporting part of it, which is never a guarantee on these kind of movies - you know, if everything is fake or you don't feel that it represents well what you do,” said Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
“There were a couple of things that it will never happen, but I would say that the majority, or nearly all, of the movie, in terms of track action and things like that - it was very, very original and very representative.”
And Bearman had praise in particular to Pitt’s approach to the driving side of the role. “Honestly, he did an impressive 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 whose team he was training with and he said he [Pitt] was actually taking some risks and doing a good job, so… no, I think he did his homework, so that’s cool.”
The absentees
Both Stroll and Verstappen missed the premiere, and both said they would check out the film once it was out in public release.
Stroll said he had to miss it for “just [other] stuff”, while Verstappen was a bit more expansive in his answer.
“I wanted to spend more private time - because it is private time, at the end of the day. And I think it's coming out on June 27? [it releases internationally on June 25, bar the US and Canada when it will be released on June 27] I'll download it on Apple.
“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 about the movie, I'm sure it's going to be exciting.”
The F1 movie will have an initial theatre-only run - rather than making its way straight away to Apple’s streaming services - though Verstappen will presumably have little trouble getting private screening access if he requests it.
