2025 F1 Season

[Westheim]

Find the fake! (but it's hilarious anyway)

[low]

Stroll... JFC. Let Drugovich have the seat already.

[Westheim]

How many runs can you bottle in a single Q3?
- Lando: Yes.

[low]

Thank you, George, for beating Max.

[Westheim]

With Canning pitching for the Mets on my left screen and the F1 with the tricky first corner complex on my right screen, I wonder which will see the bigger accident...

[LD84]

Well Lando ****ed it

Predictable


Drive into the back of your own damn teammate. What we he thinking?

[Westheim]

(cries)

[low]

Originally Posted by low

Thank you, George, for beating Max.

Allow myself to quote... myself.

Looks like Lando ran out of talent there at the end.

[low]

I keep seeing on the social medias that the Lando fruitcakes are saying the team should have had Oscar move over so Lando could try to get a podium since he was faster.

In what world is a team going to tell the championship leader (10 races into the season) to move over for his teammate? lol Loyalty sure makes people stupid sometimes.

[low]

Cheeky Bottas. I am all for this: https://x.com/ValtteriBottas/status/1936969650887065850

Have I mentioned how happy I am to actually have a team to root for now?

I say bring over Checo, too. He'd bring a massive fanbase as was mentioned previously. Part of me would be ok with Shumacher. But that's mostly because I was a fanboy of his father and I'd be ok with him getting another shot. Who else? Herta? Maybe.

[Déjà Bru]

From The Athletic:

F1 teams opened their doors for Brad Pitt’s new movie – and sparked competitive paranoia

By Luke Smith



In their bid to make the new F1 movie starring Brad Pitt the most authentic racing film of all time, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joe Kosinski were eager to get as close to the action as possible.

The team behind Top Gun: Maverick went to considerable lengths to make the film as true to life as possible – and certain spoilers on how they did this in the plot are included below.

Pitt and co-star Damson Idris trained to become racing drivers, getting behind the wheel of cars that were designed specifically for the film. And seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was onboard as a producer to provide a keen eye (and ear) to pick out smaller details, such as ensuring cars sounded like they were in the correct gear for specific corners, or whether a certain tire strategy was feasible.

But one of the biggest assets to make the movie this way was the ability to use the F1 paddock itself, the center of the sport’s universe on any given race weekend, as a living, breathing movie set.

F1’s willingness to open the paddock doors to the film-makers on grand prix weekends helped provide a level of authenticity that hasn’t been seen in other recent sports movies. The fictional APXGP team simply became part of the real-world travelling circus, complete with its own garage setup and hospitality unit at select races across 2023 and 2024.

But Bruckheimer, Kosinski and co didn’t stop there in their bid to ensure the film’s ‘sets’ were as authentic as possible. They also made use of three F1 team factories in the UK to shoot scenes and provide an extra layer of realism.

The most recognisable F1 factory belongs to McLaren. The McLaren Technology Center in Woking cost an estimated £300million ($410m) to build, with its glass windows overlooking a lake that runs alongside the factory. Ron Dennis, the former McLaren boss, was very particular in his desire for detail, meaning every element of the factory’s design was done with both function and aesthetics in mind. Parts of the MTC have already been used in multiple movies and TV series, including Andor and Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw, thanks to its impressive architecture.



The MTC was therefore an easy choice to establish shots of APXGP’s factory for a blockbuster audience, with its first movie look coming when Joshua Pearce (Idris) arrives in a car that drives along the path next to the lake.

A large APXGP sign was added outside the sliding glass doors that form the factory’s main entrance in real life. On the inside, the orange hues of McLaren’s famed boulevard that contains its most famous F1 cars were replaced with the APXGP color scheme, plus a giant blow-up photo of Pearce and Sonny Hayes (Pitt) stood side-by-side. Not an Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris in sight.

But as Pearce steps further into the factory to meet with the team members as they’re introduced to Hayes, there’s another change in location — this time to Mercedes’ factory in Brackley, more than 70 miles away from Woking.

The race bays at Mercedes’ factory, which were actually updated ahead of the 2021 season, are already a clinical black and white – perfectly fitting the APXGP theme. The overlooking balconies also offered a perfect spot for the extras posing as team members to gather.

A third different F1 factory then gets used just a few scenes later when Hayes visits the APXGP wind tunnel to speak to the technical director (Kate McKenna, played by Kerry Condon) about the car design.

This scene is set in Williams’ factory in Grove, Oxfordshire, which is 35 miles away from Mercedes (and 56 from McLaren, in Surrey). But using the wind tunnel was significant given this is typically one of the most off-limits places in any F1 factory due to the sensitivity of what happens in such areas.

A team will tend to use wind tunnel models, at 60 percent the size of a full F1 car, to test their designs in carefully controlled runs within F1’s technical rules. Even some team members will never have been into these rooms.

“They could have done a set, but they wanted to replicate, or be exactly in, the environment,” explained Williams team principal James Vowles. “I quite like that they wanted to be authentic by using a real tunnel.

“They needed a bit of our assistance to run the tunnel and get set up in there. They (also) wanted a model that reflected their car, so we helped in that circumstance. There are a few things we helped line up with them. But they’re the film-makers, we’re not, so we left it to them.”

The crew set up camp in Williams’ car park for four days to complete their wind tunnel filming. Although Williams took a small payment, Vowles said the team “didn’t make any money out of it,” and also noted the drawbacks of taking away four potential days for wind tunnel testing for his team’s 2026 F1 car.

But it all attracted the attention of F1’s rule makers at the FIA, which sets strict limits on what teams can and cannot do with their wind tunnel testing — given how valuable each usage run is to the design of a car.

So deep is the competitive paranoia in F1 that when Williams informed the FIA of its plans to host the film’s production in its tunnel, it sparked an inspection and an array of questions.

“There are exceptions, which is work under certain circumstances, which this was under as well,” said Vowles. “Anything you do in that circumstance allows you to not count it under the cost cap in terms of timing. It helps other teams more than ourselves in that circumstance.”

One step Williams had to take was ensuring the model of the APXGP car — itself not fully compliant with the F1 regulations given its slightly different dimensions, fitting somewhere between F1 and F2 — was different enough that it could offer no advantage to the team or any learnings that could be applied to its 2025 car.

“The model had to be effectively not an exact replica of what we’re doing,” Vowles said. “If you look at their car, there are some differences to it, and it had to be done under FIA supervision at the same time — very much hand in hand with making sure we didn’t breach any of the regulations.

“Even though the (wind tunnel) fan was on, we did it in a way that was compliant with what they were looking for, and the car didn’t replicate enough in the key areas of what we’re looking for either.”

Although there was always going to be some degree of inconvenience giving over such a crucial part of the Williams factory to a film crew, Vowles’ faith in the movie was such that he couldn’t pass on an opportunity for his team to be part of it.

“I think the F1 film is going to be as important for us as Netflix (with ‘Drive to Survive’) was in terms of expanding out the audience viewership that we had and making it wider,” Vowles said. “It’s quite nice to have a little piece of us contained in there, too.”

The same rings true for the wider F1 community, with all 10 teams getting some kind of airtime through the movie thanks to the fashion in which the film-makers were embedded within the paddock. There was no need to employ actors to pose as rival team principals, as F1’s actual team principals to take part in some scenes.

Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur all have brief speaking roles in the film. Ex-Haas F1 team boss Gunther Steiner also pops up briefly, while other scenes with team chiefs that were filmed, including one with Christian Horner on the grid at Monza in 2023, never made it into the final cut.

Although the fact the team principals are playing themselves might go over the heads of movie-goers with no F1 knowledge, it will be appreciated by fans of the sport and undoubtedly adds to the authenticity element — and was a fun moment for them, too.

Vasseur joked he was “looking for a new job” when asked about his cameo, in which he delivers a brief yet cutting comment on APXGP’s prospects. “I only had to say two words!” Vasseur said, laughing, then noting that had he given the line in Italian, it would only be one word. “It was not a huge experience, but it went pretty well.”

To Vowles, the most impressive element of the on-site filming at races for the F1 movie was the seamless integration with the regular goings-on of a race weekend.

Even an ambitious scene filmed on the starting grid at Silverstone, which required the two APXGP cars to be lined up at the rear of the field just minutes before the start of the British Grand Prix in 2023, was pulled off without disrupting the race itself.

“You have to remember, for a lot of the scenes, they only had one shot, one take, and that was it,” Vowles said. “We’re not going to go back to the start of the race and do it again. They just had to pick up their imagery. And that’s what impressed me with it.

“If you get involved in films, you realize they do about 40 takes. Even when we do our own work, we do 40 takes. They didn’t. They got it done on time and did it right. It’s quite impressive.”

[Déjà Bru]

And here is a review of the movie, also from The Athletic:

‘F1 The Movie’ review: Fast, loud, very Hollywood — but will race fans love or hate it?

By Luke Smith and Madeline Coleman



Formula One has been riding the “Drive to Survive” wave for several years, but now it’s truly stepping into Hollywood.

Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer behind the “Bad Boys” franchise plus many other action hits, and “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joe Kosinski have teamed up for “F1: The Movie,” a redemption story co-produced by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and starring Brad Pitt that gives fans a glimpse inside the pinnacle of motorsport.

The Athletic’s Luke Smith and Madeline Coleman attended a media screening of the film during the Canadian Grand Prix last week, ahead of its cinema release at the end of the month. Here are their takeaways, including who this movie is for. Warning, there are spoilers included.


Was it a good movie? Who was it really for?

Smith: Leaving the theater after the media screening, I felt lukewarm about the film. Parts of it made me take a deep sigh, or even cringe a little bit. I didn’t feel much connection to any of the characters, and the storyline seemed a bit predictable — nothing that happened truly shocked me.

After sleeping on it, I felt a little less lukewarm, appreciating the remarkable visual experience and incredible score and soundtrack, even if my feelings about the characters and script remained unchanged. And there was a big, big thing to recognize: they didn’t make this for me. Bruckheimer even pointed out that we’d be watching it as “work”, not like a normal moviegoer.

I find “Drive to Survive” a little odd to watch, given it’s within ‘my’ world, and there was a similar feeling about the movie. But I know this film isn’t trying to pitch to people who know Formula One inside out (let alone cover it for a living), nor is it a documentary. It’s trying to show the wider world just what a remarkable sport F1 is, and why people love it so much.

That said, it doesn’t excuse some of the film’s core weaknesses, such as one-dimensional characters and an at-times cheesy script. No matter the prior knowledge of F1, viewers may struggle with that.

Coleman: I went into the screening with a mostly open mind. Having witnessed the “Drive to Survive” effect firsthand as an American working in this sport, I recognize the power this movie could have with expanding Formula One’s fanbase and exposing new audiences to the sport we all love. But there were some parts that felt too Hollywood-y, as well as scenes that reminded me of real moments in F1’s history. I laughed in a few scenes and enjoyed it overall, but “F1: The Movie” felt like a predictable, classic story that slipped a bit into clichéd territory.

Overall, the movie was OK. As Lando Norris told us on media day during the Canadian GP weekend, “It’s a cool movie that includes Formula One.” And he’s right. The visual and sound aspects are strong and show audiences what it’s like to compete in the sport (to some extent). Some plot points were left unexplained, though, and the redemption theme didn’t completely hit for me. The only character I mostly liked and resonated with was Kate, the APXGP team’s technical director (emphasis on mostly, not entirely). I was disappointed with the vast majority of the character development, but I did enjoy some of the cheesiness as a casual moviegoer.


(Spoilers ahead.)




Was it the most authentic racing film ever made?

Smith: One line we have heard regularly over the past two years from the minds behind the movie is that they want this to be the most authentic racing movie yet.

Visually, they have achieved this, thanks to the use of CGI to get the APXGP team’s cars into real-life race footage and on-car cinematography. The people you see in the film are the actual team principals, mechanics and engineers who are all part of F1’s traveling circus. That degree of realism must be applauded, and F1 deserves a lot of credit for opening its doors.

However, there are a few aspects of the film that undermine its authenticity and may disappoint new fans who then watch an actual race.

In real life, drivers aren’t able to deliberately crash into other cars while being lapped without serious punishment (a scene we’ll get to) — such scenes don’t reflect F1 in a great light. And other key parts of the plot were genuinely impossible under the sport’s current rules.

The producers ensured there was a real-world example for all the crashes and incidents that happen in the movie. The accident that seemed to end Sonny Hayes’ (Pitt) F1 career when he was a youngster echoes Martin Donnelly’s crash in the 1990 Spanish GP, while his teammate Joshua Pearce’s (Damson Idris) dramatic Monza flip draws inspiration from Alex Peroni’s accident there in F3 in 2019 and Romain Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball the following year.

For F1 fans who do know the functions of the sport inside out, there are going to be cringe-worthy moments — as current Williams driver Carlos Sainz put it, “a couple of icks” — such as a car being developed for “combat” and that turning the season around.

Parts of the film will leave F1 fans saying: “Well, that would never happen!”.

Then again, isn’t that the point of a Hollywood movie?


How did the movie feel?

Coleman: “F1: The Movie” had a similar vibe to the “Top Gun” franchise (Kosinski directed “Top Gun: Maverick”), immersing the audience into the action.

The imagery is crisp, and the audience will feel as though they’re inside the cockpit as Hayes and Pearce navigate the races, with cameras placed to show a similar view to that of the drivers. It’s impressive how they were able to capture the footage. And then there’s the sound, which Hamilton helped ensure was accurate.

As for the score, I am not a Tate McRae fan, but I did have her song, “Just Keep Watching,” on repeat while writing this review. The film’s soundtrack is catchy and stacked with megastars across multiple genres, including Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat and Chris Stapleton, and was produced by Kevin Weaver (Barbie, The Greatest Showman).

From a Hollywood movie perspective, the film was strong, with its sound and visual components, but the storyline made it feel a bit predictable.

The ultimate goal of the movie was to give fans “an inside look into a world you’ll never be a part of,” Bruckheimer said, and they did just that, with a Hollywood flair.


Realism vs. accessibility

Smith: F1 is an incredibly technical sport by nature, reaching far beyond the cars. Conveying that to an audience with no prior knowledge of F1 may be a challenge.

That doesn’t stop the film from delving into some of the more finicky minutiae, such as explaining DRS and virtual safety cars without alienating a more “normal” movie audience, which probably wouldn’t care whether a driver has fitted medium or hard tires, or understand why scoring a single point means so much to a team.

“It’s threading a needle,” Kosinski says. “We have (actual F1 commentators) Martin Brundle and David Croft doing the commentary in the film, and what you notice is if you listen to their commentary (in the film), very subtly, they do cover the basics as they call a race, so that if you’re tuning in for the first time, you’re getting those fundamentals.

“But at the same time, if you’ve been watching a long time, you’re getting the detail and the specificity that engages the fans that know it all.”


The “cheating” storyline

Coleman: The movie’s approach to racing was scrutinized after motorsport media saw the movie in IMAX during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend — and understandably so. While Hamilton helped create an authentic film, Kosinski says they spoke with the seven-time F1 world champion about where “the line” was on how far they could push the boundaries.

“We never wanted Sonny to cheat,” he adds. “We wanted to find: How far can you push it so that you can get right to the edge?”

During one of the races in the film, Hayes deployed “Plan C,” which created chaos. He intentionally wrecked and caused safety car periods, helping Pearce advance through the field.

It’s a plotline that resembles the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the race that later became known as the Crashgate scandal. Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. claimed he was told to intentionally crash, helping teammate Fernando Alonso secure an unlikely victory. The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council ruled the incident deliberate and penalized Renault, the team’s managing director Flavio Briatore and engineer Pat Symonds. The scandal is still in the court system, nearly two decades later. But race manipulation is rare, and this is the most extreme example in recent F1 history.

While scenes and ideas might have authentic origins, they do have a Hollywood-dramatized flair. After all, this isn’t a docuseries. However, when it comes to extreme instances, coupled with the desire to expose the sport to new audiences and fans, it raises the question of whether promoting this style of hard racing is going too far.





The female representation

Coleman: “F1 The Movie” left me with mixed emotions regarding women in motorsport and how this demographic was portrayed in the film.

The romantic subplot is a staple in Hollywood. But creating a romantic relationship — though brief — between a driver and the team’s technical director was… a choice.

Kerry Condon’s character, Kate, was a strong presence, her wit and technical savvy evident. She eventually made a point about professionalism and how she wouldn’t sleep with a team member, only for her and Hayes to kiss and spend the night together later in the film. The changes she made to the car, which made it competitive, stemmed from Hayes’ suggestion of preparing it for “combat”, and the subplot ended on a half-hearted note, with Hayes moving on to his next racing adventure.

But multiple people, including myself, left the film thinking, “It could have been worse.”

Progress is being made to bring more women into motorsport, not just from a driver perspective but in various areas across the sport. You can see the shift within the grandstands (around 40 percent of the F1 fanbase identify as women) and the paddock, but there is still work to be done. When rumblings emerged that Hayes and Kate would sleep together in the movie, concerns naturally arose about how she and any romantic subplot would be portrayed. In a way, it was done in a respectful manner towards Condon’s character.

Not every movie needs or benefits from a romantic subplot, even if it could help with box office numbers. Rather than an integral part of the plot and helping with story or character development, the romantic subplot felt like more of a minor detail.

The more troublesome portrayal of women in motorsport was the storyline of Jodie, the team’s only female mechanic. Her story felt incomplete.

Jodie, played by Callie Cooke, made a costly mistake during a pit stop in an early race, leaving her wheelgun in the wrong spot, and Pearce’s car ran over it. Hayes stepped in to defend her after the race, and she made a comment later asking him not to do that again. After that, she drifted more into the background, not making another misstep. While the film aimed for a sort of growth storyline, Jodie just came across as incompetent. It begs the question as to why this was part of the movie’s plot — and why it featured the only woman on the pit crew.

Women are actively engaging with the sport, whether it be through online content and discussions, merchandise sales or attending race weekends. They’re building communities within F1 and hold strong purchasing power — something brands have taken note of and started targeting. You can’t discount or dismiss this demographic.

While “F1: The Movie” features women across multiple roles, including as a press officer, more attention could have been given to how women were being portrayed in the film, making sure it’s in a manner where young girls feel empowered and see that it is possible to work in this world. Representation is powerful — one of the ways a seed of a dream is planted.


The next steps to capitalize on fresh interest

Smith: “Drive to Survive” did wonders for F1’s popularity in the United States by opening up the sport to the mainstream. One of the big questions up and down the paddock in the past couple of years is whether this movie will have a similar effect.

There is the obvious appeal of having big-name actors and the team behind “Top Gun” being part of the film, meaning a lot of traditional movie fans will be curious. The challenge is converting them from people who enjoyed an F1 film to those who actually watching the sport.

The commitment to realism should make things easier to digest when watching a real race, as there’ll be at least some understanding of elements such as tire strategy influencing what happens on the track. And because the action itself is so well done through use of actual footage from races, that again should make it easy to keep fans interested.

One anecdote that the film’s makers have regularly shared is that, in a focus group used for a screening, only one out of those 20 people had watched F1 before. But after viewing the film, all 20 raised their hands and said they would like to see a race.

“There’s this perception that ‘Drive to Survive’ turned America on to F1, but I think there are just so many more people out there that don’t know anything about it,” says Bruckheimer. “So there’s a lot of potential still there. And the best selling point for this film is the film. When people see the film, they love the film.”

F1 knows the movie should provide a nice bump for its global standing — the question is whether numbers quickly reduce in the coming months and years or if new fans can be successfully retained.

As Stefano Domenicali, F1’s CEO and president, told The Athletic earlier this year, it’s about staying relevant and keeping fans engaged, which is arguably going to be more important than ever in the coming months to capitalize on the boost in interest.

[LD84]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

And here is a review of the movie, also from The Athletic:

It will be on Apple TV+ in 45-60 days and I will watch it there. Looks like a decent streaming movie that I could talk my wife into.

After Rush, my expectations for movies about auto racing are pretty high.

[Westheim]

Until Fernando Alonso tells me otherwise by driving for another 17 years, I'm not gonna bother with a movie with a 60-year-old F1 driver. Are they running out of actors in LA?

[SDCore]

Vegas baby

[Westheim]

Lando taking pole by a mighty .521 seconds at Austria with the shortest lap (by time) on the calendar will be even funnier when the steward ***** will take it away for that ridiculous "impeding" in Q2.

If that happens, I'll calmly walk into the water.

[Westheim]

Impressive crash in F2 today: That coulda been a broken neck and a half.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Impressive crash in F2 today: That coulda been a broken neck and a half.

I noticed these cars don't have roll bars. So if one ends up upside down, it depends on either an air foil or the extension behind the driver's head to prevent said broken neck? And that in turn depends upon the driver remaining securely belted in his seat. A lap belt only or full harness?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I noticed these cars don't have roll bars. So if one ends up upside down, it depends on either an air foil or the extension behind the driver's head to prevent said broken neck? And that in turn depends upon the driver remaining securely belted in his seat. A lap belt only or full harness?

The F1 cars and lower series use the halo device, which so far has held up its end of the bargain. It prevented Romain Grosjean from getting decapitated when half a guardrail gave way to his Haas while the other half didn't at the 2020 Bahrain GP, and when Guanyu Zhou's rollover hoop collapsed after he got flipped in a wicked start crash at the 2022 British GP, the halo kept him from braking his car with his head on the ground.

Five-point harnesses to keep the boys strapped in as the car goes somersaulting.

Broken necks and skulls were a real issue in the olden days of brave men in their murderous racing cigars. Of course back then they preferred to race without a seat belt, so they wouldn't be trapped in a wreck on fire...

[Déjà Bru]

So it's a combination of the halo device (red oval) and this extension that I mentioned (green oval — forget about the doohickey on top which looks like a Google Street View camera), both of which, but particularly the latter, are not aerodynamically optimal. That and the five-point harness, sacrifices for safety.

I would still prefer to be a NASCAR driver, though.



EDIT: That extension, does it double as an engine air intake?

EDIT 2: Wow, that halo device has not been around for very long. Early development was spurred by "In 2009, 2 major accidents happened in top level FIA open wheel series, the fatal accident of Henry Surtees at the Brands Hatch round of the 2009 Formula 2 season and the accident Felipe Massa sustained during qualifying at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. The accidents led to calls for additional cockpit protection". It has been in general use only since around 2017.

EDIT 3: The Wikipedia article alerted me to the existence of Formula TWO racing. I will not exhaust your patience, inquiring about the difference. Instead, I will follow links.

EDIT 4: Ah, sort of a junior or minor league. "For much of the history of Formula One, Formula Two has represented the penultimate step on the motorsport ladder."