Every Formula 1 race begins with practice runs for each team on the track, followed by qualifying, and then the actual race. Qualifying is conducted in three phases, with the slowest times in each being eliminated and relegated to bottom starting positions on the grid, until eventually the final phase determines the order of the top racers and which driver gets “pole position” — the first spot on the grid. It’s a hugely important piece of the race because passing in F1 is incredibly difficult, so your starting position, in many cases, will largely determine where you’re able to finish.

In the movie, Sonny Hayes’ first race for APXGP at Silverstone is treated like his grand return to the sport by the commentators. He even pulls a gambit where he pretends not to know how to start the car at the beginning, in order to get his tires warm while catching up. All of this happens with no acknowledgement of the fact that he would have already done a full day of qualifying the day before. Unfortunately, it makes no sense.

The dismissal of qualifying in the film also creates some logical issues related to the actual APXGP car. Sonny insists that it be redesigned “for combat,” as they’re never going to be able to compete with the bigger teams in terms of pure racing speed. The problem, of course, is that a “combat” car wouldn’t help you at all in qualifying, where racers are only competing with the clock. Any adjustments made to the car along his requests would have likely also made it worse for qualifying, largely undoing any benefit in the actual races.

The one time “F1” actually acknowledges qualifying is during the climax race in Abu Dhabi, where a last-second red flag gives APXGP the chance to get fresh tires on their cars — tires the other teams don’t have because they used them in qualifying the day before. It’s a clever bit of narrative trickery to help justify a midfield team getting a genuine shot at Lewis Hamilton, but the selective inclusion of qualifying only makes its absence in the rest of the film more glaring.

All that said, is it a big deal? No, of course not. This is Hollywood, and this is just a fun racing movie. There are tons of incredible documentaries and biopics on the history of motorsport out there if you want real accuracy. Or, you know, you could watch the actual races! “F1” is meant to be a fun romp that shows love to the sport but also brings in a wider audience, hitting all the same narrative beats as “Rocky Balboa” or “The Natural.” And in that pursuit, it’s largely successful, even if a lot of the actual plotting doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

“On her end, it was very respectful, but we never got that opportunity to sit down and pour our heart out the way that we typically do when we bring back characters from the legacy,” Heald continued. “She was just in a place where she wasn’t looking to do that. She had babies. I think she was in production on something at the time, and it was a respectful pass on even the idea of a meeting. She didn’t want us to go through the trouble of flying out to her and putting our heart on the sleeve because it just wasn’t something she was ready to do at that moment.”

Indeed, we had already written about the showrunners’ attempts at contacting Hilary Swank, and never getting an answer. It’s particularly unfortunate because “The Next Karate Kid” is much better than its reputation would have you believe. It’s got a different kind of protagonist than Daniel, a thematic continuation to “The Karate Kid Part III” in Julie, who is angsty and frustrated, and offers Miyagi the chance to teach her how to learn balance in a different way than he did Daniel-san. Sure, the movie wasn’t spectacular, but if anyone could find a way to make the character of Julie even better and to redeem her film, it would be Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg.

Then again, if there is one thing audiences have learned about “Cobra Kai,” it is to never stop believing. As Heald told EW, “For us, it was a little disappointing because we like getting everybody, but at the same time, we didn’t sacrifice any huge story that we had fully developed. It’s more fruit on the vine for if we can revisit this universe going forward.”

Indeed, you never know what could happen. The team is definitely interested in doing more with the franchise and has talked about their ideas for a spin-off series. Perhaps this is the key to the sequel to “Karate Kid: Legends,” bringing in Daniel and Julie as the legacy of Miyagi, teaming up with Jackie Chan.