Fans demanding accuracy in entertainment are a faction that have only grown in the modern age of movies. That’s something that applies even more to a 2025 blockbuster like F1, which sees Brad Pitt and Damson Idris jumping into very well-known racing machines for our entertainment. Or at least, it looks and sounds like it, as there’s actually a bit of sound editing trickery that was required due to the physical restrictions in the flashy motor cars used for the titular sport.
A recent interview with Gold Derby highlights the fact that the stars of the Warner Bros. adrenaline rush needed to be driving F2 cars for a very important reason: an F1 machine is apparently so precisely shaped to its driver that there wasn’t exactly room for the equipment that professionals like supervising sound editor Al Nelson need to do their jobs. Which lead to Nelson describing part of the solution, saying,
We spent a lot of time capturing the authentic sounds, and when you go from that documentary approach, then you get into the sound design. How does it sound if you’re a driver? Or how does it sound sitting in front of that big Imax screen being Sonny going 200 miles an hour down the street?
F1’s fine tuned 4DX-perience? Better still, if Tom Cruise’s developing Days of Thunder legacy-quel actually happens, will he try to use this as a reason to develop an F1 car friendly rig that allows him to be his Cruise-iest self?
Going slightly method during the picture’s production, there was a point when Pitt actually drove an F1 car belonging to driver Lando Norris. His top speed was just shy of 200 mph, and that must have been enough to give him the physical feeling he needed to imply while filming in an F2 car.
If at any point it wasn’t, I’m sure F1’s “hands on” producer Lewis Hamilton took the time to give the Ocean’s Eleven icon some pointers on how to sell the ups and downs presented in Sonny Hayes’ career. Putting all of those elements together makes for a precise performance machine of entertainment, and judging by F1’s opening weekend, one could say the race was won.
Think about this the next time (or the first time) you see Brad Pitt and Damson Idris’ racing epic. You may still be able to catch it in theaters, but be warned, your local movie house may need to make room for something Fantastic next week, so don’t wait too long.