Brad Pitt revealed the first ten minutes of his upcoming movie F1 while attending CinemaCon. In the film, Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a former F1 driver who gets called out of retirement decades after a devastating crash to mentor a rookie prodigy. While the movie is not based on a true story, it draws inspiration from events that have happened in the world of Formula 1 racing. In addition to Pitt, the cast of F1 includes Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, and Javier Bardem.

The opening minutes of F1 were only previewed for attendees of CinemaCon, including ScreenRant‘s Mansoor Mithaiwala who was in attendance. In the footage, Pitt’s character races in a Nascar race before being approached by an old friend who manages an F1 team. Bardem’s character asks him to come back to Formula 1, which sets up the story of the film. The following is a description of the F1 footage shown at CinemaCon:

It starts with sH๏τs of waves crashing and a race, shown from the first-person perspective, at the same time. Someone then knocks on the window and Sonny (Brad Pitt) wakes up. He starts prepping for a race. After he’s ready, he gets out of a van. The screen reads 24 hours at Daytona, 11:56pm.

One of his team coaches tells him that they’ve dropped down to seventh and all he needs to do is hold them there overnight. He nods and gets into the car. We see lots of sH๏τs from in and around the vehicle, lots of the pit crew.

The announcer makes an announcement of Sonny joining the race, saying he’s got a ways ahead of him. Sonny then takes off and instead of holding his position, he tries to take over everyone in front of him. He jumps the sides, bumps into cars, flashes his lights at some of the drivers.

He and another driver get into a straight-sH๏τ drag race, bumping into each other. Sonny tricks him and that driver, in a BMW, goes off the track. Sonny finishes his stint as driver by taking the lead. He tells his replacement driver, “If you lose that lead, I’ll kill ya.” He walks into the back and says, “No way we can lose.” We then see the team winning, which is apparently Sonny’s first win at Daytona.

After the race, Sonny gets his stuff and leaves. It was a “one and done” situation for him. We then see Sonny in a laundromat, planning out a cross-country roadtrip. Javier Bardem’s Ruben arrives at the laundromat in fancy clothes and a fancy car. Sonny and Ruben are friends and catch up while playing pinball. Ruben tries to pitch Sonny a new job because his best driver left for a new team.

Ruben needs Sonny to do nine races otherwise he may lose the team. Sonny just laughs. It then cuts to an F1 course and presumably Sonny driving the car. The clip wraps up with various sH๏τs of the cast and races.

What The First 10 Minutes Mean For F1

F1 Will Include Amazing Racing Scenes

Based on this description, it is clear what kind of character Pitt will be playing in F1. Despite being past his prime, Sonny Hayes is clearly a very skilled driver. However, years after his brutal accident, he is likely disappointed that he is not at the top of the world of racing anymore. This is probably why he is reckless while he races at Daytona. He definitely will have a different atтιтude from a lot of the younger drivers, which was already teased in the trailer for F1, which sees Sonny clash with Idris’ Joshua “Noah” Pearce.

While F1 is not based on a true story, it is a film that was made for fans of racing. While the first ten minutes feature a Nascar race, the trailers for the film prove that there will be a lot of Formula 1 racing, as well. The racing scenes in F1 look incredible, which makes sense since it is directed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski. Because of the amazing talent behind and in front of the camera, F1 will likely be a must-see cinematic experience when it releases on June 27, 2025.

Our Take On The First 10 Minutes Of F1

F1 Could Be One Of The Best Movies Of The Year

As a huge fan of both Pitt and Kosinski, F1 is one of my most anticipated movies of 2025. These opening minutes sound incredible, and I am confident that all the racing scenes in the movie will be mesmerizing. This film seems like it will be perfect for fans of Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which has been an extremely popular documentary series on Netflix for years. Therefore, it seems like F1 is set up to be one of the biggest movies of the summer.

Source: Warner Bros.