Joseph Kosinski’s F1 movie filmed at grands prix through the 2023 and 2024 F1 seasons. The film’s on-track action includes real F1 racing as well as scenes in which stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris pilot modified F2 cars. Feeder Series asked experienced F2 drivers about whether the swap was noticeable. 

By Calla Kra-Caskey

The film follows Sonny Hayes, played by Pitt, as he makes an F1 comeback 30 years after an injury that halted his career. He’s joined on the fictional APXGP team by rookie Joshua Pearce, played by Idris.

But when Pitt and Idris jumped into their cars to film for F1: The Movie, they weren’t driving F1 cars at all.

Instead, they used F2 machinery.

The film producers purchased six Dallara F2 2018 cars for the film, modifying the engine and aero package with the help of Mercedes and Carlin Motorsport, now Rodin Motorsport, and adding more than a dozen camera mounts to each vehicle. 

“If you would have to do that with actual F1 cars, I don’t even think they’re available,” MP Motorsport driver Richard Verschoor told Feeder Series. 

The modifications make for fictional racing that looks fast and, for the most part, authentic. But for knowledgeable viewers – including two of F2’s most experienced drivers – the difference in machinery is still noticeable. 

“I knew because I was there,” Jak Crawford said of the car substitution. DAMS driver Crawford, 20, is in his third year of F2. He’s a member of the Aston Martin driver development programme and does simulator work for the team. 

Crawford noted that while he hadn’t seen the movie yet, he was able to tell the difference between the cars from the trailers. He mentioned that he had observed the filming process across the past two years. 

“You can clearly hear it was an F2 car. You can see the bodywork was an F2 car when you watched the cars driving around [the] track. So that was interesting.” 

Verschoor, F2’s most experienced active driver currently in his fifth season, thought the final product looked less obvious. 

“The bodywork was definitely not F2,” he said. “I haven’t seen everything yet, but it quite looked like Formula 1 for me, so I think they did a very good job in modifying the parts.” 

Like Crawford and Verschoor, Pitt and Idris trained with F3 cars before moving up to F2 machinery. Neither category’s cars feature power steering. 

“The drivers did a great job of driving the cars because they’re definitely not easy to drive,” Crawford said. 

The film was released internationally on 25 June and in North America today, 27 June. 

Header photo credit: Apple TV+