F1 The Movie

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for F1 The Movie
• a review of F1 The Movie completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 1 July 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is a rebellious former Formula One (F1) driver whose career ended in a crash three decades ago. Now living out of a van and racing wherever he can find work, Sonny wins a race at Daytona and catches the attention of his former F1 teammate, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), who now owns the struggling APX GP team. He discloses that the team will be sold off if they cannot win a race by the end of the season and offers Sonny a position on the squad.

At APX, Sonny meets Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), a talented rookie eager to prove himself in the hopes of being picked up by another team if APX folds. Sonny and Joshua’s personalities immediately clash, and their conflict carries onto the racetrack. Yet over time, Sonny steps into a mentor role and they begin to work together. With the help of technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), who redesigns their vehicles for aggressive, ‘combat-style’ racing, the team begins to show promise. But as the season winds down, the question remains: can APX secure a victory in time, and can Sonny finally earn the win that eluded him decades ago?

Serious injury; Gambling.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Sonny is battling another driver at Daytona and rams into him, causing the other driver to lose control of his vehicle.
• Sonny and Joshua get into an argument. Joshua lunges towards Sonny and is held back by some APX team members.
• Joshua’s mother threatens to put Sonny in a hospital bed if his actions cause Joshua any further injuries following a crash.
• Sonny collides with other drivers, damaging his vehicle, to take advantage of F1 safety procedures.
• Sonny shoves Joshua into a wall after he deliberately takes Sonny out of a race.
• Sonny drives angrily following false allegations of APX using unapproved car parts. This causes him to crash, and he is hospitalised following the incident.
• There are many bumps with other cars, blown tyres, and damaged vehicles throughout the races due to aggressive F1 drivers.

Material that may scare or disturb children

• Nothing further noted for this age group.

• Nothing further noted for this age group.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

• Joshua is instructed by his team to avoid a pit stop during a race and risks driving on worn tyres for a chance to win an F1 event. After ignoring advice from Sonny to wait for a straight section to try and overtake another driver, Joshua loses control of his car around a bend and flies off the track. His vehicle is engulfed in flames and Sonny rushes over to pull him out. Joshua luckily survives the incident but is hospitalised and unable to race for multiple weeks.
• The film includes footage and flashbacks of Sonny’s crash 30 years ago, showing his car being destroyed and him lying motionless. He continues to relive the incident in his sleep, waking up in distress.
• Sonny drives with blurry vision once he returns to racing after his hospitalisation, and he struggles to remain in control of the race car.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

Car Manufacturers

• Aston Martin
• BMW
• Corvette
• Ferrari
• Ford
• Haas
• Honda
• Lotus
• Mercedes
• Porsche

Tyre, oil and other vehicle related companies

• Aramco
• Good Year Tyres
• Michelin
• Mobil 1
• OMP
• Peak
• Pirelli
• P Zero
• Shell
• Sunoco
• XRG

Drug & Alcohol

• Camel
• Heineken
• Marlboro

Other

• Amazon
• Apple
• Chrome
• CrowdStrike
• Crypto.com
• Dell
• DHL
• Dyson
• EA Sports
• Etihad Airways
• Expensify
• GEICO
• HP
• IWC
• Mastercard
• MSC
• Oracle
• Pioneer
• Qatar Airways
• Red Bull
• Rolex
• Salesforce
• Shark | Ninja
• Slazenger
• T Mobile
• Tag Heuer
• The Wynn Hotel Las Vegas
• Tommy Hilfiger
• Visa
• Workday.

Sexual references

• None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Sonny is shown shirtless on numerous occasions: in an ice bath, while training, while getting dressed, and while lying on a couch.
• Joshua runs while shirtless.
• Sonny and Kate make out, and it’s implied they had sex, as they are later shown in bed together.
• Joshua visits a club where some female dancers wear revealing outfits.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Sonny and Kate share beers.
• The winners of the F1 races spray champagne.
• While at a hotel, Joshua drinks a Heineken while Sonny drinks a clear spirit.
• After spending the night with Sonny, Kate mentions that she shouldn’t drink tequila.
• Someone smokes a cigarette.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Shit
• Son of a bitch
• Freaking
• Asshole
• Dick
• Stupid
• Prick
• Piss poor
• Bullshit
• Fucking
• Damn
• An APX employee sticks the middle finger up at another team
• Sonny sends a middle finger over text.

In a nutshell

F1 The Movie is a sports action film that follows a fictional Formula One team. It is set in the real world and features top teams and drivers, including Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The film, directed by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, shares clear similarities in theme and tone. The film features scary scenes, aggressive driving, coarse language, and mature scenes that are unsuitable for younger audiences. Additionally, the film features a constant stream of advertisement across the vehicles, driver uniforms, and racetracks. As such, the film is unsuitable for viewers under 12, with parental guidance to 13.

The main messages from this movie are that success is not a solo endeavour. While talent and instinct are important, true victory requires collaboration, trust, and teamwork. The film also highlights the value of unorthodox, out-of-the-box thinking. In a sport dominated by superior vehicles and massive budgets, creativity becomes a key advantage. This is exemplified by the team's use of a bold and chaotic 'Plan C’ to take on the superior vehicles and budgets of the other F1 teams in the film.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Teamwork
• Sacrifice
• Creativity
• Trust
• Resilience.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• The film includes several instances of gambling. Sonny reveals he had an unsuccessful stint as a professional gambler after his F1 injury 30 years ago. At one point, Joshua, Kate, and Sonny play poker to decide who will be the lead driver in the next race. Later, Sonny bets a reporter that APX will place in the upcoming event. Parents may wish to discuss with children, the risks and potential negative consequences of gambling.
• Sonny and the APX team frequently abuse the rules put in place by F1 to ensure safety of racers, instead using the procedures to improve their race placements. Parents may wish to discuss with their children the safety risks and ethics of such actions.