Buckle up, because F1, the adrenaline-charged Formula 1 thriller speeding into theaters on June 27, 2025, is set to take audiences on a ride unlike anything else—even Top Gun: Maverick. Director Joseph Kosinski, the visionary behind the 2022 aerial blockbuster, is back with a star-studded sports drama led by Brad Pitt as retired racer Sonny Hayes. In a recent Entertainment Weekly interview, Kosinski spilled the beans on how F1 diverges from his Tom Cruise-led hit, promising a grounded, immersive dive into the high-stakes world of Formula 1 racing. With a crew of Top Gun veterans and real F1 tracks as his canvas, here’s how Kosinski is switching from jet fighters to race cars—and why it’s a whole new beast.
From Sky to Track: A Different Kind of Thrill
At first glance, F1 and Top Gun: Maverick seem cut from the same cloth. Both center on elite performers—jet pilots and F1 drivers—pushing the limits of speed and skill. Kosinski acknowledges the parallel, telling Entertainment Weekly, “They are the rock stars of their own universe.” But where Top Gun: Maverick soared through the skies with death-defying dogfights, F1 keeps its wheels firmly on the ground, trading altitude for velocity. “There’s an energy and an adrenaline pumping through when shooting in a real situation,” Kosinski said, emphasizing the raw intensity of filming at actual F1 races like Silverstone and Abu Dhabi.
Unlike Top Gun’s controlled naval airbases, F1 dives into the chaotic, unpredictable world of Grand Prix weekends. Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who also worked on Maverick, faced tight windows—sometimes just eight minutes between qualifying laps—to capture footage. “It was a technical feat and an organizational feat,” Bruckheimer told AP News, highlighting the logistical dance of filming amid live races. This real-time immersion, guided by F1 legend Lewis Hamilton as a producer, gives F1 a gritty authenticity that sets it apart from Maverick’s choreographed aerial ballet.
Next-Gen Tech: Evolving the ‘Top Gun’ Playbook
Top Gun: Maverick wowed audiences with its cockpit-mounted cameras, putting viewers in the pilot’s seat. F1 takes that tech to the next level, building on lessons learned. Kosinski explained to Formula1.com that they developed a “brand new camera system,” shrinking Maverick’s six Sony cameras to quarter-sized 10x10 cm cubes. These bespoke Sony cameras, designed with Mercedes, are light enough to avoid slowing the cars, and Panavision’s remote controls let cinematographer Claudio Miranda pan and focus in real-time via an RF network around tracks. “We’re not locked into fixed positions like on Top Gun,” Kosinski told CinemaBlend, ensuring dynamic shots that capture every heart-stopping turn.
This tech leap means every close-up of Pitt or co-star Damson Idris, who plays rookie prodigy Joshua Pearce, is the real deal. “Every time you see Brad or Damson’s face, they’re really driving that car,” Kosinski told AP News. Pitt, who trained for three months to handle speeds up to 180 mph, and Idris, who mastered hand-clutch F2 cars, drove modified vehicles on tracks like Suzuka and Hungaroring. This commitment to realism, backed by Hamilton’s script-vetting for details like tire compounds, makes F1 feel like a documentary at times, unlike Maverick’s more stylized aerial sequences.
Underdogs vs. Elites: A New Story Vibe
Story-wise, F1 carves its own path. Top Gun: Maverick followed Tom Cruise’s Maverick leading an elite squad on a high-stakes mission. F1, by contrast, is about underdogs. Pitt’s Sonny Hayes, a 1990s F1 driver sidelined by a crash, is lured back by team owner Ruben (Javier Bardem) to mentor young hotshot Pearce for the fictional APXGP team, a last-place squad fighting to survive. “It’s a story about a group of underdogs, and Sonny Hayes in his later years having one more chance to win a race in F1,” Kosinski told AP News. This mentor-protégé dynamic, laced with personal redemption, feels more intimate than Maverick’s grand, mission-driven narrative.
The F1 setting also brings unique drama. Kosinski, inspired by Netflix’s Drive to Survive, saw the sport’s rivalries—where teammates can be fiercest foes—as “ripe for drama.” Unlike Maverick’s clear enemy (an unnamed nation), F1’s conflicts are internal: Hayes vs. his past, Pearce vs. his mentor, and APXGP vs. the grid’s giants. With a cast including Kerry Condon as an engineer and real F1 drivers like Carlos Sainz playing themselves, the film leans into the sport’s glitz and grit, offering a vibe closer to Ford v Ferrari than Top Gun’s patriotic soar.
Risks and Rewards: A Grounded Spectacle
Filming F1 was riskier than Maverick. Pitt and Idris drove at breakneck speeds, sometimes before hundreds of thousands of fans, prompting Bruckheimer to sigh in relief when driving wrapped: “It is dangerous, it really is.” CBR notes that F1’s budget, rumored at $300 million (though Kosinski and Bruckheimer dispute this), reflects the cost of shooting at real races, from Silverstone to Yas Marina. Yet, this gamble could pay off, as F1 taps into the sport’s booming U.S. popularity, fueled by Drive to Survive. Maverick revived a 1980s franchise; F1 aims to make F1 a cinematic staple, with Hamilton’s expertise ensuring authenticity.
Still, F1 isn’t just Top Gun on wheels. Its focus on a struggling team, real-time track chaos, and cutting-edge cameras crafts a distinct flavor. MovieWeb suggests it could match Maverick’s $1.5 billion box office if Pitt’s star power and F1’s global appeal click. Kosinski’s challenge is balancing spectacle with story, but early buzz—like the CinemaCon 2025 first 10 minutes—hints at a summer blockbuster that’ll leave hearts racing.
Final Lap
Bullet Train Explosion proved Netflix could deliver high-speed thrills, but F1 is gunning for the big screen. Kosinski’s pivot from Top Gun: Maverick’s skies to F1’s tracks swaps jets for cars, elite missions for underdog dreams, and fixed cameras for nimble, real-time rigs. With Pitt behind the wheel and Hamilton in the producer’s seat, F1 promises to do for racing what Maverick did for flying. Catch it in theaters June 27, 2025, and brace for a ride that’s less about soaring and more about scorching the asphalt.
Source: Entertainment Weekly, AP News
