F1: How and where was the Brad Pitt sports drama filmed? Here's what we know

F1 marks the collaboration between Brad Pitt and Joseph Kosinski. The sports drama film will be released theatrically on June 27, 2025, when the Australian Grand Prix is taking place. Kosinski and Ehren Kruger wrote the story, while the screenplay was also penned by Kruger. Prior to its release, the film was screened at Radio City Music Hall. Here's the official synopsis:

"Racing legend Sonny Hayes is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver—while chasing one more chance at glory."

Amid all the anticipation around the film, let us explore the shooting locations of this upcoming sports drama.

How and where was F1 filmed?

F1 was shot in different locations where the Grand Prix takes place, including Yas Marina, Monza, Silverstone, and Spa-Francorchamps. The filmmakers also gained access to actual Formula One tracks for the shoot. In the 2023-2024 season, sequences were shot on tracks in places like Japan, Hungary, Britain, Las Vegas, and Belgium, among others.

A portion of Pitt inside a Porsche 911 GT3 R was shot at Daytona International Speedway. Mercedes-produced Formula 2 racing cars were modified for the film to look like F1 vehicles. This means that the engine and chassis are those of F2, but the exteriors were altered to suit the requirements.

Kosinski has also stated that they had 15 cameras mounted on these racing cars, which also had transmitters, recorders, and batteries. Claudio Miranda, the film's director of photography, developed custom cameras with Mercedes and Sony. They were designed to fit into the vehicles and capture high-speed motion.

Speaking to Deadline, Kosinski said,

“We had to have bespoke cameras for this that are very small and light so that they don’t impede the performance of the car too much and that’s key because you don’t want to have a race car and then put 200 pounds of gear on it. It’s the next generation from what we did on Top Gun.”

He added,

“Everything is much smaller and the big innovation that is that we’re now able to control the movement of the cameras on the cars. We’re not locked into these kinds of fixed positions we had on Top Gun. Now we have real-time control of panning and focusing them while shooting through a very extensive RF (radio frequency) network that we’ve built around the tracks.”

More about F1

F1 is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who also produced it with Brad Pitt, Chad Oman, Dede Gardner, Lewis Hamilton, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Jeremy Kleiner. The cast members include:

Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes
Kerry Condon as Kate McKenna
Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce aka Noah
Tobias Menzies as Peter Banning
Kim Bodnia as Kaspar Molinski
Shea Whigham as Chip Hart
Javier Bardem as Ruben Cervantes
Joseph Balderrama as Rico Fazio
Sarah Niles as Bernadette Pearce

The film revolves around Sonny Hayes, who was a successful Formula One driver in his younger days but had to retire after an accident. His friend asks him to mentor a young racer for the Grand Prix.

Warner Bros. Pictures will release the film on June 27, 2025.