How did Brad Pitt prepare for the gruesome action in F1? Explained in depth

Brad Pitt’s prep for F1 wasn’t some glossy Hollywood montage; it was grit, grind, and gasoline. To embody a seasoned Formula One driver, Pitt didn’t sit in a green-screen cockpit and fake it until he made it. He went full throttle, training on real tracks in real race cars, with the mentorship of an actual F1 legend breathing down his neck. This wasn’t about pretending to race, it was about becoming the racer.

Pitt faced the full force of what it means to control a car at over 180 mph, not just physically, but mentally. He studied the sport’s rhythm, absorbed the psychology of the grid, and pushed his limits on circuits that eat amateurs alive. With footage captured during actual Grand Prix weekends, and Pitt literally sharing the track with the pros, F1 promises realism like never before. No shortcuts. No faking. Just raw speed, sweat, and a movie star who raced like he meant it.

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What is F1 about?

F1 isn’t your run-of-the-mill sports flick; it’s a full-throttle character drama disguised as a racing epic. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, who worked on Top Gun: Maverick and produced by cinematic powerhouse Jerry Bruckheimer alongside F1 titan Lewis Hamilton, this movie isn’t just about chasing podiums. It’s chasing something deeper, legacy, redemption, and the fire that keeps you going long after the checkered flag.

Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a former racing prodigy whose glory days were left in the dust after a violent crash in the ’90s. Years later, Sonny’s drawn back into the high-stakes chaos when his old teammate, Ruben Cervantes, played by Javier Bardem, now running the flailing APXGP team, asks him to mentor a rising rookie, Joshua Pearce, played by Damson Idris.

It’s grizzled veteran meets wide-eyed talent, with everything to lose and even more to prove. The film leans hard into human undercurrents: fear, ego, pride, and the quiet ache of time gone by.

Set to release June 27, 2025, with a thunderous soundtrack featuring Hans Zimmer, Rosé, and Don Toliver, F1 is shaping up to be more than a racing movie. It’s a love letter to speed, struggle, and second chances. With sweat on its brow and a heart in its engine, this film isn’t coasting, it’s going flat-out.

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How Brad Pitt prepared for F1

Naturally, a lot of hard work went into both Pitt and Idris getting ready to become racers. In a recent interview with Variety, both the stars detailed their practice and preparation as they recounted how they drove thousands of miles across the two years they spent making the film.

Craig Dolby and Luciano Bacheta, who helped with the film's stunt sequences and choreography, detailed how Pitt learned racing from actual drivers in preparation for the film, which is why all the stunts you'll see in the film are rooted in so much authenticity and realism. The actor got training from Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One champion. Talking about Pitt's session with Hamilton, Bacheta told The New York Times,

“Lewis had told him that you hit the brake as hard as you can, which is the case sometimes in F1, but not always. So the first time we went out on track, I had Brad in my mirrors, and every time he hit the brakes, the wheels were locked up. He was absolutely killing them.”

Pitt himself has talked about his preparations for the film, as he stated in F1's media notes,

“When you first start, you’re making big jumps — gaining seconds. And as the months go by, you’re fighting for quarters of seconds. The first month is just learning to trust the car — that it will stick to the ground, will stop, even when you’re heading for a wall. The more you put into it, the better it sticks, the faster you can whip around a corner, even as every instinct in your body is screaming, ‘No! No! No! No! No! It’s gonna give way, it’s gonna give way, it’s gonna give way!’.”

Before filming F1, Brad Pitt and Damson Idris spent six weeks training in F3 cars before graduating to F2 vehicles modified to resemble real F1 machines. On track, they were guided by professional drivers Craig Dolby and Luciano Bacheta, who communicated via open-mic systems, walking them through braking zones, apexes, and gear shifts.

Eventually, the coaching lessened to help the actors develop independent instincts. They advanced to wheel-to-wheel racing, even navigating corners together. Pitt, especially, grew fiercely competitive, often challenged to outbrake Bacheta in mock races where he had to defend his position and prevent overtakes like a real pro.

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Damson Idris opening up on his experience filming F1

Pitt's co-star Damson Idris also opened up on the filming process and how the actors worked with real racers, making the whole experience a lot more exhilarating. Talking to Variety, the actor stated,

“Every time I was behind that wheel, it was the most exhilarating feeling in the world. And the fact that we got to follow the real Grand Prix and be around all the drivers — I got to watch them, and I got to really see how they immerse themselves in the world — and they were so welcoming. And we got to stand with all the Formula One drivers; we got to sing the national anthem — there were fireworks going over ."

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How F1’s behind-the-scenes prep brought Hollywood up to racing speed

To make sure the film didn’t just look the part but feel it, the crew brought in Barry Sigrist, a high-performance whisperer with a résumé spanning Premier League locker rooms and real F1 garages. His mission? Keep Brad Pitt and Damson Idris in peak shape as they endure the bone-rattling G-forces of pro-grade training. Forget basic stretches, Sigrist’s approach leaned into the science of recovery: deep tissue work, mobility drills, nervous system resets, and muscle prep that tackled the brutal wear on the neck, back, and core. No fluff, no frills, just precision warm-ups designed for racers, not actors.

Sigrist also helped shape the film’s realism, consulting on everything from how drivers prep to how teams behave in garages. Several early script elements were revised or scrapped entirely because they didn’t reflect how real drivers operate.

From the physical training to the way track scenes were shot, with cars racing dangerously close for camera perfection, F1 might be a Hollywood blockbuster at heart, but its pulse beats with a surprising amount of respect for the real motorsport world.

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F1 will be in theaters on June 27, 2025.

Also Read: Top 5 movies you should watch before Brad Pitt's F1 release