Drivers warn that Brad Pitt F1 film not for purists

Formula 1 drivers say the new Brad Pitt-led F1 film is a fun and exciting project — just not one that purists or insiders should expect to reflect the sport with complete accuracy.

All but two current drivers — Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll — attended a private screening of the film in Monaco on Wednesday, most of them wearing full team gear.

“I notified FOM about that,” Verstappen said of his absence. “I think it’s coming out on June 27? I’ll download it on Apple.”

Stroll simply said: “I just had things to do.”

While Verstappen said attending wasn’t mandatory, most of the grid took part — and shared similar feedback after the viewing: the movie will do wonders for Formula 1’s popularity, but it isn’t entirely realistic.

“It’s a Hollywood film, so it’s not about getting every detail right,” Nico Hulkenberg said. “You have to sit back a bit, see the whole picture, and not take everything so seriously. It’s simply about showing a broad audience what’s going on here.”

Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc agreed: “It doesn’t show exactly the way we live things.”

Rookie Isack Hadjar echoed the sentiment: “As drivers, it’s hard to give feedback, because we’re really critical. But I think if you’re a kid or someone who doesn’t know about the sport, I think it’s the best way to get started.”

Alex Albon had a clear message to the sport’s die-hard audience: “Just relax and watch it as a movie.”

Gabriel Bortoleto added, “It’s going to be very good for those who still don’t know the sport so much.”

Even among the drivers, a common refrain was that F1 might not pass every test of realism — but that’s beside the point.

“There were some things that didn’t make much sense to us drivers,” Esteban Ocon admitted. “But I saw where Lewis (Hamilton) had contributed to try to make it as realistic as possible.”

Asked what stood out as unrealistic, the Haas driver replied: “The crashes. In some scenes, it feels very Hollywood. The film has to appeal to a wider audience, but I would like to see less crashes and more racing.”

Carlos Sainz compared the movie to the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive: effective in growing the sport, if not fully reflective of it.

“It’s going to be really good for people who don’t know anything about Formula 1,” Sainz said.

“For the hardcore fans, journalists, us, we’re going to see things that might seem too American or too Hollywood.

They also warned us,” he added. “They said: ‘Guys, we love your sport. We’re in love with your sport. But this is Hollywood’.”