Hannah Elliott here, and I’ve got a disclaimer for you: This is not a movie review. I’m not here to critique the dialogue, the character development or the perfunctory love connection in F1: The Movie, in theaters on June 27. I didn’t go in looking for chitchat. I wanted racing. That’s what I got.

Starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Javier Bardem, the film shines brightest when it’s speaking to those who don’t think they’re into motor sports while winking at those of us who do. (Our film critic said it made her feel like a Formula One fan.)

It uses real F1 announcers to explain technicalities such as race strategy and tire management to the masses while satiating insiders with cameos of the sport’s stars, including Stefano Domenicali, Toto Wolff, Fred Vasseur, Zak Brown, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, among many others. Die-hards will notice that even Porsche factory driver Patrick Long has a cameo during the opening scenes at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce and Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes face off in F1. Source: Warner Bros. Pictures

It felt incredible to see a film reflecting the sport’s growing diversity rather than one that’s a painful reminder of what a monoculture it was back in the day. F1 nails the chaos and glory of the scenes on the grid; the look and dynamics of the pit crews feel accurate, even if they left me wanting a deeper exploration of some of those characters. Tiny cameras, courtesy of Apple Original Films, and CGI effects make for thrilling first-person vantage-point driving shots that have totally recalibrated what I now expect from any car-related film. 

But I was most impressed with how producer Jerry Bruckheimer got the key players in the sport to work together. These drivers aren’t exactly known for their, uh, willingness to cooperate.

“F1 drivers are the most selfish,” former F1 world champion Jenson Button told me last weekend at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I’d asked him about the differences among the drivers in Nascar, IndyCar, endurance racing and Formula One. 

Wolff, team principal and chief executive officer of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team, took it a few steps further. 

“These guys are traumatized little 6-year-olds,” he said when we spoke this week on the Hot Pursuit! podcast. “They’ve been put in a go-kart as basically toddlers. That’s scary. You’re being told to drive fast—these karts go a hundred kilometers an hour. Maybe it’s raining. You have accidents, and you need to rely on yourself. You find out that you are alone, and you need to survive. And only the best do.”

Wolff revealed there’s one controversial regulation that’s keeping Mercedes from racing in Le Mans. Photographer: Jakub Porzycki/Getty Images

Getting every team on board and moving in the same direction was the biggest obstacle to getting the film made, according to Bruckheimer. It didn’t help that planning unfolded in 2022, at the height of the rivalry between Mercedes-AMG Petronas and Oracle Red Bull Racing. 

“They were concerned about being a villain in the film,” he says. “Who was gonna be the villain? Since Lewis was at Mercedes at the time and Mercedes built our car, they expected that Red Bull was for sure gonna be the villain.” 

It took a year just to make everyone comfortable with the idea of sharing screen time, Bruckheimer says. But he stayed patient, repeatedly discussing specifics with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, Verstappen and the other teams to assure them the film was about something deeper. He flew to London to meet with Domenicali, the CEO of Formula One Group. He leaned on Hamilton to make key introductions; Pitt and director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) took additional meetings to help assuage concerns. 

Apple Original Films’ F1: The Movie gives a thrilling depiction of the grit and glory of high-speed racing.  Source: Warner Bros. Pictures

“We said, ‘You’ve got to believe us and trust us.’ Our movie is about how two people can’t get along and figure out a way to actually work together and win. It’s about teamwork,” says Bruckheimer. “If two people who really don’t like each other figure out a way to work together and create a team to win, that message could resonate everywhere.”

After he got the green light, Bruckheimer used a multipronged strategy for coordinating the outsize personalities and egos of F1. It started with staying direct about the process. He showed drivers and other stakeholders early clips, teasers and trailers, gaining feedback for the final result.  

“Our policy was to be straightforward and honest and show them exactly how we’re gonna do it and what we’re gonna do, and tell them, ‘Here’s the story, and here’s how we’re gonna make it,’” he says.

Authenticity was a significant concern. So Kosinski created short videos demonstrating how he’d developed scenes and planes for Top Gun: Maverick, especially how they re-created the Sukhoi Su-57 Russian jet by skinning an F-18 fighter to match the aerodynamics of the other plane. The idea was to show proof of concept for a film about race cars.  

Authenticity in the film matters when F1 memorabilia hounds are paying top dollar for used racing helmets, suits, boots and wheels—even this old Ferrari F10 steering wheel ($27,600). Source: RM Sotheby's/©2019 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

“We said, ‘We’re gonna embed ourselves into your world and make the most authentic movie possible about it.’ They were our true partners in this, otherwise we wouldn’t have got the access that we got,” Bruckheimer says.  

The crew shot scenes on real F1 tracks in Abu Dhabi, Belgium, England, Italy, Japan, Las Vegas, Mexico City and the Netherlands; they earned access to garages, pit lanes and inner sanctums. The fictional race team in the movie, APXGP, is based at the real-life McLaren Automotive headquarters in Woking, England. If you’ve been there, you’ll instantly identify the long driveway that wraps around the pond in front. 

A few drivers have nitpicked details. I, too, quibbled with how the film portrays them deliberately running into one another in multiple races; that doesn’t happen in real-life F1 without serious consequences. Some even questioned Verstappen’s missing the official premiere in New York City and skipping a screening before the Monaco Grand Prix, but I’m not reading into it. He’s being a good dad: His wife, Kelly Piquet, just gave birth to their first child.

Ultimately, Bruckheimer’s efforts effect a symphony of sound and color, with the most thrilling depictions of track time this motor sports fan has yet seen. It made me excited about the future of F1 here in the US—and it’s only going to get better.

Follow Hannah via her reporting and podcast.

If you’re searching for a new racing series to get into, look no further than the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As part of the FIA World Endurance Championship, it lacks the status and swag of F1 but has all the prestige and more actual on-track drama. It even has a few movies to call its own: Ford v Ferrari was set there; so was Steve McQueen’s 1971 paean to racing, Le Mans.

A shining gem in the triple crown of auto racing, along with the F1 Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500, Le Mans is a sports fan’s nirvana, with easy access; affordable tickets; an absence of lifestyle influencers (I predict that will change); genuine bonhomie among enthusiasts, many of whom camp for the duration of the race; and decades of legend behind it.

Race winners—the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Robert Kubica (driving), Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye—celebrate the end of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 15 in France. Photographer: James Moy Photography/Getty Images Europe

You know that thing F1 winners do when they make the top spot on the podium and spray a magnum of Champagne? American racer Dan Gurney did it first when he won Le Mans in 1967; apparently the French at the time were appalled. 

“It might be because I’ve won at Monaco, but I feel that this one is bigger,” said driver Button. “To win here at Le Mans, I think it’s bigger. And F1 won’t like me saying that.” 

It also has serious business gravitas. Think of it as the Davos of the car world. The attendee list this year was a who’s who of automotive CEOs: General Motors’ Mary Barra; Ford’s Jim Farley; Aston Martin’s Adrian Hallmark; and Oliver Blume, of both Volkswagen Group and Porsche. The CEOs of Goodyear, Hertz and Michelin also attended. Zak Brown of McLaren was there; so was Roger Penske, the mastermind behind a $43 billion empire.

I also spotted racing champions Jackie Ickx, Derek Bell, Button, the Franchitti brothers and Mr. Le Mans himself—nine-time winner Tom Kristensen. 

The grueling race is one of the few events in the auto world to fill the hole that traditional car shows left when they died. So bigwigs come to network and hobnob, to see and be seen and to do deals.

“They have to be here, they want to be here,” Brown told me. “It’s iconic. It’s definitely the new auto show.”

During the race, I interviewed Aston Martin’s Hallmark about the impact of US tariffs, as well as the Valhalla hypercar. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

The $30 million to $40 million it costs to field an endurance team for a year in this series returns significant developments in things such as tires, efficiency and speed. It also gives Aston Martin, Porsche, Cadillac and other brands credibility with their customers. 

“The value proposition for sponsors and fans is awesome,” Brown told me. “The series itself is in a great place.” 

Racing is essential to revitalizing the 122-year-old Cadillac brand after multiple false starts, according to Mark Reuss, the president of GM. 

“Motor sports will bring the brand to a place where people see it as incredibly innovative, high tech,” he says of the brand-building potential. “There’s durability associated with running endurance races that is pure Cadillac.”

GM President Reuss was also in Bloomberg Businessweek recently, as part of revealing the podcasts and playlists that top execs listen to on their commutes. Illustration by Dohee Kwon for Bloomberg Pursuits

Of course, it’s also essential to win. Cadillac isn’t there yet, though its first-ever 1-2 pole position this year bodes well. (Ferrari won this year, for the third time in a row.)

“For the commercial business, it’s taking our brands and putting them in a place where people [understand] what the car represents,” Reuss says. “When we do that on a repeated basis and win, that means something.”

I predict this won’t be the last time we see Cadillac dancing closer to the winner’s podium.

While we were at the race last week, my podcast co-host, Matt Miller, and I filmed a TV special about Le Mans. It includes interviews with most of the people mentioned above and will air on Bloomberg Television throughout this weekend. Tune in—and I’ll see you there next year.