Brad Pitt’s F1 movie is in 8th gear, pushing full throttle in its final stages of production before the much-awaited release in June 2025. Aided by 7-time champion Lewis Hamilton as the Executive Producer, ‘F1’ promises to bring a new flavor of realism to each frame and scene. Directed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski, the film also boasts a massive $300 million budget. But did producer Jerry Bruckheimer really need to shell out nearly 1/3rd of a billion for this novelty of a project?

The last two blockbuster motorsport movies were Ford v/s Ferrari (2019) and Rush (2013). As per reports, the former, based on the 1996 Le Mans, was filmed on a budget of ~ $98 Million. The latter, based on James Hunt and Niki Lauda’s legendary 1976 F1 rivalry, was produced on a ~ $38 million budget. Add the two numbers and you still won’t be anywhere near half of $300 million. Reportedly, Brad Pitt charged (only) $30 million for this F1 movie. So where does all the other money go? According to producer Jerry Bruckheimer, this number is nowhere near the real budget.

“It’s completely, unfortunately, tens of millions of dollars out of whack in the wrong direction, and in the right direction for us,” he told Deadline, adding, “What people don’t realize is, first of all, we’re shooting in rebate [locations]. England has a big rebate, lots of Europe has rebates, and so does Abu Dhabi. It all lowers the budget.” The American also added how their mega-sponsorship deals lowered the outflow of money, noting, “Plus, we’ve raised more money for our car [through sponsorship] than some Formula 1 teams,” as he continued, “You take that all into consideration and it really drops that number quite a bit lower than what people would think.”

The fanfare around this movie after its teaser release on 7th July has been simply lovely. But the simple title, ‘F1’, that leads the work of Hollywood’s best, is in stark contrast to the detailing in it.

Jerry Bruckheimer credits Lewis Hamilton for realizing their vision for ‘F1’

As aforementioned, ‘F1’ will display F1’s reality at its best. Brad Pitt was specially trained by associates of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, starting from F4 cars through to F1. Director Joseph Kosinski thanked Lewis Hamilton for facilitating all this as the sport’s face. The 7-time champion also attended Zoom calls to straighten out details in the script. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer even credited Hamilton for helping Hollywood comprehensively step foot into F1.

This is the first Hollywood production shot during live race weekends. Headliners Brad Pitt and co-star Damon Idris drove makeshift F2-F1 cars during formation laps on the actual grid behind the 20 drivers. F1 also created an eleventh garage in the paddock for the fictional APXGP team. Having begun production in 2023, the makers also had to endure the agonizing Hollywood writers’ strike, stalling shooting.

But the love being received for the teaser is the fruit of their labor. F1 Journalist Tim Hauraney has already termed ‘F1’ better than ‘Ford v/s Ferrari’, which won two Oscars. Can Brad Pitt outclass Matt Damon and Christian Bale’s efforts from 2019? What do you feel? Share below.