F1

Joseph Kosinski shot the racing at real Grand Prix weekends, in the gaps between official sessions. At Las Vegas the crew had 15 minutes before the circuit was taken apart. The APXGP cars are not Formula 1 machines. A Dallara F2 chassis was stretched and widened, given an F1 style body designed by Mercedes and run by Carlin. The gap is measurable: an APXGP car is about 400 millimetres shorter and 100 millimetres narrower than a 2024 Formula 1. Brad Pitt and Damson Idris drove them, so the cockpit shots are not rear projection. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda asked Sony for a camera small enough to be a sensor on a stick. Each car carried 15 mount positions, but no more than four cameras at once. The cockpit and bodywork angles in the racing come from these. Kosinski also worked with the broadcast team for the angles he wanted at particular corners. The film won the Oscar for sound and was nominated for best picture, film editing and visual effects. Worldwide it took more than 634 million dollars. A good fit if it matters to you that the crowd and the on-track images are from an actual race weekend. Not for a viewer who will disconnect on learning the car on track is not a real Formula 1.