Director Joseph Kosinski has admitted his upcoming movie F1 is “unlike anything (he’s) done before”.

The Top Gun: Maverick director has been filming his sports movie, which stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris as drivers, at actual Formula One races around the world, including the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday.

He admitted in an interview with Deadline that it has been logistically challenging trying to coordinate filming with the race schedule.

“We’ve got Brad and Damson actually driving the cars, which is pretty spectacular in itself, but to do that in front of a live audience and at the speeds they’re doing it and figuring out a way to capture it… The logistics of it are unlike anything I’ve done before,” he shared.

“We’re shooting at the actual Grands Prix, there are certain aspects of this film where we’re working in very, very tight windows, shooting on the track, between practice and qualifying sessions, in front of hundreds of thousands of people.”

Giving an example, the filmmaker revealed he had a nine-minute window to shoot a dialogue-heavy scene with three actors on the grid at Silverstone when production began in July last year.

“It really brings an intensity and everyone’s leaning forward in a way that maybe you wouldn’t on a normal shoot day on a soundstage, where you’ve got 10 hours to get right,” Kosinski continued. “Now, when you’ve got nine minutes, with all the actors you can just see the adrenaline going beforehand and you feel that in the performances.”

From conversations with F1 executives and professionals, including Lewis Hamilton, Kosinski and his team learned that cars in racing movies are never fast enough or truly capture what it’s like to be behind the wheel.

To address these concerns, they worked closely with Mercedes to design movie cars that were Formula 2 on the inside and Formula 1 on the outside. Each vehicle was fitted with small, lightweight cameras that could be controlled in real time during a race in an effort to bring as much authenticity as possible.

The production team will be heading to countries such as Mexico, Abu Dhabi and Italy to shoot more footage throughout this year.

F1 will be released in cinemas in June 2025.

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