Cast of F1 (Film): Actors, Characters & Roles 2025

Brad Pitt has played race car drivers before, but never like this. The F1 film arriving in 2025 isn’t using camera tricks for its most dramatic sequences — Pitt and co-star Damson Idris spent months behind the wheels of real race cars on actual Grand Prix circuits.

Lead Actor: Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes ·
Rookie Driver: Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce ·
Team Principal: Javier Bardem as Ruben Cervantes ·
Engineer: Kerry Condon as Kate McKenna ·
Technical Director: Tobias Menzies as Peter Banning

Who is Brad Pitt supposed to be in the F1 movie?

Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a former 1990s Formula One driver for Lotus who returns after 30 years to the fictional APXGP team (Wikipedia). The character’s backstory draws direct inspiration from Martin Donnelly’s near-fatal crash during 1990 Spanish GP practice at Jerez — Pitt himself confirmed this connection through Formula1.com (Formula1.com).

Sonny Hayes character details

The film depicts Hayes as a former Lotus teammate of Rubén Cervantes, played by Javier Bardem. When we meet Hayes in the story, he’s been out of the sport for three decades before the APXGP teamowner — now played by Bardem — lures him back. Director Joseph Kosinski structured the story to explore what happens when a driver from a different era attempts to return to the most technically advanced Formula One cars ever built.

Kosinski explained that every interior shot of Brad Pitt and Damson Idris driving came from the actors actually piloting modified F2 cars on real F1 tracks. “Every time you see Brad or Damson driving this movie, they’re driving on their own in one of these real race cars on a real F1 track,” the director stated (Formula1.com).

Who is the Irish actress in the F1 movie?

The Irish actress in the F1 movie is Kerry Condon, who plays Kate McKenna, APXGP’s technical director and Sonny Hayes’ love interest (Wikipedia). Condon, an Irish actress with a career spanning film and television, brings technical credibility to her role — the character serves as the engineering backbone who must integrate Hayes back into a competitive environment after his decades-long absence.

Her casting alongside established performers like Pitt and Bardem reflects the production’s approach of hiring actors whose careers already demonstrated range and depth rather than solely targeting box office star power. The film’s production notes emphasize that Condon’s character operates as the bridge between Hayes’ old-school instincts and the data-driven reality of modern F1.

Did Brad Pitt drive the F1 car?

Brad Pitt drove modified F2 cars on actual F1 circuits rather than actual F1 cars, logging over 6,000 miles during production (Men’s Health). Six F2 cars were purchased and rebuilt by Mercedes AMG F1 engineers specifically to carry camera equipment for interior shots (Formula1.com).

Stunt driving facts

The production’s approach originated from a suggestion by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who proposed using real race cars rather than building full-scale replicas on gimbals. Before filming, Pitt and co-star Damson Idris completed training in F4 and F3 cars to prepare for the sequences they would eventually drive themselves (Petrolicious).

Who drove Brad Pitt’s car in the F1 movie?

Luciano Bacheta drove as Brad Pitt’s primary stunt double and plays Luca Cortez, APXGP’s reserve driver in the fictional storyline (Wikipedia). Bacheta, an ex-professional racer, also coached Pitt on realistic racing techniques during the months-long preparation period (Petrolicious).

Behind-the-scenes drivers

Craig Dolby, another ex-professional racer, served as Damson Idris’s double and stunt driver for high-speed sequences. Duncan Tappy rounded out the core stunt driving team (Wikipedia). The combined team meant that Pitt and Idris could drive real cars for their close-up scenes while professionals handled the most challenging wheel-to-wheel racing shots that required precision beyond what even months of training could replicate.

Stunt coordinator Luciano Bacheta recounted the tension of filming the most dangerous sequences: “Don’t kill Brad Pitt!” — his literal instruction during setups where real race cars approached each other at high speeds on actual tracks (Petrolicious).

Which actress was cut out of the F1 movie?

Simone Ashley had a substantially larger role that was ultimately cut from the final film, though she retained a cameo appearance as herself (Wikipedia). Director Joseph Kosinski explained that the edit required streamlining certain character arcs to maintain pacing, and Ashley’s character was among those that didn’t survive the final cut.

Simone Ashley removal reasons

The removal of Ashley’s role reflects the challenges of adapting racing film storytelling — which traditionally requires fewer speaking characters and more visual momentum. The 1966 film Grand Prix influenced the production’s approach to character count, meaning some potentially compelling performances became casualties of pacing decisions made during editing.

Shea Whigham appears in the film as Chip Hart, owner of Chip Hart Racing, contributing to the Daytona sequences that required characters with motorsport-adjacent credibility outside the core F1 team narrative (Wikipedia).

Every time you see Brad or Damson driving this movie, they’re driving on their own in one of these real race cars on a real F1 track.

Sonny’s sudden reappearance at the end of the movie on race day is a moment of “science fiction.”

The film’s production involved more than Hollywood craft — Lewis Hamilton served as producer, contributing authenticity checks alongside seven-time world champion perspective on racing verisimilitude. Real F1 drivers who previewed the film confirmed that the interior driving sequences achieve a level of visual authenticity previously unreached in the genre, even as they noted the plot’s departures from regulation reality.

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