F1 The Movie’s biggest twist? The tires are the breakout stars, thanks to Pirelli

Spoiler warning: this article contains details about the plot of “F1: The Movie.”

When the minds behind the new Formula One movie, Jerry Bruckheimer and Joe Kosinski, set out on their quest to make the most authentic racing film of all time, a very specific subject matter was inevitably going to be important to the plot.

Tires are one of the most decisive factors in F1 races. The strategy that each team chooses to employ, and how both its car and driver can manage the life of the rubber, serve as the greatest controllable variable for teams on each race weekend.

From the very start of shooting, Bruckheimer and Kosinski therefore knew Pirelli, F1’s tire supplier, would have an essential role in the film.

But they didn’t just want to ensure that tire strategy was properly explained in the movie. For the bespoke cars constructed for actors Brad Pitt and Damson Idris to drive for the fictional APXGP team, Pirelli had to supply tires and help engineer them, just as it would for any of the real 10 F1 teams.

Mario Isola, Pirelli’s racing director and F1 chief, had his first meeting with the filmmakers at preseason testing in Bahrain in 2023. He said it was “quite a surprise” for Pirelli to end up being so heavily involved in the film, with the initial remit being to create a tire that could be used on the APXGP car that Mercedes had helped design.

“The first step was to understand which kind of tire we had to use,” Isola said. Because the filming demands would require the APXGP car to be driven at a lower speed than usual, Pirelli considered whether it would need to create a bespoke compound that would offer sufficient grip, particularly when actors lacking racing experience were behind the wheel.

Pirelli designed a bespoke compound, only to realize it was unnecessary later on. “We could use Formula Two tires,” Isola said. “F2 tires don’t use tire blankets, so the level of grip generated with the cold tires was enough.” The slightly smaller dimensions of the F2 tires also better fit the modified chassis of the APXGP car.

Isola said Pirelli supplied one thousand tires to support filming, using F2 tires when the car was running on track and then fitting full-size F1 tires for garage scenes — again in the name of authenticity.

Just as the Italian tire manufacturer has a dedicated engineer assigned to each F1 team on race weekends to support their preparations, a small crew of three or four engineers was on hand to help the film production team prepare tires to the correct prescription, getting them set up with the required pressures.

For the movie’s crash sequences, Pirelli also provided information on how a tire would be cut and lose pressure. “They wanted it to be very close to reality,” Isola said. “That was a nice finding when I watched the movie.”

Unlike the structured F1 calendar with long-planned race weekends and private tests, some filming had to be arranged at short notice, especially around the time of the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023. “We had to be very flexible in being ready with tires immediately when they had the possibility to film,” Isola said. “It was quite a nice experience for our guys to understand what flexibility is sometimes!” Tires would be sent from Pirelli’s facilities in Didcot, UK, and Milan, Italy, depending on where filming was taking place.

In some of the film’s pivotal race weekend scenes, strategy meetings led by the technical director (played by Kerry Condon) include Pirelli’s infographics showing the planned strategy for the race. These scenes lay the groundwork for the film’s end. When a red flag is called during the final race in Abu Dhabi, the fact that Brad Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, has an extra set of soft tires available after his car failed to make it to Q3 plays a vital role in the closing scenes.

“I don’t want to spoil the end of the movie, but it was interesting to see the conclusion of the race,” said Isola. “It was quite nice.”

Using real F2 and F1 tires was part of the movie’s aim for authenticity (James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Sky Sports commentators David Croft and Martin Brundle narrate the proceedings throughout the film, true to the real world. They discuss the advantages of using a soft tire at a crucial moment in the movie — a scene written with support from the experts and consultants on the production team to ensure it was as true to life as possible.

“There are a lot of technical elements in F1 now and they are sometimes difficult to explain to people,” Isola said. “They found a very easy language to explain to spectators. Some technical stuff is not so user-friendly.”

Kosinski, the film’s director, always wanted to carefully thread the needle between staying true to technical details without overwhelming newcomers. He felt Croft and Brundle’s role was critical to strike this balance.

“What you notice is, if you listen to their commentary, very subtly, they do cover the basics of Formula One. They call a race so that if you’re tuning in for the first time, you’re getting those fundamentals,” Kosinski said. “But at the same time, you’re getting the detail and the specificity that engages the fans that know it all.

“I was really inspired by how they call their real races. And so we did a lot of sessions with them. I really think they’re the unsung heroes of this movie. They kind of carry an audience that knows nothing through this story, but do it in a way that feels very authentic and is very much their own voice.”

The film will provide a marketing boost to the entire F1 ecosystem that will resonate in the coming weeks and months. As in real life, Pirelli’s branding stretched beyond the tires in the film, covering trackside advertising hoardings, the APXGP car, and even the suits of drivers and mechanics.

“That replicates what happened with the other teams,” Isola said. “We said that all the teams have the Pirelli logo on the suits of the mechanics, the race suits of the drivers, support trailers, as well as on the car.

“If you look at the Pirelli stickers, there are more than the other cars because they were on the front wheel. That is not the same for the other cars! But we were happy to have it in addition.”

Isola watched the film at the premiere in New York City earlier this month and thought it was a “great movie” that would be “very good for attracting new spectators” to F1.

“It’s a Hollywood movie, as everybody said, but it’s quite real,” Isola said. “I was impressed by the final result. And also the role of Pirelli in the movie!”

(Top photo: James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)