Claudio Miranda (F1) F1

Claudio Miranda, ASC, served as cinematographer on F1 (2025), his third collaboration with director Joseph Kosinski (F1) after Oblivion (2013) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Miranda's central problem was the same one he solved on Maverick — how to put the audience inside a machine traveling at extreme speed — but Formula One cars are smaller, faster, and surrounded by competitors inches away.

Miranda's philosophy: if it is not shot in-camera, it is not their movie

Miranda and Kosinski shared a commitment to practical footage over digital fabrication. Every racing sequence in the film features actors driving modified F2 cars on real circuits at racing speed.

"Our high bar is always 'How can we get it in-camera?'" — Claudio Miranda, The Wrap (2025)

"That's not our movie. We watched movies that were done in that style, and they do tricks like speeding it up or putting the vehicle on a gimbal or in the volume... but that seems a little bit sad." — Claudio Miranda, IndieWire (2025)

"In 'Top Gun,' we found out how immersive the audience felt when they were in the jets." — Claudio Miranda, The Wrap (2025)

Existing cameras were too big — Miranda asked Sony for a "sensor on a stick"

The onboard cameras from Top Gun: Maverick were far too large for a Formula One car. Miranda visited Mercedes with every small camera on the market — RED KOMODO, Sony FX6, Sony FX3 — and found them all too bulky. He approached Sony's imaging team with a radical request.

"The smallest cameras that existed at the time were just way too big." — Claudio Miranda, IndieWire (2025)

Sony responded with a prototype internally codenamed "Carmen" — combining features of the FX3 and FX6 with remote camera operation derived from FR7 technology, but configured as a compact unit that could mount inside the car's tight bodywork. Apple's A-series processors powered the custom onboard cameras, recording 4K ProRes footage during actual races. Panavision designed remote-controlled panning mounts that allowed Kosinski to control camera angles in real time from the base station. (fdtimes, sony)

Sixteen camera positions with four running simultaneously

Where Top Gun: Maverick used six fixed camera positions inside the cockpit, F1 expanded to sixteen different mounting positions with four running at any time. The panning mounts allowed Kosinski to prove the actors were alone in the car — the camera could pan to show the empty cockpit around the driver. (motorsport.com)

"We had to make sure we weren't interfering in any of their normal activity." — Claudio Miranda, The Hollywood Reporter (2025)

"We also had to make sure Safety was happy with it, so if there is an accident, it all crumples up safely." — Claudio Miranda, The Hollywood Reporter (2025)

The real locations were the sets — no sound stages for racing sequences

Miranda used wide-angle Voigtlander and ZEISS Loxia lenses to capture cars racing at 150 mph, choosing glass that emphasized speed through distortion at the frame edges. The cinematographic philosophy treated each circuit as a practical location, not a backdrop for compositing.

"There weren't many sets on this movie. The locations were our sets." — Claudio Miranda, IndieWire (2025)

"The thing I love about Joe is that he'll always try to shoot in a real place, a real environment." — Claudio Miranda, IndieWire (2025)

The ten-minute windows at Grand Prix weekends meant there was no margin for error.

"They don't give you grace. If you're not done in 10 minutes, you have to get the car off the track. There were scenes we shot that we had one chance to get, and that was nerve-wracking." — Claudio Miranda, IndieWire (2025)

Lewis Hamilton noted the quality of Miranda's onboard footage surpassed what Formula One itself broadcasts.

"The footage we have from the cars are better than what you see when you watch Formula 1." — Lewis Hamilton, Variety (2025)