Jerry Bruckheimer (F1) F1
Jerry Bruckheimer produced F1 (2025) through Jerry Bruckheimer Films, reuniting the Top Gun: Maverick team of director Joseph Kosinski (F1), cinematographer Claudio Miranda (F1), and composer Hans Zimmer (F1). For Bruckheimer, F1 was a return to the racetrack thirty-five years after Days of Thunder (1990) — his first racing film and his first collaboration with Zimmer.
Bruckheimer saw the film as Rocky with racing cars
The emotional core of the project, for Bruckheimer, was the comeback story — an underdog getting a second chance in a sport that has moved past him.
"It's Rocky, the kind of thing we all want in our life. We all want second chances. We all want redemption." — Jerry Bruckheimer, Deadline (2025)
"There are only 10 teams, two drivers to each team, and it's the only sport where your teammate is your competitor." — Jerry Bruckheimer, Deadline (2025)
Lewis Hamilton unlocked the door to Mercedes and the entire paddock
Hamilton's dual role as producer and seven-time world champion gave the production access that no previous racing film had achieved. Bruckheimer credited Hamilton with the pivotal introduction to Toto Wolff at Mercedes.
"Lewis unlocked the door to Mercedes and Toto. They were so helpful because they built a car." — Jerry Bruckheimer, Deadline (2025)
"We entered the sport in the best possible position to be in to succeed, and we wanted to make it real and realistic." — Jerry Bruckheimer, Screen Rant (2025)
The scariest track was Las Vegas — no runoff, barriers everywhere
Bruckheimer described the Las Vegas Strip Circuit as the most dangerous filming location. The street circuit's concrete walls and lack of gravel runoff meant any error at speed could be catastrophic.
"The scariest thing for me as a producer is you don't want anybody to get hurt, and the scariest track for us was Vegas, because in Vegas there is no runoff." — Jerry Bruckheimer, Deadline (2025)
"We had to convince the insurance company that the faster you go, the safer it is, because you need that downforce." — Jerry Bruckheimer, The Hollywood Reporter (2025)
From Days of Thunder to F1: thirty-five years of camera technology evolution
Bruckheimer described the technological leap between his two racing films — from Days of Thunder's bulky camera rigs to the miniaturized systems Apple and Sony developed for F1.
"The technology is advanced tenfold. When we made Thunder, the cameras were bigger and bulkier." — Jerry Bruckheimer, Deadline (2025)
"When you watch this movie and you see Brad and Damson in the car, they're actually driving these cars. It's not special effects. It's the real deal." — Jerry Bruckheimer, Variety (2025)
Bruckheimer expressed hope that F1 would have the same cultural impact as Top Gun: Maverick.
"I wish I had movies that he wanted to do earlier. I just didn't." — Jerry Bruckheimer, on Brad Pitt, BFI (2025)