Plot Summary (F1) F1

A section-by-section retelling of the story of F1 (2025), drawn from the film itself and verified against published plot summaries and reviews.

Sonny Hayes wins the 24 Hours of Daytona and gets a call from his past

Sonny Hayes, once the most promising Formula One driver of the 1990s, had his career destroyed by a catastrophic crash at the Spanish Grand Prix chasing Ayrton Senna.^b13 Thirty years later, he races sportscars under the radar. At the 24 Hours of Daytona, driving for Chip Hart Racing, Sonny wins the endurance race — a victory that proves he still has the talent and nerve for top-level motorsport.^{b2 b31}

"Dubbed 'the greatest that never was,' Sonny Hayes was Formula One's most promising phenom of the 1990s." — Apple Original Films, F1 The Movie — Official Synopsis (2025)

His former Lotus teammate Rubén Cervantes, now the owner of a struggling Formula One team called APXGP, contacts Sonny with a proposition.^b5 APXGP is on the verge of collapse — they must win at least one of nine remaining Grands Prix or face sale to outside investors who will gut the team.^{b4 b5} Rubén wants Sonny as his second driver, paired with the team's ambitious young rookie, Joshua Pearce.^{b5 b7} (wikipedia)

Sonny clashes with Joshua and struggles to find his footing

Sonny arrives at APXGP and immediately encounters friction with Joshua, who views the aging comeback driver as a threat to his own ambitions rather than an asset.^b8 The team's technical director, Kate McKenna, works to integrate Sonny into a racing environment that has changed dramatically in three decades — data-driven strategy has replaced the gut instinct Sonny relied on in the 1990s.^{b8 b10}

"There was an early version where Sonny wasn't driving right away and he was the team principal. But as we got further into the development, it became clear that the most cinematic version of the story was to put him back in the car." — Ehren Kruger, The Hollywood Reporter (2025)

At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, both APXGP drivers crash out of the race — an embarrassment that threatens the team's survival.^b11 The generational clash between Sonny and Joshua plays out on and off the track: Sonny drives by feel and refuses Kate's strategy calls, while Joshua trusts telemetry and data.^{b10 b12} (wikipedia)

Sonny bends the rules at Hungary and Joshua crashes at Monza

At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Sonny exploits a loophole in the safety car regulations, deliberately triggering safety car deployments that disrupt the field and allow Joshua to finish P10 for the team's first championship point of the season.^b14 It is a tactical masterstroke that demonstrates Sonny's deep knowledge of racing strategy, even if his methods provoke controversy.

The rain-affected Italian Grand Prix at Monza becomes the film's first major crisis. Sonny fakes a puncture to trigger a virtual safety car and radios Joshua to wait for the straight, but Joshua attacks early and crashes spectacularly into the barrier.^{b16 b17} Joshua is hospitalized in a burn unit and forced to miss races while recovering.^{b18 b20} The crash sequence was filmed at Brands Hatch standing in for Monza, with practical fire effects.²

"Those were the biggest flames I've ever seen in my life. Brad and I were really in there." — Damson Idris, The Hollywood Reporter (2025)

Joshua returns and deliberately crashes into Sonny at Spa

When Joshua returns to racing at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, the tension between the teammates escalates beyond rivalry into sabotage. Joshua, still burning with resentment, deliberately drives into Sonny at the Kemmel Straight chicane, taking both cars out of the race.^{b21 b22}

Kate McKenna convenes a hotel-suite team meeting after Spa to force the two drivers into the same room, and a poker game softens the tension.^{b24 b25} Kate and Sonny also grow closer, eventually becoming romantically involved.^{b26 b39} (wikipedia)

Peter Banning's sabotage is exposed

Meanwhile, Kate's engineering upgrades to the APXGP car face challenges after the FIA confirms documents were forged from inside Apex.^b293 Sonny confronts Banning, a member of APXGP's own board of directors who pushed for Sonny's signing — and Banning admits the irony: the board "thought you'd help us lose."^b28

Banning offers Sonny a post-sale role as strategy chief or team principal to walk away and let the existing team collapse; Sonny refuses.^{b28 b39} The corporate conspiracy adds stakes beyond the racing: APXGP's survival is threatened from within as well as on the track. (wikipedia)

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finale

The season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina becomes the team's last chance. Joshua and Sonny must work together against the sport's dominant forces — Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc among them.

A collision with George Russell sends Sonny into the barrier, but the resulting red flag stops the race and forces a restart — compressing the remaining distance into a three-lap sprint.^b33 APXGP's earlier qualifying failure becomes an asset: they have unused fresh soft tires that no other team possesses.^{b30 b33 b34}

On the restart, Sonny tows Joshua past Leclerc on the straight, then draws Hamilton's defense so Joshua slingshots through into the lead.^{b35 b36} Hamilton retaliates against Joshua, and contact between Hamilton and Joshua takes both off the track — leaving Sonny alone in P1.^b37 Sonny completes the final lap for his first-ever Formula One victory, securing APXGP's future.^b384 Joshua, offered a seat at Mercedes by Toto Wolff, declines — choosing to stay with the team that believed in him.^b38 (wikipedia)

Sonny departs and returns to the open road

Sonny leaves Formula One quietly. He gives Kate the steel watch he never wears and tells Ruben "it's your team now."^b39 The film's closing sequence shows him in a Baja paddock at sunset, where a team manager asks his name and whether he can be paid little — the same exchange that opened the diner scene with Ruben.^b405

"It isn't just about winning the race or a title. It's the spiritual component." — Brad Pitt, The Hollywood Reporter (2025)