The Onboard Camera System F1
The onboard camera system developed for F1 (2025) represents the film's most significant technical innovation. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda (F1) and director Joseph Kosinski (F1) needed cameras small enough to mount inside a Formula One car's bodywork without affecting aerodynamics or safety, yet capable of recording cinema-quality footage at racing speeds above 180 mph. The result was a collaboration between Sony, Apple, and Panavision that produced a camera system roughly one-third the size of the one used on Top Gun: Maverick.
Top Gun's cameras were too big for an F1 car
On Top Gun: Maverick, Miranda used six fixed camera positions inside the F/A-18 cockpit. The cameras were effective but large — acceptable inside a fighter jet, impossible inside a single-seater racing car where every cubic centimeter affects aerodynamics and safety.
"The smallest cameras that existed at the time were just way too big." — Claudio Miranda, IndieWire (2025)
Miranda visited Mercedes with every small camera on the market — RED KOMODO, Sony FX6, Sony FX3 — and found them all too bulky for the tight bodywork of a Formula One car.
Sony built a prototype codenamed "Carmen" — a sensor on a stick
Miranda approached Sony's imaging team with a request that defined the project's technical ambition: build something the size of a sensor with a cable attached.
Sony responded with a prototype combining features of the FX3 and FX6 cameras with remote operation capabilities derived from their FR7 technology. The unit was configured specifically for the racing environment — compact enough to replace the standard broadcast streaming camera that sits in a pod behind the driver's head in real F1 cars. (sony)
"F1 allowed us to take that out and replace it with a camera that Apple developed that recorded onboard 4K ProRes footage during the actual races, and it was derived from an iPhone." — Joseph Kosinski, The Wrap (2025)
Apple's A-series processors powered the custom cameras, recording 4K ProRes footage. The system could operate during actual Grand Prix races, capturing footage of real F1 cars from the APXGP car's perspective. (formula1.com)
Sixteen positions, four running simultaneously, with remote-controlled panning
Where Maverick used six fixed positions, F1 expanded to sixteen different mounting positions with four cameras running simultaneously. Panavision designed remote-controlled servo panning mounts that allowed Kosinski to control camera angles in real time from his base station alongside Miranda.
"There's a little pod behind the driver's head that holds a broadcast streaming camera." — Joseph Kosinski, The Wrap (2025)
"I'd have to anticipate things before they happen, which I ended up getting pretty good at." — Joseph Kosinski, The Wrap (2025)
The panning mounts served a dual purpose: they allowed dynamic framing, and they could pan to show the empty cockpit around the driver — proving to the audience that there was no stunt double, no passenger seat, no cheating. (motorsport.com)
The cameras had to crumple safely in a crash
Every camera mount had to meet FIA safety standards. In a crash, the equipment needed to deform predictably rather than become a projectile inside the survival cell.
"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)
Hamilton said the footage was better than real F1 broadcasts
The quality of the onboard footage exceeded what Formula One's own broadcast cameras produce — a consequence of using cinema-grade sensors and lenses rather than the standard broadcast equipment.
"The footage we have from the cars are better than what you see when you watch Formula 1." — Lewis Hamilton, Variety (2025)
"I'm sure at some point, Formula 1 is going to see how we can get those cameras on our cars. But they're pretty heavy, all the gear." — Lewis Hamilton, Variety (2025)