The F1 movie took home one Oscar from its four nominations at the Academy Awards. Image: Warner Bros.
The film’s sound team of Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A Rizzo and Juan Peralta took home the Oscar in Los Angeles after beating out Frankenstein, One Battle After Another, Sinners and Sirat.
The victory marked the only win of the night for the blockbuster racing film, which had been nominated in four categories following its hugely successful cinema run in 2025.
While it triumphed in the sound category, the movie missed out elsewhere during the ceremony, losing Best Film Editing to One Battle After Another, Best Visual Effects to Avatar: Fire and Ash and the night’s top honour, Best Picture, which also went to One Battle After Another.
Despite falling short in those categories, the win still represents a major moment for a project that has played a significant role in bringing Formula 1 to the big screen.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Brad Pitt and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, the movie followed fictional former F1 driver Sonny Hayes (played by Pitt), as he returned to the sport to partner rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) at the APXGP team.
The production was praised for its realism after filming extensively during real race weekends and integrating the fictional team into the F1 paddock.
Its impact extended well beyond awards season.
The film grossed close to $1 billion AUD worldwide, making it the highest-grossing movie of Pitt’s career and the most successful motorsport film ever produced.
Interest in the project has also continued beyond its initial release, with discussions already underway about a sequel.
Director Kosinski, producer Bruckheimer and Hamilton have all confirmed early talks over a follow-up.
“We are already working on the first script,” Hamilton said.
“We had our first meeting at the end of the year — me, Jerry and Joe — talking about different ideas, different directions that we could go with the script, and then with Ehren [Kruger, the film’s screenwriter], we’ve had plenty of meetings on it.”
Hamilton added the response to the film since its release had been overwhelming and continued to attract new fans to the sport.
“It’s been amazing to see how big an impact it’s had, how many people have loved the movie,” he said.
“I’m still getting texts from people who are only just watching the movie and how it’s opened their eyes up to what this sport is about.”
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