10 Motorsport movies to watch ahead of Brad Pitt's F1

Brad Pitt is stepping into a Formula One car for real in F1, which hits theaters this June. He plays a retired driver named Sonny Hayes who returns to the sport to mentor a rising star. The film is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who made Top Gun: Maverick, and it was shot during actual Grand Prix weekends with full access to teams and tracks.

This is not a green-screen racing movie. Pitt and Damson Idris trained in Formula cars before filming, and the car they used was built in collaboration with Mercedes. The movie features real teams and real drivers from the 2023 season, and it even got Hans Zimmer to do the score.

Before F1 lands in theaters, a long list of motorsport films deserves a look. Some are built around real rivalries. Some focus on the grind of endurance races.

Others are raw documentaries that show what racing really looks like from inside the helmet. These films capture what makes the sport brutal and beautiful at the same time. If you want to get in the zone before F1 comes out, these ten picks will take you across Formula One, NASCAR, Le Mans, and beyond with stories that actually stick.

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Motorsport movies to watch ahead of Brad Pitt's F1

1. Rush (2013)

Rush tells the story of two drivers who could not be more different. James Hunt races with instinct and charisma while Niki Lauda relies on calculation and control. Their rivalry defines the 1976 season and pushes both men to the limit.

The crash that nearly kills Lauda is not just a turning point but the moment that shows what it takes to come back. Brad Pitt plays a driver who also returns after a brutal accident. F1 takes the same approach as Rush by showing what racing costs and why some drivers still choose to get back in the car.

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2. Ford v Ferrari (2019)

Ford v Ferrari tells how Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles built a car fast enough to take down Ferrari at Le Mans. It is not just about driving but about how small decisions affect the entire race. F1 explores something similar through Pitt’s character, who joins a fictional team to mentor a rookie.

The Apex team competes alongside real F1 teams, which makes the dynamic feel closer to what Shelby and Miles faced. Both films go deep into design testing and track time, and both show how much it takes just to be allowed to compete.

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3. Senna (2010)

Senna is built entirely from race footage and interviews from Ayrton Senna’s career. It avoids modern talking heads and instead stays in the time period it is showing. That choice gives it an intensity that feels real. F1 is fictional but uses real race weekends and puts Pitt inside actual tracks with current teams present.

Senna made clear how political and personal F1 really is, and F1 seems interested in those same off-track elements. The real-time feel of Senna sets a bar that F1 tries to match by filming during live Grand Prix weekends without adding artificial spectacle.

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4. Le Mans (1971)

Le Mans opens with very little dialogue and focuses on what it feels like to be inside a race car. Steve McQueen races for real, and the footage comes from the actual 1970 Le Mans race.

The result is a film that feels more like a document than a movie. F1 builds on that idea by placing Pitt in a modified F2 car on real tracks during active race weekends. There is no green screen and no CGI cars. Le Mans shaped how racing is shown in film, and F1 tries to keep that realism while adding a full story.

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5. The Racing Scene (1969)

The Racing Scene follows actor James Garner as he runs an actual racing team in the Trans-Am series. It shows the behind-the-scenes work of owning and running a team. There are real breakdowns and real travel problems, and it avoids glamorizing anything.

F1 does something similar by focusing on Pitt’s team, Apex GP, which is fictional but races alongside real teams from the 2023 F1 season. Pitt was trained in actual formula cars, just like Garner took part in real races. Both films take the team perspective seriously and show that racing is not just about who is in the car.

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6. Grand Prix (1966)

Grand Prix tells the story of four fictional drivers racing through a Formula One season while using real circuits like Monaco and Spa. It shows what racing looked like before safety changed the sport.

John Frankenheimer filmed real cars during actual events with custom-mounted cameras that had never been used in that way. F1 builds on that idea by putting Brad Pitt in a custom Formula Two car and filming him at real Grand Prix weekends. Both films mix fiction and reality by dropping actors into the live racing world instead of faking it on a soundstage.

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7. TT3D: Closer to the Edge (2011)

This documentary follows Guy Martin as he prepares for the Isle of Man TT, where riders face real danger on public roads at over 180 miles per hour. The film was shot in 3D to show the speed and danger without effects. It focuses on how racers justify that risk and why they keep doing it.

F1 also puts actors into high-speed situations without digital tricks. Brad Pitt trained in real Formula cars and filmed on live tracks. Like TT3D, the danger is not recreated in post but captured on the actual road at full speed.

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8. Days of Thunder (1990)

Days of Thunder stars Tom Cruise as a young stock car racer who joins NASCAR with raw talent and no experience. He crashes, learns, and returns with help from a veteran crew. F1 has a similar setup but flips the roles.

Brad Pitt plays a retired Formula One driver who comes back to mentor a rookie played by Damson Idris. Both films explore competition, identity, and the cost of being great. Formula One uses real teams and actual race events while Days of Thunder leaned on dramatized races. The mentor-rookie angle is what ties both stories together.

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9. The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)

This film follows Denny, a professional driver whose life is told through his dog’s point of view. It tracks how he balances racing with family struggles and personal loss. While racing is not the only focus, it plays a key role in how Denny processes the world.

Formula One also looks at racing as something more than a sport. Brad Pitt’s character comes back after a crash and finds purpose again by mentoring someone else. Both films explore racing as something that shapes people rather than just entertainment. The emotional connection to driving is what links them.

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10. Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story (2020)

Uppity is a documentary about Willy T. Ribbs the first Black driver to test a Formula One car and race in the Indy 500. It focuses on his constant battle against racism and how he kept showing up even when doors kept closing.

F1 does not retell Ribbs’ story but casts Damson Idris as a young Black driver being mentored into the elite world of Formula One. It acknowledges how rare that position still is in the sport. Like Uppity it looks at what it takes to get through the gate and stay there in a world built to push back.

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