Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie: How Hollywood Destroys the truth about leadership

In the world of high-speed Formula 1 , leadership isn’t about flair or soap opera decision-making — it’s a calm, team-first process built over years of strategy, data and careful management.

The Movie captures the drama and high stakes of the race, it falls short of capturing the institutional depth, shared knowledge and strategic thinking that define outstanding F1 leadership.

In the high-octane world of motorsport, leadership is not just a quality it’s an authority that drives teams to victory or leaves them stranded amid misery.

F1: The Movie, starring Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, is a good opportunity to analyze how leadership in such a film compares to leadership in modern-day Formula 1.

Now, this is not an endorsement of Hollywood’s version instead, the argument is that while the film depicts some underlying realities about charisma and decision-making under high stakes, it oversimplifies the collaborative, data-driven and political reality of F1 leadership in real life.

Source: BBC