Gridlocked: How the F1 Movie Fumbled Female Representation

Like many motorsport fans, I spent my Friday night watching the highly anticipated F1 movie, starring Brad Pitt and produced by seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Image from Apple TV Press

It's no secret since its release, the film has been met with mixed reviews. With earned praise for its dynamic cinematography and its authentic integration into the real world of the FIA Formula 1 championship, even featuring the 2024 grid of drivers, teams and team principals, comes criticism surrounding its implausible portrayal of the sport. Seemingly topping the list of questionable choices is the idea of 60-year-old Sonny Hayes not only returning to the grid, but somehow winning a race in a car that was running at the back just eight rounds prior.

Despite its flaws, I certainly found the film an enjoyable watch. The narrative was straightfoward, even predictable, but it maintained an engaging momentum and offered a fun, dramatised look into the complex world of motor racing. Damson Idris brought a charming blend of ego and heart to the role of young rookie Joshua Pearce, whilst Brad Pitt offered charisma and a laid-back confidence that made him hard not to root for.

Motorsport enthusiasts, like myself, will likely wince at the factual liberties, however whilst they're frequent, they don't overshadow the film's entertainment value. A good way to think of about it is to compare it to something like Top Gun, a jet fighter pilot might scoff at the technical inaccuracies, but as a piece of entertainment, it gets you to the chequered flag.

Apple TV Press

It’s also worth considering what a film of this scale brings to the sport. Its commitment to working alongside the real-world Formula 1 Championship, from team principals and drivers to subtle nods only fans would catch, speaks to an intention to celebrate, not just dramatise, the world of F1. And while it simplifies the sport in many ways, it also opens the door for newcomers, making a famously complex world feel just that bit more accessible.

Formula 1’s move into the cultural mainstream has been building steadily, and this film feels like a natural extension of that momentum. With Drive to Survive already reshaping the fanbase, and the sport now reaching people who might never have tuned into a race otherwise, the presence of a Hollywood production only adds to that growing visibility. It’s not a perfect representation, few films are, but it reflects how Formula 1 continues to evolve, not just as a competition, but as something people connect to, talk about, and now, watch unfold on the big screen.

For all the credit this film deserves as a piece of racing entertainment, its treatment of women within the world of Formula 1 is, quite frankly, regressive. While it attempts to show that women exist within the paddock, through characters like APXGP’s female technical director and a young female mechanic, these gestures feel more like box-ticking and tokenism, rather than genuine efforts toward meaningful representation. Instead of reflecting the evolving reality of the sport, the film leans heavily on outdated, one-dimensional tropes that reduce women to background noise or emotional support roles.

Kate, the team’s technical director, could have been a standout figure. In real-world Formula 1, leadership roles in engineering and technical performance are still overwhelmingly male, and securing a position like hers, particularly at the highest level, requires extraordinary skill and persistence. The choice to feature a woman in that role had real potential. But rather than celebrating her as the brilliant mind who helped transform a backmarker car into a race winner, she’s reduced to a romantic interest, spending much of her screen time orbiting Sonny Hayes, flirting with him, babysitting the emotional tension between him and his teammate, and ultimately sleeping with him. Their relationship is briefly acknowledged as unprofessional, but the film treats it like a charming subplot, ignoring the ethical implications entirely.

Sonny Hayes and Kate - Apple TV Press

The tone-deaf writing continues with a scene where Kate organises a poker night between Sonny and Joshua to help them “bond,” only to sleep with Sonny afterward, apparently attracted to the fact he secretly won the game. Why the team’s technical director is suddenly moonlighting as an emotional mediator is unclear, but it speaks to how far the character is removed from her actual professional role. The depiction feels especially out of step with the present day, considering the real-life milestone of Haas F1’s Lauren Müller becoming the first female race engineer in the championship this season. It’s a genuine moment of progress in the sport, and yet the film, released in the same cultural moment, undermines the credibility of its only senior female character by tying her storyline so completely to a man.

The only other woman on the team with any real presence is Jodie, a young female race mechanic. This could’ve been a great moment to showcase a woman thriving in one of the sport’s most physically and technically demanding roles. Instead, she’s portrayed as inexperienced and clumsy, the only mechanic shown botching a pit stop, leaving equipment on track, and jamming a tyre change. Her scenes revolve around blushing at Joshua Pearce, following him around like a schoolgirl with a crush. She’s visibly petite, physically slight — a far cry from the actual strength required for the job. But I suppose muscular arms wouldn’t have aligned with the film’s vision of her as small and cute.

Jodie - image from Entertainment Weekly

Beyond the paddock, women are largely shown as accessories to the men around them. Female fans exist to flirt with or pursue drivers, reinforcing the tired and deeply inaccurate stereotype that women only engage with motorsport because they’re attracted to the athletes. A team owner’s wife appears briefly, only to be mocked as a distraction in the garage. Joshua Pearce’s mother has no storyline beyond supporting her son’s career.

Even the team’s press officer is portrayed as forgettable and irritating, a strange creative choice, considering that in real F1, drivers work closely with press officers and maintain a strong professional rapport. And, as if to reinforce how little women matter to the narrative, Simone Ashley’s character, Joshua’s partner, was reportedly cut from the final edit altogether.

What’s most disappointing about all of this is how deeply regressive these portrayals feel, especially in a film released in 2025, produced by one of the most progressive drivers the sport has seen. Formula 1 is a sport that thrives on teamwork. Behind every driver is a team of engineers, mechanics, strategists, press officers, and support staff, many of whom are women. To reduce those women to caricatures, love interests, or background noise is more than just lazy writing, it’s disrespectful and inaccurate.

In a time when the sport is more dependent than ever on its female audience, and when so many women are working tirelessly behind the scenes to earn their place in a still male-dominated paddock, this film could have sent a powerful message. Instead, it chose to pander. For female fans, and for women working in the sport, the end result isn’t just a missed opportunity. It’s isolating. It reinforces the idea that no matter how far we’ve come, motorsport, at least on screen, still isn’t ready to take us seriously.