I’ve never been much of a sports fan. They never really sparked my interest, and most of the time I felt sports culture wouldn’t really welcome a “new fan” with no friends or family who could initiate me into its world. But Formula 1 is the exception — a sport that pulled me in with on and off-track drama, fascinating backroom politics and a healthy online fanbase that made the community seem welcoming, fun and alive. I’m not alone in feeling that way. But despite the sport’s significant female fanbase, the fact that the F1 movie is produced by and stars Brad Pitt — an actor accused of domestic abuse — demonstrates a deep-rooted disregard for women’s concerns, and tacitly supports violence against women for the sake of catering to the toxic part of the F1 fan community that still believes we’re only here to ogle the drivers.
F1 has seen a meteoric growth in its female fanbase over the last couple of years, with approximately 50 million new fans since 2021 and an audience that is 40% female — up from just 8% in 2017. Part of that is because of how F1 hasn’t seemed as hostile to us as other sports such as football. I’m sorry, but I don’t feel especially empowered by watching the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders being objectified on screen.
In F1, women are a crucial part of the process: working behind the scenes as engineers, in front of the camera from the news room, and as fans online, boosting the sport to new heights. It truly feels like a sport where we matter, especially now that possibility of a female driver on track seems closer than ever with the introduction of F1 Academy, an all-female racing series designed to prepare its drivers for the higher levels of motorsport. We female fans have, rightfully, come to expect a certain level of respect from the sport we have invested so much time, attention and money into — if not out of sincerity, then at least for the sake of profit. Yet, that vision took a very sharp blow with the production and release of “F1: The Movie.”
Produced by and starring Brad Pitt, the film follows Pitt as an aging racer looking to cinch one last win. But the film isn’t just a harmless action flick. It’s a disappointing example of how willing the sport is to ignore, minimize and belittle the very women who helped elevate it. Brad Pitt has been publicly accused by Angelina Jolie of domestic abuse after she filed for a divorce following a violent outburst on a 2016 flight that reportedly traumatized both her and their children and led to a federal investigation.
Jolie chose not to pursue charges, and Pitt has publicly denied the allegations, but the resulting settlement and the fact their children have publicly distanced themselves from their father show there may be more than a shred of truth in the allegations. Nevertheless, he has used the legal system to drag out proceedings over a dispute about a shared winery, vilify Jolie and harass her for access to her private messages and shift the narrative away from accountability, instead cracking jokes about his new Tinder profile and the difficulties of playing a man in a Tarantino flick who “doesn’t get along with his wife” (i.e. kills her). While he won an Oscar and “rehabilitated” his image, according to some fans, Jolie urged the U.S. Senate to renew the Violence Against Women Act to protect victims of domestic and sexual violence. But just in case that wasn’t enough, now he’s been handed a new platform endorsed and supported by the FIA, the organization overseeing the F1 series.
The film wasn’t a quiet, behind-the-scenes production. “F1: The Movie” was filmed during actual Grand Prix weekends, the premiere was attended by 15 of the 20 drivers and the movie was promoted by the official F1 social media accounts, a tactic designed to capture the attention of existing fans. Perhaps most disappointing of all, Lewis Hamilton — who has consistently spoken out for diversity and inclusion in motorsport, hailed as a figure we could always count on to be “on our team” — is a co-producer.
Platforming a man accused of intimate partner violence in a sport with a such a large and dedicated female fanbase is more than just tone-deaf. It’s sending a message that when it comes to money and marketing, the “boy’s club” will always protect its own, regardless of what they say to the contrary. It demonstrates that women’s safety, dignity and trust are secondary to a famous man’s image rehabilitation and a profitable movie tie-in. Most unfortunately, it makes fans like me question how much we are really getting out of our investment into the sport if we’re so secondary and expendable to the people within it.
Including a few token female characters — such as a race engineer who conveniently becomes the main character’s love interest, a pit crew member who can’t do the job or a female fan who is implied to only be interested because of the driver’s looks — doesn’t undo that damage. It’s insulting. These surface-level nods to our presence ring extremely hollow when the actual production uplifts a man whose real-life actions have caused harm to women and children.
It’s more than a casting choice, it’s a stance about who does and does not matter, and it is a disappointment to the millions of women who have worked to make F1, both the sport and the fandom, as iconic as it is today. If you care about what F1 could and should be, don’t give your money and attention to media like “F1: The Movie.” Save the price of a movie ticket, or better yet, go see “Superman.” Bottom line, demand more from motorsport and demonstrate that if we as an audience aren’t wanted, we are not obligated to show up and fill seats. Women have helped build this modern era of F1, and we deserve more than to be sold out for a celebrity’s redemption arc.