The Best Chances

Decked out in motorsport shirts and branded caps – occasionally with a helmet under their arm – moviegoers file into the full theater this June evening and sit transfixed before the silver screen at Cinépolis Westlake Village in Thousand Oaks, some 50 kilometers outside of Los Angeles. They’re here to see F1 The Movie, the new masterpiece by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski. Seated among the many young women and men are Patrick and Lauren Long, their ten-year-old son, and his sister, who’s three years younger. “The energy was incredible,” recalls a delighted Long. Because he was unable to attend the premiere in New York City owing to other obligations, he’s now watching the movie for the first time in his hometown. He plays himself on the screen and other roles behind the camera.

Both of these are relevant in the opening scenes. It’s dark as a Porsche 911 GT3 R tears through the tight curves at Daytona. Fast shots, high speeds, a dramatic soundtrack. During a pit stop on the iconic racecourse in Florida, Long wriggles out of the cockpit and hands the car over to Sonny Hayes, played by Brad Pitt, who does in the movie what Long achieved in reality – and that’s win the 24-hour race in a Porsche.

Sonny Hayes was an up-and-coming Formula 1 star in his younger years when an accident shattered his spine and, with it, his career. After that, he only competed on occasion. There’s actually a demand for fast, experienced drivers without a permanent contract in 24-hour races like that in Daytona. They often complement teams of two who share a car in shorter races. “I wanted to do the most authentic racing movie of all time,” explains director Joseph Kosinski. “While making this film, I learned just how physically grueling it is to drive a race like this. Motorsport is the ultimate fusion of man and machine. Because we create these machines. In racing, you put both the machine and your body to the absolute limit.”

Due to the commitment to authenticity, it was clear that the actors would have to actually drive race cars in F1 The Movie – and at a professional level. From speeds exceeding 300 kmh to brutal G-forces when braking and in fast curves, everything needed to be authentic. Nothing less would do for Kosinski. And that’s precisely why Tom Cruise flew in Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski’s 2022 blockbuster with real fighter jets. And like in the Top Gun sequel, the authenticity of F1 is also rooted in the real-world collaboration with strong partners. Without the cooperation of the Navy, the famous flying scenes would never have existed. “And without the support of Porsche, we’d never have been able to film these opening scenes in Daytona. A lot of people say they’re the best scenes in the whole movie,” says Kosinski, who himself has been an avid Porsche driver for nearly 20 years and as a teenager wanted to be a race car designer. “It was important to introduce Sonny Hayes in the right context, setting him up to return to Formula 1 later on in the story. Daytona and the 911 GT3 R were perfect. They were far enough from Formula 1, but still at a top level. Porsche is an icon in endurance sports and represents excellence in many areas: design, engineering, experience, and, of course, racing.”

The 51-year-old’s idea met with enthusiasm at Porsche. “We were provided with several vehicles and given exclusive time at the Porsche Experience Center in Los Angeles,” he says. “That’s where I drove with Brad and Lewis Hamilton, our fellow producer. It was absolutely amazing. Brad fell in love with these cars and started driving a 911 Turbo (992) on the street.” Kosinski also wanted a real team and a real Porsche race car driver, as no backdrops were built, no races staged, and no extras hired for the Daytona scenes. No, there was just one shot. The real race provided the stage for the annual classic event in January.

And so the Porsche Wright Motorsports customer team partially transformed into the fictitious Chip Hart Racing team – not in the studio, but in real life. “It was surreal, seeing our fictional car in the competition,” says Kosinski. “And for us, Patrick Long was so much more than just the ideal person to play the role of Hayes’ copilot. He was a great teammate and the real Sonny Hayes on the set, focusing on every detail, offering advice, and sharing his wealth of experience.”

Long and Kosinski met in the early stages of Top Gun: Maverick, when Long helped locate the right 911 S (F-Series) for the romantic closing scene between Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly. If there’s anyone well acquainted with historical 911 cars on the American West Coast, it’s 44-year-old Patrick Long, who is the mastermind behind the Luftgekühlt community, which formed in 2014, and its popular events. Long ended his career as a Porsche works driver in late 2021. In addition to the GT victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona, his achievements also include two Le Mans class wins. And it’s quite common for personalities like these – with their experience and expertise – to maintain close ties with Porsche or take on key positions at the company.

“Porsche is a family,” says Long. “When I joined the junior team in 2002, I was supported at all times in my new environment – and even in my personal life. Marc Lieb, in particular, was there for me.” Lieb, who as a works driver also secured an overall win in Le Mans and was an endurance world champion, is now Team Lead in Sports Communication at Porsche. There’s a long list of top drivers who after their active career have taken on new roles at Porsche and often supported the next generation, including Jörg Bergmeister, Timo Bernhard, Richard Lietz, Sascha Maassen, Mark Webber, and, in earlier generations, Jacky Ickx and Hans-Joachim Stuck. “There’s always a bridge between experience and young talents,” explains Long. He assumed something of an instructor role for F1.

“Porsche is a family. There’s always a bridge between experience and young talents.”

Patrick Long

In early 2023, a year before filming kicked off in Florida, he let the film crew in on the secrets of Daytona Beach. Filming a movie during an actual race is far from simple. Nothing must disrupt the competition or compromise safety. And the backdrop is only available once a year. If you miss a moment the first time, there’s no second chance. “IMSA, the event organizer, was very helpful,” explains Long. “And Joe Kosinski is an admirable and charming perfectionist.” Long trained the actors and stunt drivers behind the wheel of the 911 GT3 R and was part of the movie. “I also spent some time in an Indy Lights race car to test the special cameras in a Formula vehicle and with helicopter interaction,” he recalls. “The whole project was full of amazing experiences. One of which was working with Brad Pitt. We just clicked instantly.” The Oscar winner brought his passion for fast cars and motorcycles onto the set. “Brad obviously enjoyed driving the GT3 R,” says Long.

As a Porsche works driver ten years prior, Long had helped actor Patrick Dempsey secure second place in the GTE Am class in Le Mans and cap off his dream of racing. “The situations were very different, of course,” explains Long. “There was no pressure for Brad to finish in top positions. But he needed to be able to drive race cars at very high speeds for the movie and feel safe enough doing so to continue acting.”

There’s a long tradition of great actors who identify with Porsche both in their personal lives and on the silver screen. Take, for example, the unforgettable James Dean in the 1950s or Steve McQueen in the epic classic Le Mans in 1971. After Patrick Dempsey, there was Michael Fassbender, who embarked on his Road to Le Mans in front of the cameras. And now there’s Brad Pitt in the theaters.

There’s something about the way in which seasoned Porsche race car drivers take stars under their wing that makes them part of the family and ensures the success of their work. And this passion for passing on their experience also fits in with Kosinski’s narrative. Both in Top Gun: Maverick and F1 The Movie, seasoned professionals return to their former place of work to train young people. Jerry Bruckheimer was the leading producer of the two movies as well as the successful 1990 NASCAR movie Days of Thunder with a young Tom Cruise. In this genre, everything’s connected to everything else, and there has long been speculation about whether Cruise and Pitt will one day appear in the same movie in their roles as race car drivers.

A few years ago, no one would have thought it possible that a Formula 1 movie would bring in 144 million US dollars on its opening weekend. Managed for decades with a purist British approach, the premier class has always faced a more challenging environment in the comparably show-oriented US market. But then multiple developments coincided, leading to a global upswing in racing with a new audience structure.

Pioneering in its media presence, the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive offers a look behind the scenes and accompanies teams and drivers with an almost unsettling intensity. On the surface, the seasons of Formula 1: Drive to Survive are documentary-style recaps of the racing season. In reality, they dramatize every aspect in an entertaining way that borders on sensationalism.

With many more people glued to their screens during the coronavirus pandemic, viewer numbers skyrocketed during the second season in 2020. Netflix boomed and social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube gained even more relevance, transforming consumption into creative power. And despite the formidable logistical conditions, Formula 1 pressed ahead with its world championship undaunted.

Joseph Kosinski, a huge fan of the sport and of Formula 1: Drive to Survive, was watching in his home cinema in Santa Monica. “There was a focus on the backmarkers rather than the front-runners, which is what I liked most from the start,” he recalls. Based on the idea of an underdog team fighting for economic survival, he developed the thrilling storyline for F1.

Many of the twists and turns could happen in real life. There are also historical examples of aerodynamics ideas that are crucial yet controversial and, of course, examples of clever women in management positions. Speaking of women, a recent Formula 1 fan survey reveals a significant influx of female members of Gen Z. Generally speaking, the clientele has gotten younger and more diverse. The second screen provides a constant supply of new content in the grey zone between fiction and reality – in front of the TV, at the racecourse, and in the movie theater. Much like the banking at Daytona, the success curve of motorsport around the world is headed straight up, as demonstrated by F1 The Movie, which is already the most successful motorsport movie of all time.

Viewer numbers across different continents have been increasing for weeks. “This movie has created new fans by exposing them to a world they had never known,” reflects Kosinski. “That’s the power of cinema.”