When Does "F1" (2025) Take Place?
"F1: The Movie" is a sports film written by Ehren Kruger with Joseph Kosinski, Jez Butterworth, Kara Smith, Aaron Sorkin, and Christopher Storer that released June 25th, 2025. So when is "F1" set?
It takes place in the year:
We know this because Sonny Hayes wears a racing jumpsuit with many patches including one that reads: "IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship" and the real-world IMSA SportsCar Championship became known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship when WeatherTech took on the role of title sponsor on August 8th, 2015 AD. So it must be during or after August of 2015 AD.
2024 AD
We know this because Sonny Hayes wears a racing jumpsuit with many patches including one that reads: "IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship" and the real-world IMSA SportsCar Championship became known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship when WeatherTech took on the role of title sponsor on August 8th, 2015 AD. So it must be during or after August of 2015 AD.
More specifically, Joshua Pearce watches a video about his teammate on his laptop titled "1993 in Review: Spanish Grand Prix" and much earlier in the story a television news anchor declares "Mysterious moves at APXGP, who have finally announced the driver who will take their second seat and, in a bizarre twist, it's American Sonny Hayes, who hasn't raced in Formula One for over 3 decades." So it must be during or after 2023 AD and during or before 2033 AD as nobody says, "over 3 decades" when they mean 40 years, only some amount between 31 and 39 years.
1,993 + 30 = 2,023
or
1,993 + 40 = 2,033.
Partway through the movie, the team arrives at the real-world Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring racetrack, announced with a huge title card reading "HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX HUNGARORING". The Hungarian Grand Prix is held annually between mid July and late August so it is most likely August of 2024 AD at this point since the first-class plane ticket Rubén Cervantes hands Sonny in an early scene reads "01AUG" under "DATE". Most importantly, immediately after this the entire team is going over their "models" for the upcoming race and a screen displays a graphic for their plan above a whole data set with labels like "Traction" and "Asphalt Grip" with "HUNGARORING 2023" at the top. Similarly, there's another similar screen that reads "MONZA 2023". Presumably, this is the most-recent available information that would be from the previous year.
2,023 + 1 = 2,024.
Specifically, the story begins at the real-world Rolex 24 at Daytona race which is always held annually in either late January or early February. So it all starts in late January or early February of 2024 AD before a time jump of a few months.
Finally, the climax happens at the real-world Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which is held annually in either late November or early December. So the narrative ends in late November or December of 2024 AD.
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