According to an interview with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, it took a year to convince both the FIA (organizer of the F1 races) and the 10 teams to allow the production to film the F1 teams and drivers on the tracks during race weekends. A concern of the Red Bull team was that they would be depicted as the villain given that the Mercedes team built the car for the movie and then Mercedes driver Hamilton was added as a producer on the movie. Bruckheimer promised that neither the FIA nor any of the teams would be portrayed in a bad light.
Apple created custom cameras to mount on the cars. They were operated by a remote control designed by Panavision. Each car had 15 mounts and could carry up to four cameras at a time. To minimise weight, the cameras were only 10cm by 10cm, a quarter of the size of those used in Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
Filming took place during various Grand Prix weekends during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, during the weekend of the British Grand Prix in July 2024 at Silverstone, UK. A garage was set up for the fictional Formula 1 team between the garages of the Mercedes and Ferrari teams. It was used to film various scenes along side a pit wall setup where the fictional race was happening. This setup was also used in various European rounds of the F1 season.
A private screening was held at the Cannes Film Festival for the drivers of the 2025 season.