Sports racing movies are becoming popular once again. With releases such as Gran Turismo, Ford V. Ferrari, and others, we experience the thrill of speed without the danger.
Racing into theaters at the end of June is F1: The Movie. F1 tells the story of two competitive racers:
- Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt)
- Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris, no relation to Idris Elba)
Sonny is an old, weathered racer. He’s been racing cars for a long time.
Joshua is an up-and-coming racer. He’s looking to be the best. Yet, he’s struggling because the company he’s racing for, APXGP, hasn’t won a race all season. It looks like the company will be sold due to performance issues. He’s looking to leave the team and his cousin, Cash (Samson Kayo), wants to help him leave.
Will Joshua stay? Will Sonny win the race of a lifetime?
The answers to these questions and more all point to great leadership themes in F1: The Movie. It’s an edge-of-your-seat racefest that will leave you excited to drive your car.
Let’s dive into those leadership lessons now!
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From F1: The Movie
1. Sonny Hayes:
Just let me drive, will ya?
Sonny was partaking in the 24-hour race at Daytona. One of the pit crew members tells Sonny he might want to pass on the straightaways and not the corners.
The suggestion didn’t sit well with Sonny. Sonny was the driver. He knew what he was doing. He knew his skills.
The pit crew didn’t. They were trying to micromanage what he did.
Sonny was a driver. All he wanted was the freedom to drive.
While we lead organizations, we must be able to trust the people we’ve put in place. They’re there for a reason: They know what they’re doing.
Let the people you hire do what they do.
2. Leaders give their team members a lead:
Sonny blazed a path in the race. But it was his time to hand over the car to another team member, Cale Kelso (Kyle Rankin).
As Kelso hops into the race car, Sonny has a message for him. Sonny has created an enormous lead. Kelso better not lose it.
While Sonny threatened Kelso, and that’s not right, he did the right thing in giving his team member a lead to get things done.
As a leader, you can give your people a lead, a head start, a better starting position. Your team members may not need the lead you provide, but it’s nice to have.
Find ways to give your team members the lead. The further along they are when they take over, the further along they’ll get.
3. Diner Waitress (Avis-Marie Barnes):
So, what is it about?
Sonny was at a diner with an old friend, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem). They’d raced together over 30 years ago. Ruben was now trying to get Sonny to join the APXGP racing team.
Ruben offered him money and fame. Sonny said no.
The waitress talks to Sonny. She asks him how much money would be enough to join the team. For Sonny, it wasn’t about the money. He let her know that.
The waitress followed up with another important question… Well, then… What would get him? What was it all about?
Your people may come to work because of the paycheck. But that’s only part of the reason they come to work. They do it for more than that.
Research shows many reasons beyond the money. Reasons for coming to work include:
- The people
- Fulfillment
- Feeling valued
- Making a difference
Think about ways you can fulfill these reasons for your people. What can you do to make it a fulfilling workplace? How can you make people feel valued? Are the people likeable? What difference are people making?
Knowing these things will help you retain people beyond the paycheck. You’ll fill an intrinsic need your people have.
4. Joshua Pearce:
A messy start doesn’t mean you can’t have a neat finish.
The APXGP team was at a pre-race conference. A reporter asks about previous races.
Joshua admits the race season had been messy. They hadn’t won a single race. But that’s not what matters.
Joshua knew something. The way you start doesn’t matter in the end. What matters is how you finish.
Did you have a messy start to your leadership journey? Were there bumps along the way? Did you make mistakes?
Don’t let the hiccups along the way stop you. Your messy start doesn’t have to be a messy ending. You can course-correct and have a neat finish.
5. Ruben Cervantes:
You were cocky. You were arrogant. And you had a lot to learn.
Ruben stormed in on Sonny as he was taking an ice bath. Sonny had crashed two of his expensive vehicles and was making Joshua think of quitting.
Sonny protested. He said Joshua was cocky, arrogant, and had a lot to learn.
Ruben stopped him right there. He knew Sonny. He’d grown up with him. Sonny was all of the things he claimed Joshua was.
We all grow. Some of us grow so much that we forget where we came from. We forget what it was like to be young and new.
We need people who can check us in the gut. These are people we’ve been around for an extended period of time. They know us better than we know ourselves. They can also call us on our crap and remind us who we once were when we’re ripping people apart because they’re too much like us.
Remember, you were once cocky, arrogant, and had a lot to learn. Maybe you still are…
6. Sonny:
Hope is not a strategy.
In a pre-race meeting with the team, Joshua says his strategy is to hope for breaks. The season had not been kind to them, and they were just looking for that big break.
Sonny had to put Joshua in his place. He knew luck didn’t play a part in winning the race. Skill, preparation, and wisdom did.
What are you running your business on? Is it strictly on hope? If so, you’re in trouble.
I love having hope for a business. Hope can do a lot of things. But hope can’t be a strategy.
You must have a plan, an idea of where you want to go. Don’t rely strictly on hope.
7. Wise leaders listen to others:
Sonny raced like a madman. He would cause accidents and hold back other racers. This was to allow Joshua to advance.
In one race, Sonny holds back other racers. Joshua moves into second place. He sees an opening and says he’s going to take it. Sonny tells him not to go. He had to wait for the straightaway.
Joshua doesn’t listen. He goes to overtake the other driver. There’s a spectacular crash that sends Joshua to the hospital and turns his mother, Bernadette (Sarah Niles), against Sonny as she blames him for her son’s accident.
Had Joshua listened to Sonny, he wouldn’t have crashed.
Do you have wise leaders pouring into your life? Do you listen to them?
Be on the lookout for other leaders who can speak to you. These are leaders who have been there and done that.
Allow others to speak into your life.
8. A bad leadership experience can make you lose your love for leading:
Sonny had a reason for avoiding a long-term commitment in racing. He’d had a horrible crash three decades ago. This crash impacted his thought process for a long time.
While Sonny lost it all, including:
- His titles
- His trophies
- His fame
He realized he had lost something else in the crash. Sonny lost his love for racing.
Having a leadership crash is hard. You may be embarrassed. You may lose the respect of those you cherish. Your organization may crumble.
Coming back from a leadership crash can feel impossible. But it’s not.
You don’t have to lose your love for leading others. You have to get back on the leadership saddle and lead.
9. Ruben:
No one drives forever…
Sonny had gotten behind the wheel of his race car and drove angrily. In his anger, he crashed. Now he was in the hospital.
Ruben is seen with a medical report. He reads off the doctor’s notes. The doctor said driving again could kill Sonny.
The audience is meant to think this was a report from the recent crash. It wasn’t. The report Ruben read was from 30 years ago.
Ruben is understandably upset. Why would Sonny keep driving if it could kill him? Doesn’t Sonny know no one drives forever?
The same could be said for leadership. No one leads forever.
At some point, you have to take a step back. You have to pass the leadership baton. You have to fade into the background.
When it’s your time, will you be willing to hang up your leadership hat?
10. Ruben:
Sometimes when you lose, you win.
Ruben is talking to Joshua and Bernadette. Joshua hadn’t done well in the qualifying time. However, his loss there allowed him an advantage.
Joshua and the team were allowed to change their tires after an accident on the track. This was an advantage that no other team was given.
Their loss in qualifying gave them a win in another way.
We get so focused on winning the small battles that we forget there’s a larger war being fought. Losing the battle may not mean losing the war. It may give you an advantage to win everything.
Don’t let small losses get to you. See how they can be used to put you in a better place.
