Warning: This article contains major spoilers for F1: The Movie (2025), including the final race and character outcomes.
In the finale, Sonny Hayes survives, wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and secures APXGP’s future. However, his victory is not the beginning of a permanent Formula 1 comeback. After completing the unfinished journey that haunted him for decades, Sonny leaves the team and returns to racing on his own terms.
Joshua Pearce also reaches an important turning point. Although he loses his chance to win the final race after colliding with Lewis Hamilton, he proves that he belongs at the highest level and chooses APXGP over an opportunity with Mercedes.
What Happens Before the Final Race?
APXGP enters the closing stage of the season under enormous pressure. Team owner Ruben Cervantes needs a victory to protect the struggling organization from being sold, while board member Peter Banning is secretly working to ensure its failure.
Peter’s plan includes undermining technical director Kate McKenna’s upgraded car. An anonymous complaint alleges that the upgrades are illegal, forcing APXGP to remove them while the FIA investigates.
Sonny’s situation becomes equally serious. His violent Las Vegas crash exposes the lasting medical consequences of the accident that ended his original Formula 1 career in the 1990s. Ruben learns that Sonny’s condition could place his eyesight—and potentially his life—at risk if he continues racing.
Believing that he is protecting his friend, Ruben removes Sonny from the team. Peter then reveals his real intentions and offers Sonny money to stand aside while APXGP collapses.
Instead of accepting the offer, Sonny returns to help Ruben. The FIA eventually clears Kate’s design, allowing APXGP to restore the upgrades for the final race in Abu Dhabi.
That decision gives the team one last opportunity to win and remain under Ruben’s control.
The Abu Dhabi Final Race
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix begins with APXGP attempting to turn an unlikely opportunity into the team’s first victory.
Sonny and Joshua have spent much of the movie competing against each other. Their inability to cooperate caused crashes, arguments and lost opportunities. By the final race, however, they finally understand that neither driver can save APXGP alone.
Joshua battles near the front while Sonny uses strategy and aggressive defensive driving to support him. Their cooperation represents the real transformation behind the ending: the two drivers stop treating each other as obstacles and begin operating as teammates.
Late in the race, Sonny suffers damage during an incident and hits the barriers. The resulting red flag stops the race, but Sonny survives the impact.
Because the field must restart for a short sprint to the finish, APXGP gains an unexpected advantage. Kate’s strategy and the team’s available tires give both drivers a realistic opportunity to fight for the lead during the final laps.
Sonny overtakes Charles Leclerc before positioning himself between Joshua and Lewis Hamilton. Rather than immediately chasing personal victory, Sonny holds Hamilton back so Joshua can remain ahead.
It is the most selfless racing decision Sonny makes in the movie. He originally joined APXGP to rediscover the feeling he had lost after his career-ending accident, but in this moment, he is willing to sacrifice his chance for Joshua and the team.
Who Wins at the End of F1: The Movie?
Sonny Hayes wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
During the final lap, Hamilton attempts to pass Joshua for the lead. Their cars collide, ending Joshua’s opportunity to take the victory and leaving Sonny in position to cross the finish line first.
The result gives APXGP the win it needs to survive. It also gives Sonny his first Formula 1 Grand Prix victory, completing a journey interrupted more than three decades earlier.
Sonny did not enter the final laps expecting the race to fall into his hands. His strategy was designed to help Joshua win. That detail matters because the victory arrives only after Sonny stops racing exclusively for himself.
The ending does not suggest that Joshua intentionally allows Sonny to win. Joshua loses through the unpredictability of the final battle, while Sonny is the remaining APXGP driver capable of completing the job.
Does Sonny Hayes Die in F1?
No, Sonny Hayes does not die in F1: The Movie (2025).
The film repeatedly reminds viewers that racing could have fatal consequences for him. His old injuries, blurred vision and crashes create the possibility that his comeback may end tragically.
Sonny nevertheless survives the Abu Dhabi incident and completes the restarted race. He then stands on the podium after securing APXGP’s first Grand Prix victory.
The danger surrounding him is essential to the ending because Sonny is not simply competing against other drivers. He is also confronting the fear and physical trauma left by his earlier accident.
His survival does not mean those risks have disappeared. Instead, Sonny accepts them because racing remains central to his identity.
What Happens to Joshua Pearce?
Joshua Pearce does not win the final race, but his story still ends positively.
His performance proves that he can challenge established Formula 1 stars under pressure. More importantly, he has developed beyond the talented but isolated rookie introduced near the beginning of the movie.
After the race, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff offers Joshua an opportunity to join Mercedes. Joshua declines and decides to remain with APXGP.
His choice demonstrates loyalty, but it also reflects newfound confidence. Earlier in the story, Joshua feared that APXGP’s failure would damage his career. By the end, he recognizes that helping build the team may be more meaningful than escaping to an established organization.
Joshua also accepts Sonny’s victory without resentment. He believes that he will have many more opportunities to win, while Sonny may never receive another chance like this one.
Sonny’s departure leaves Joshua as APXGP’s central driver and future leader.
What Happens to APXGP?
APXGP survives because Sonny’s Abu Dhabi victory satisfies the condition needed to protect the team.
Peter’s attempt to force a sale fails, while Ruben retains control of the organization he built. Kate’s technical work is vindicated when the investigation clears the upgrades, and Joshua chooses to remain with the team.
The victory therefore saves more than Ruben’s ownership. It protects the jobs, relationships and shared effort behind APXGP.
Yet the movie avoids presenting one win as a complete solution to every problem. APXGP still has to compete against better-funded and more established teams. The difference is that it now has credibility, a committed lead driver and proof that Kate’s technical direction can succeed.
For a spoiler-free look at the performances, racing sequences, direction, and overall experience, read our F1 Movie Review
Why Does Sonny Leave APXGP After Winning?
Sonny leaves because his goal was never to build a conventional long-term Formula 1 career.
He wanted to recover the feeling of complete focus he experiences behind the wheel. Winning in Abu Dhabi closes the wound created by his earlier Formula 1 accident, but it does not change his restless personality.
Remaining at APXGP would also limit Joshua’s growth. Sonny recognizes that the team now belongs to Joshua’s future, while the veteran driver has completed the role Ruben asked him to perform.
Sonny therefore walks away while the team celebrates. His departure is not an act of rejection. He leaves APXGP stronger than he found it and separates from Joshua with mutual respect.
His farewell to Kate carries the same bittersweet quality. Their connection is real, but Sonny is not ready to exchange his nomadic life for stability. He suggests that they will meet again, leaving their relationship open without promising a traditional romantic ending.
What Does the F1 Ending Mean?
The final victory represents closure, but the deeper meaning comes from how Sonny earns it.
For much of the movie, Sonny appears to believe that racing is an individual contest between a driver, a car and the limits of fear. His unconventional tactics can help APXGP, but they also create tension because he often makes decisions without trusting the people around him.
By Abu Dhabi, Sonny has learned to combine instinct with teamwork. He trusts Kate’s engineering, supports Ruben when the team is threatened and sacrifices track position to give Joshua the best chance of winning.
That is why the last-lap result feels like more than convenient luck. Sonny receives the victory only after becoming willing to give it away.
Joshua experiences the opposite but complementary development. He begins the story focused on protecting his personal reputation. He finishes it by rejecting Mercedes and committing himself to APXGP.
Sonny learns to race for other people, while Joshua learns that belonging to a team does not reduce his individual value.
The Baja 1000 Credits Scene and Sonny’s Next Chapter
The credits show Sonny preparing for the Baja 1000 in Mexico. There is no separate scene after the full credits. His move to off-road racing closes the Formula 1 chapter while leaving his wider racing life open.
The sequence suggests that Sonny’s need to compete extends beyond trophies or a permanent comeback. He has completed his unfinished Formula 1 journey without becoming a settled person.
Does the Ending Set Up an F1 Movie Sequel?
The ending leaves several natural possibilities for an f1 movie sequel, but it also works as a complete resolution.
Joshua could lead APXGP into another season, while Sonny’s open-ended life allows him to return through Formula 1, off-road racing or another motorsport challenge. His unresolved relationship with Kate also provides room for further development.
The latest reliable information goes beyond the early speculation that followed the movie’s release. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer told the BBC in February 2026 that a sequel was being worked on. However, that does not establish a release date, final cast or production schedule.
In July 2026, Damson Idris also said that conversations were taking place and expressed enthusiasm about returning as Joshua Pearce. Formula 1’s July 2026 interview with Idris supports the conclusion that development is active, while important details remain unannounced.
In other words, a follow-up is being worked on, but audiences should not treat unconfirmed casting, plot or release-date reports as final.
How the Real Formula 1 Setting Strengthens the Ending
Although APXGP, Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce are fictional, the production placed them inside the environment of real Formula 1 events.
The fictional team appeared alongside the sport’s actual drivers and organizations, making the Abu Dhabi finale feel connected to a recognizable championship rather than an entirely invented racing league. Lewis Hamilton also served as a producer and helped the filmmakers pursue greater authenticity.
Formula 1’s official coverage of F1: The Movie details the production’s collaboration with the paddock and identifies APXGP as the fictional team placed alongside the real grid.
The film’s cast and official premise are also available through Apple’s official F1: The Movie page.
These production elements do not make every strategy or incident a literal representation of real Formula 1. They instead give Sonny’s fictional final victory a convincing visual and competitive setting.
