Director Joseph Kosinski generally elevates the saga of another aging maverick with a need for speed in the polished sports adventure F1 (B+) set amidst the globetrotting Grand Prix of the Formula One World Championship, with its glam characters connected at the hip to the fastest regulated road-course racing cars on earth. Brad Pitt is an American pro driver on the last leg of a rough and tumble history recruited by an old friend and now team owner played by Javier Bardem as a last ditch effort to elevate his struggling franchise; and with the help of Irish actress Kerry Condon as the team’s technical director and British actor Damson Idris as a cocky rookie, they’re off to the races. The movie makes the motorsport majestic on screen, buoyed by the strength of this charismatic acting quartet and especially Pitt’s casual, grizzled grace. Character development by quip service and plot conflicts as largely obligatory obstacles rarely sideline Kosinski’s kinetic placemaking marked by wide open, brisk and bustling raceway vistas. This summer tentpole is an exercise in stargazing, lifted in all cases by the quality of the ensemble and film crafts including clutch cinematography by Claudio Miranda and spirited music by Hans Zimmer, as the flick’s flimsy contours hardly support its ample running time. But as an immersive action experience, it’s a lowkey lark, a technical tour de force to be reckoned with for fans of the charming movie star, a game director and the conventions of the racing genre.