‘F1’ Director Reveals Why Simone Ashley’s Role Was Cut

The director of the upcoming film, F1, is clarifying Simone Ashley’s role being cut from the movie.

In an interview with People, director Joseph Kosinski provided the reasons behind Ashley’s reduced role in the Formula 1 racing drama. According to the outlet, Ashley’s character was reduced to a brief cameo, and she no longer had any lines in the final cut.

In response to fan outrage over the reduction of Ashley’s role, director Denis Villeneuve addressed the decision.

“It happens on every film, where you have to shoot more than you can use. There were two or three storylines that ultimately didn’t make into the final cut,” he explained.

“But Simone, she’s an incredible talent—an incredible actress and singer—and I would love to work with her again,” he added.

In July 2024, it was announced that Ashley had joined the cast of F1 alongside Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, and more.

F1 follows Sonny Hayes (Pitt), who returns from retirement to join the struggling F1 team of his former teammate (Bardem). He is tasked with driving alongside rookie Joshua “Noah” Pearce (Idris).

Ashley has not addressed her role being cut from the sports action drama and did not attend the F1 world premiere on Monday night.

Although she has not participated in the press tour, the Bridgerton star expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to star in the film in an interview with Elle published earlier this month.

In the interview, Ashley reflected on her experience shooting the film.

“That was crazy. I have a very small part, but I’m grateful to be in that movie,” she shared. “I got to experience many Grands Prix. I don’t think I’ll ever do anything like that again.”

Filming for the F1 movie spanned several years and was uniquely shot during live Grand Prix weekends throughout 2023 and 2024.

In a March interview with Who What Wear, Ashley revealed that she first auditioned for the project before BridgertonSeason 2 premiered in March 2022. She shared that production on F1 officially wrapped in December 2024.

“It’s been a long journey,” she said. “This is really Damson and Brad’s movie, and I’m just so grateful to be a part of it. We literally toured with the Grand Prix — we were filming at actual races.”

Ashley also reflected on the intense coordination involved in making a film like F1.

“You really had to operate as a team,” she explained. “Sometimes we only had one shot to get a scene. The call sheet would say we had eight minutes to capture something because we were filming during the real races.”

She described the experience as one of the wildest of her career.

“Oh, it was incredible — the adrenaline rush,” she said. “It felt like live theater, everything unfolding in real time.”

As she recalled the experience, she added: “Thinking back, it’s probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done. You hear the roar of the crowd, the fireworks, the engines — it’s fast, it’s loud, and we were all in it together like a little unit.”

F1 races into theaters on June 27.