A new Formula 1 romance filmed extensively in Prague and other locations across Czechia is heading to streaming next month. Drive – The Pretenders, starring Lisa-Marie Koroll and Amin Baahmed, will premiere on Prime Video on Oct. 28.
The German-language feature, adapted from Tamara Lush‘s popular Wattpad story and subsequent novel, combines motorsports with familiar romance tropes including fake dating and enemies-to-lovers. Koroll stars as Sarah, a race car mechanic who joins the pit crew of Formula World champion Dante Annunziata, played by Baahmed.
While the story takes its characters into the world of international racing, much of Drive – The Pretenders was actually produced in Czechia. The movie spent 26 shooting days in the country in fall 2025, filming at prominent Prague landmarks as well as Barrandov Studios and locations in Brno, Most, Říčany, Chrášťany and Poděbrady.
Prague landmarks stand in for the racing romance
According to the Czech Film Commission, local filming on Drive – The Pretenders took place from Sept. 10 through Oct. 24, 2025, with local production handled by MIA Film. Bavaria Fiction produced the movie for Prime Video, with Karsten Günther serving as producer.
The Prague portion of the production made use of some of the Czech capital’s most recognizable architecture. Filming locations included Pařížská and Ostrovní streets as well as the Rudolfinum and Municipal House. Additional work took place at Barrandov Studios.
Production also ventured well beyond Prague. Locations listed by the Czech Film Commission include Most and Brno, along with Říčany, Poděbrady and Hexar Studio in Chrášťany.
The production used hotel locations in Říčany and Poděbrady, while racing sequences were filmed at circuits in Brno. International filming additionally took place in Germany and along Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
Director Sergej Moya helmed the film from a screenplay by Chris Silber and Malina Nwabuonwor.
The Czech shoot adds Drive – The Pretenders to a growing list of international streaming projects that have used Prague and other parts of the country not only for historical settings but also for contemporary European locations. Its combination of urban Prague, studio facilities and Czech motorsport locations provided the production with several different environments within a relatively compact shoot.
Wattpad romance moves from the page to Prime Video
Drive – The Pretenders centers on Sarah, a mechanic who lands a position on the pit crew of champion driver Dante Annunziata. Dante’s reputation as a scandal-prone bad boy soon creates problems away from the racetrack, leading him to enter into a fake engagement with Sarah as an attempt to repair his public image.
Sarah has her own motivation for accepting the arrangement: She hopes it could eventually provide an opportunity to get behind the wheel herself. Predictably, the manufactured relationship becomes more complicated when the pair begin developing genuine feelings for one another.
Koroll, 28, is best known in Germany for beginning her career as a child actress and starring in the Bibi & Tina film franchise. Baahmed takes on his first leading feature role as Dante after appearing in Kundschafter des Friedens 2. He has also worked as a dancer and journalist.
The supporting cast includes Gustav Schmidt, Mišel Matičević, Lucie Heinze, Frederic Linkemann, Inka Friedrich, Jeanette Hain, Philippe Brenninkmeyer, Steven Gätjen, Pati Valpati and Leslie Malton.
The film is based on Lush’s Drive, which first built an audience on Wattpad before being released as a published novel. It is part of a three-book series, though Prime Video has not announced plans for further adaptations.
The movie arrives amid heightened mainstream interest in Formula 1 and racing-themed screen projects, but Drive – The Pretenders approaches the setting primarily through romance rather than sports drama.
For Czech viewers, meanwhile, the Oct. 28 release will offer a chance to spot a number of familiar locations standing in for the international world surrounding Sarah and Dante when Drive – The Pretenders debuts globally on Prime Video.
