Is he being a Debby downer or is he trying to look out for me?

My best friend took ap physics before me. He didn’t do good at all in the test. He got a 1. My mom is encouraging me to take it and i kind of want to because she says I can at least have a better understanding of it in college if I don’t pass the test. I told him & he said “Oof, I wish it worked that way.” Then he tells me it’s difficult, you gotta stay after school (which I have no problem with), & it’s harder than pre-cal (which I struggled with but late night studying got me through & I can take ap calc. next year. I feel that he doesn’t believe in me although I passed all my ap tests & he didn’t (we also had the same class/teacher). I feel like he’s bitter and trying to discourage but at the same time, I kind of don’t know. Any thoughts? & advice about your experience with ap physics?