Hans Zimmer reveals the conversations with Lewis Hamilton that influenced "F1" movie score

Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer, who is behind the F1 movie score, has opened up about working on the blockbuster Formula 1 film and how Lewis Hamilton helped to influence the sound.

The F1 score has received a 2026 Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score - Motion Picture as well as a spot on the Oscar shortlist for Best Original Score.

"What's great about a race movie is the sound, and we're going to have phenomenal sound for this movie. We're going to put you in the car with this modern and emotional score, and you’re gonna feel it," producer Jerry Bruckheimer said in a video shared by Apple.

"You had to have Hans Zimmer involved in this. He is obviously one of the greatest."

He added: "The sounds of the cars, it's like music to people and Hans captured it with the score. He captured how you blend and you hear the music, yet you hear the roar of the car."

Hamilton served as an executive producer on the movie and was heavily involved in making sure it was a realistic representation, with a hint of Hollywood.

"Having spent a lot of time talking to Lewis about what it's like to actually be inside the machine, what it's like to be that guy. That really influenced how I wanted the orchestra to sound," Zimmer said. "It's dangerous, yet incredibly elegant.

"Music, it influences the way you feel. It influences the experience you have. It develops just like the story develops. It branches out, it becomes warmer. It becomes more urgent."

The film was shot during real Formula 1 race weekends. Speaking from the Silverstone circuit, Zimmer added: "We’re at Silverstone, and I am trying to find out, how to actually make some music that gets through the noise, the fabulous noise - the music that the cars makes for us already.

"If you were here, you would realise that the sound that we're hearing is so beyond anything you can possibly imagine.

"So one of the things I'm going to try to do is make it sound in the cinema, as if you're truly experiencing a true race because it's not just what you see, it's what you hear."