F1

Starring Brad Pitt and directed by Joseph Kosinski, F1 is a redemption story following Sonny Hayes (Pitt) as a promising Formula One driver. However, he suffered a career-halting accident in the 90s, only to be recruited by a struggling team some thirty years later with the promise of potential return to racing glory.

From the outset, the score showcases rumblings of Hans Zimmer—quite literally. (If you have an iPhone handy, you can experience what’s billed as the world’s first haptic trailer.) The first twenty seconds give us a muffled soundscape that stands in contrast to the on-screen action, building anticipation. This reaches a climax at the word “possibility,” at the end of an opening monologue addressed to Hayes.

With the studio title card at 0:26, a powerful cover version of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 classic “The Chain” crashes in, with a powerful intertextual connection—“and if you don’t love me know / you will never love me again” is a pretty clear allusion to the aforementioned redemption narrative. We see Hayes bantering with his younger teammate affably, mirroring the confidence and swagger of the song.

At the one-minute mark, we get another monologue as “The Chain” continues in instrumental form, peppering in strong additional percussion, wordless choir, and other niceties of the epic trailer music arranging playbook. Alongside dramatic arpeggiated strings, it’s revealed that Hayes’ teammate will be the source of more than a little tension.

After a one-liner at 1:10, we segue into an audiovisual at 1:18 where the racing lights turn on in synch to the beat, with the revving motor serving a counterpoint to plaintive, high piano tones. This leads to a strong chord at 1:24 as the music re-enters in full force, along with the date title card. At this point, the track bears little resemblance to “The Chain,” opting instead for a fully epic sensibility. At 1:41, this is compounded by the return of the wordless choir. Notice at 1:50 the modal shift to a parallel major chord, further leaning into epic music tropes that wouldn’t be out of place in a superhero trailer. This also provides dramatic torque against the monologue, suggesting Hayes is not only “a has been” but “a never was.”

At 2:03 some well-timed trailer triplets in the percussion lead us to the last segment, culminating in a solid moment dedicated just to engine noise—capping it off with one more reprise of “never break the chain.” Overall, these three elements of atmospherics, the cover song, and emphatic epic sensibility offer a compelling mix that serve to keep the trailer compelling throughout.

F1 revs into theatres June 27th.

— Curtis Perry