“In our first conversation, they asked: ‘How are you going to make it…?’” When Gabriel Gutierrez was brought on the project of the biographical movie about the legendary Formula 1 racer Ayrton Senna, he instantly realized it would not be easy to create authentic sounds of classic races when all they had to record were replicas with engines different from those in current F1 cars. But through a worldwide search for 40-year-old Formula 1 cars, advanced field recordings, analogue gear, and extensive skills, the sound crew of “Senna” once again brought life to the soundscape of one of the most memorable eras in Formula 1 racing.

But before we go into that, Gabriel, when did you start working with sound on movies?

I started working in sound for film in 2001. I had been very much involved in music since I was 15 and played in bands for over two decades. Also, I was a big-time film fan and loved watching movies. At that time, I had no idea that the sound was crafted in such a creative way. I started studying film in 1995 and graduated in 2000. During my studies, I discovered that the sound was designed for every scene of every film. I was impressed when I learned that each sound we hear in a scene has been decided, recorded, edited, and mixed by someone.
I was very lucky to get involved in a great number of short films, documentaries, and independent films at the beginning of my career. Most of my early sound designs were, in fact, created for video art and installations in art galleries and fashion shows. These experiences gave me an excellent background in the more abstract and stylized use of sound design.
In 2003, I worked on sound design for my first film, and I have been very lucky ever since. I keep myself very busy and collaborate with very interesting projects and talented directors.

How did you get involved in the “Senna” project, and what was your role during the project?

Gabriel Queiroz, the show’s post-production supervisor, contacted me. He briefed me about the NETFLIX production about the Brazilian driver and that Vicente Amorim was the director. I had worked with Vicente before in his other NETFLIX series, “Santo”. Gabriel told me that Vicente wanted me to be the sound designer of his new project, which was really exciting.
My role as a sound designer and supervising sound editor on the show has been to create the sonic universe of the series. It has been one of the most challenging jobs I have done as a sound designer.

Was this your first project where the story mainly focused on cars?

I have had other extensive sound design experiences with vehicles in fiction, but never as deep and challenging as “Senna”. I am myself quite interested in motor racing. My partner’s family is Italian, and I inherited their passion and love for formula racing. From them, I also learned about the meaning and importance of manufacturers such as Ferrari, McLaren, and others.

Watching “Senna” with all the roaring engines and other car-related sounds, it felt like sound played a more significant part than average. Would you agree?

Yes, I think it’s fair to say that sound in “Senna” plays a big part in the story. Director, producers, and NETFLIX were well aware of this factor, and the expectation was high. Everybody knows already the importance of sound in film, but in this case, it was even more evident, just because they could imagine how powerful the races could be through sound.
“Senna” is a dream job for a sound designer. Sound plays a huge role in every motor race, and in this case, the elevation for sound design was huge. Not only did the races need to sound correct and powerful, but also the design and stylization for the psychological universe of the driver made it special, challenging, and unique to work in it.

How did you collaborate with the directors and other team members to ensure the sound aligned with the series’ vision?

Vicente, the director, had a clear vision about the psychological realm of the show. Besides the evident need for authentic sound sources for the car racing, he had the concept of a more visceral and psychological interpretation of Senna’s head through sound. Some of the races would end up being almost like a psychedelic trip. Vicente really wanted to interpret what was in Senna’s mind and how he would go through different psychological moments within each race and relate those to where he was in his life and his career as a driver. That meant that we had to face two extremely complex challenges, one of them being to interpret the races, their scale and power, and the other one to design the soundscapes that would show and describe the emotional universe within Senna’s head.

What was your creative process like when designing the soundscape for “Senna”?

The first challenge, and one of the reasons I was brought into the production so early (I got involved in the project months before the shooting started), was to sort out how to create the sound of the cars and the races. I was told they had built replicas of the cars, but the engines were not like those of Formula One race cars, and the sounds recorded in the shoot would be too different from F1 cars. So, they wanted to know how we could create an authentic sound of the races, how we could create the sound of the cars from zero. They were aware that it was not an easy task and in our first conversation they asked: “How are you going to make it…?”
The first thing we had to do in the Senna project was find some original models and schedule extensive sound field recordings. We all knew this would not be easy and that it would also be expensive. The expectations were high for the production, and NETFLIX gave the greatest support; without it, we would never have reached the end result.

A lot of scenes included several cars simultaneously. How did you maintain distinct audio characteristics for each and avoid all the sounds blending together?

The most important factor about the races was to have enough material to work with. For “Senna”, we field recorded a total of eleven models thanks to Max Lachmann and the team at Pole. We were so extremely lucky to record the most relevant models, such as the Toleman, Lotus, and the McLarens. We spent a lot of time thinking about the combination of sounds for the races so each car would have its own personality, and we could differentiate different models racing together. The combination of sounds of all the cars was really relevant, so the sum of all would not be monotonal and could be harmoniously stimulating.

Max told me that you used analog equipment during the sound mixing. Why was that?

We spent a lot of time listening and creating the sound library with all the recordings from Max and the team at Pole. From the multitrack recordings, we created mixdowns for the editorial teams so they could use them in picture editing. During this process, we learned a lot about the material and the great quality that it had. I tried to figure out how to make the engines sound powerful even when played at low levels, but “Senna” is not a theatrical film in which we can control the volume and dynamics. The audience would be extremely diverse, and the show would be played on iPads, soundbars, TVs, headphones, and all sorts of devices.
We started using more and more distortion in our mixdowns. We found that distortion gave the engines a lot of power. Then, we thought about doing analogue mastering of the recordings. I wanted to treat the engines as if they were distorted guitars and basses in a rock band. So, we went to a music studio (Estudio Uno) in Madrid – they are true experts in recording and mixing rock – and have amazing analogue gear, compressors, analogue desks, EQ, etc. They got really excited; they had never done anything remotely similar to this.
We mastered the FF1600, the F3, Toleman, and Lotus. The sound was getting really powerful. Then we went back to our studio and compared the result with our previous digital treatment and distortion. It was clear, the analog mastered version was much more powerful. So, every time Max recorded a new car, we returned to Estudio Uno and underwent the same process. This took a lot of time and work, but it was worth it.

How come you chose Pole to do the field recordings for “Senna”?

Once I got involved in the series, I started researching. I studied recent titles that faced similar challenges and had great results, such as “Ford vs Ferrari” and “Rush”. I reached out to a lot of people in those first weeks. Through a good friend, sound designer Peter Albrechsen, I contacted Frank Kruse, the sound designer in “Rush” from Ron Howard. Frank was very generous and told me about his experience in the film and the extraordinary challenges of recording and editing F1 cars. Frank also talked about the work of Max Lachmann and recommended getting in touch with him. So, I did immediately. Max got involved in the project very quickly; he is not only an amazing sound recordist, specialized in motors, but also a great Formula 1 expert and a big fan of Senna, the iconic Brazilian driver. Max joined us in our worldwide search for the race models, and his work became crucial in the final result.
From the early start, we knew we had no valid sources to edit and build the sound design of the races. The sound of the cars in this era, 84-94, is extremely iconic. It is probably the era in which the sound of the engines best represented the speed and power of the race models. We created a list of the cars from the period that were shown in the series, and we immediately started searching. The first goal was to get at least a hold of one model of the era, and then to try to get any of our hero cars like the Toleman, Lotus, or the McLarens. At that time, we could only dream about finding one of those models, and that it could be capable of making it to the track and race for us.
This search was extremely difficult. Of course, we did aim for the original models, but at that time, finding any F1 car from that era would already be a great success. Max was able to find the first Formula models: Benetton, Leyton House, and a McLaren MP4/7! So, we made the first recording session in Donington Park. The session was very challenging and gave very good results, but the McLaren broke the gearbox and could not make it to the track.
In the following months, Max was able to access the Toleman and the Lotus, which were later recorded in the Lotus track in Hethel outside of Norwich. A few months later, Gabriel Queiroz found three McLarens in Chicago. Having sourced all these models and having this material to edit from was like a dream come true.

Last question, do you have a favorite scene or moment in the series where you feel the sound design particularly shines?

I love the entire show and all the races, but if I had to pick, my selection would be:
The first test Senna makes with a Formula Ford in England
Monaco 84 racing under the rain with the Toleman
Monaco 88, with the McLaren, where Senna enters his mental tunnel and crashes
Interlagos Race in which Senna gets stuck in 6th gear and has this amazing connection with the Brazilian supporters
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Vicente Amorim, Gabriel Queiroz, Alessandra Cassolari, Haná Weisman, Max Lachmann, and NETFLIX.