The real-life Lotus horror crash that plays its part in F1 Movie

From the early stages of the filming of the F1 movie it was common knowledge that Brad Pitt’s character Sonny Hayes had supposedly raced in the ’90s before a major accident derailed his career. It was also rumoured that the crash was based on that suffered by Martin Donnelly in practice for the Spanish GP on September 28, 1990, and which saw the Ulsterman suffer severe injuries. The fact that Donnelly was spotted in the fictional Apex GP team’s garage at last year’s British GP appeared to confirm he was in the loop.

A trailer released in March indicated that not only did his accident form part of the story, but also just how accurately it had been recreated by director Joe Kosinski. Pitt was shown with a Camel-liveried Lotus 102 similar to the car driven by Donnelly, and on his yellow overalls he even carried the logo of Martin’s personal sponsor Cellnet.

Thanks to a little Hollywood magic Hayes makes a full recovery and is able to resume his career in other categories, before eventually getting the call for a surprise F1 comeback. The real Donnelly was not so fortunate; he never had that second chance.

A star in the junior categories, he made a one-off appearance for Arrows in the 1989 French GP before landing a full-time ride with Lotus the following year as team-mate to Derek Warwick. Sadly the Lamborghini-powered 102 was uncompetitive, and Donnelly had little chance to shine.

Then at Jerez a suspension failure sent him off the road and into the barrier. The chassis disintegrated, leaving the driver lying prone on the track, still strapped to his seat. It was only the fast intervention of Prof Sid Watkins that kept Donnelly alive at the scene.

Ayrton Senna viewed the accident site up close before resuming qualifying, ensuring that the crash also became part of his story.

“The Lotus boys said when they went to get the car, most of it went in bin bags, shards of carbon fibre mixed in with syringes,” Donnelly told Motor Sport’s Simon Taylor 20 years after the crash. “As for Ayrton, he’d been watching a man he knew near death, bone sticking out of his legs. He told a journalist that seeing me like that made him realise how fragile we all are.

“Then he went back to the McLaren garage, got in the car, put his visor down, and when they ran the last eight minutes of the session he set the fastest lap anybody had ever done round Jerez.”

That Martin survived was a miracle, and after he was returned to hospital in London he had to be resuscitated three times. A return to F1 was the goal that helped to fuel his years of rehab, and while he had a brief symbolic run at Silverstone in a Jordan in 1993, his top-level career was over.

“I had my three-year deal with Lotus and then somebody switched off the light,” he said. “Everything taken from you.”

He would continue to have operations over the next two decades, and he was able to race in other categories. But a moped accident in 2019 and another leg injury was a huge setback that he had to overcome. It’s a story of resilience and fortitude that could have made a movie in its own right.