‘F1 The Movie’ star Brad Pitt reveals the former F1 driver who inspired Sonny Hayes’ backstory

Brad Pitt has revealed the previous driver who impressed his character’s backstory in F1 The Film, including he “had the time of my life” engaged on the mission.

Pitt performs Sonny Hayes within the blockbuster movie, a former F1 driver who makes his comeback on the fictional APXGP staff to associate rookie staff mate Joshua Pearce (performed by Damson Idris).

Speaking to Beyond The Grid, Pitt confirmed that Martin Donnelly’s near-fatal crash in 1990 throughout apply for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez was the inspiration for his character’s backstory.

“We based mostly Sonny’s previous on Martin Donnelly’s crash,” mentioned Pitt. “Martin was so gracious to offer us his footage and to permit us to construct our character round that.

The film skilled world premieres in each New York and London, as present F1 drivers generally praised the project, with the movie out there for viewing in cinemas now.

Pitt went on to clarify how filming had been achieved, with a lot of the motion captured on actual Grand Prix weekends all through the 2023 and 2024 F1 seasons, whereas the Hollywood star received behind the wheel at varied factors.

“We’re coming at it in such awe. My earliest reminiscence is Jackie Stewart in plaid – that is how far I am going again, simply being a wee child,” added Pitt, who was given the prospect to drive McLaren’s 2023 car at the Circuit of the Americas final month.

“I miss it. I miss it now. It is loopy. They allow us to in, they opened the gates for us. We could not have accomplished it with out F1. We could not have accomplished it with out the groups and the Staff Principals and Lewis [Hamilton], who’s knowledgeable a lot of our script and actually opened the doorways for us.”

He added: “We shot within the sim at Mercedes. We shot at Williams. McLaren is our headquarters. Everybody opened the doorways for us and in such a tremendous means.

“It is such an audacious thought, and I am unable to consider every other movie that that is ever occurred. To permit us to embed ourselves into the racing season is one thing fairly extraordinary. I had the time of my life.”