Martin Donnelly has reflected on his 1990 Formula 1 crash after it was recreated in Brad Pitt’s blockbuster F1 movie. Talking to CNN, the former Lotus driver spoke about the call he received from Lewis Hamilton that introduced him to the project.
Donnelly’s career ended at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1990 when his car crashed into the barriers at 160mph after a suspension failure. The car broke apart around him, and Donnelly’s body, still belted into the racing seat, lay still on the asphalt.
Not only did he sustain head and lung injuries and two broken legs, but the driver also swallowed his tongue. Later induced into a coma to minimise brain damage, Donnelly’s organs – including his heart – began to fail. Fortunately, he was able to recover after substantial physiotherapy and several surgeries.
With an understandable loss of confidence, he withdrew from the championship for good. But when Hamilton called, he was pulled back into the world of the series, if only to consult on the backstory of Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, who suffered an incident inspired by Donnelly’s life-changing crash.
“I thought it was going to be one of those cold calls for central heating or double-glazed windows,” Donnelly laughed. “I was quite aggressive … It’s not every day you receive a call from a seven-time world champion.”
F1 Movie scene
Photo by: Apple
His incident with Lotus was recreated for the movie with input from the Irishman.
“The carbon fibre tub shattered like a car bomb, and I went with the energy,” Donnelly explained. “I got thrown out by about 60 metres (almost 200 feet) and travelled through the air and along the ground like a rag doll.”
When he watched back the scene in the movie, it gave him a “reality check”.
“I watched them get a mannequin in yellow overalls and a helmet fly out of this car 15 times and all these cameras are taking pictures,” Donnelly said. “And then it would drop and be dragged along the ground. For me, that was a reality check because I’ve never seen it happen.”
He continued, “This is what I’ve been reenacted for. And my friends at the time – Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard have all gone on to be very successful and very rich. Why wasn’t I given a chance to have that? Because when they were my team-mates, I kicked their asses!”
Comparing himself to Ayrton Senna, who died in 1994 following a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix, he’s grateful for his survival.
Martin Donnelly
Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images
“I do believe that I could easily have become a world champion,” he said, “but then I come back to reality. I’m still talking to you. My friend Senna is dead. He had all the millions in his back pocket, three-time world champion, but who’s he going to share it with?
“His death on May 1st, 1994, was the final nail in the coffin for me to say, ‘Hey Martin, look around you, you’re in the paddock, you’re still involved with the sport that you love. You’ve got no right to complain.'”
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