Is Brad Pitt's F1 movie based on a true story? Real-life events that resemble the film

As we reported last year, Hayes’ career-ending crash is understood to be influenced by the accident that befell Martin Donnelly at Jerez in 1990. The-then 26 year-old was picking up the pace during qualifying when his Lotus-Lamborghini collided with a metal barrier at 175mph — the force of the impact ejecting him and his race seat into the middle of the circuit.

Donnelly sustained multiple injuries, including severe leg fractures, and laid unconscious on the tarmac for almost 11 minutes.

Thanks to the quick thinking actions of the FIA’s Safety and Medical Delegate Sid Watkins, Donnelley was soon stabilised and recovered after months of rehabilitation — although he was later told that his professional racing career could never resume due to the extensive damage done to his left leg.

He did return to F1 briefly: testing a Jordan-Hart F1 car at Silverstone in 1993, an offer extended to him by Eddie Jordan as an incentive to “get better soon”. But since, Donnelly has mostly watched from the sidelines, acting as a driver coach and occasional FIA steward.

A returning champion

In its 75-year history, Formula 1 has had no shortage of returning champions — and Sonny Hayes is set to become the latest.

In an interview with Martin Brundle and Sky F1, Brad Pitt shared little detail of Hayes’ F1 standing prior to his major accident, but does reveal that the American races in “other disciplines” prior to his return with Apex GP.

Pitt has already been spotted filming scenes during the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona and even jumped behind the wheel of a 992-shape Porsche 911 GT3 R, entered by fictional team Chip Hart Racing. Could a major American win be the reason that Hayes is recalled to motor sport’s top echelon? We’ve seen it before.

Following a dominant title-winning campaign with Williams in 1992, Nigel Mansell decided to leave F1 and try his hand behind the wheel of an IndyCar. The Briton turned out to be an instant sensation, winning five races, claiming rookie of the year honours and clinching the title by an eight-point margin.

Mansell was then welcomed back to Williams in 1994 and duly claimed the final victory of his career at the season finale in Adelaide. Pitt has already been filmed topping the podium in Abu Dhabi at the last race of the 2024 season.

Niki Lauda went even further. After retiring from F1 in 1979, he rejoined the grid in 1982 with McLaren, going on to win a third world championship in 1984. It’s far from the only parallel between Lauda and F1.

More recently we’ve seen world champions return from a sojurn away from the grand prix grid. Michael Schumacher came back from retirement to race for Mercedes; Kimi Räikkönen spent two seasons in the World Rally Championship in the middle of his F1 career, while Fernando Alonso spent his two years away becoming World Endurance Champion, winning a second Le Mans 24 Hours and competing in the Dakar.

Apex GP’s fiery crash — a nod to Romain Grosjean?

At the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, the F1 world held its breath as pictures were shown of Romain Grosjean‘s Haas split in two and engulfed in flames after sliding under an armco barrier at 120mph.

The Frenchman was trapped in his car for 28 seconds — with emergency services desperately trying to help free him — before he emerged from the inferno and climbed to safety. Grosjean escaped with only burns to his hands and feet.

It’s one of the most dramatic moments in modern grand prix history, and instantly comes to mind when watching in F1’s latest teaser trailer, where a crashed Apex GP car is seen on fire with a team member — possibly the other driver — stood next to it, brandishing a fire extinguisher.

Of course it’s also reminiscent of Lauda’s 1976 crash at the Nürburgring, where four drivers bravely helped pull him from his blazing Ferrari. The determined Lauda famously returned three races later, despite having been read the last rites as a result of his injuries.

Although Hayes’ crash in F1 expected to be one of many in the film — in the same trailer, Hayes is shown making contact with an Alpine and Red Bull — this one may represent a key moment, particularly if one of the apparently feuding Apex GP drivers comes to the aid of the other.

Hayes vs Pearce — experience vs youth

The dynamic between veteran Sonny Hayes and promising young driver Joshua Pearce is central to the plot of F1, striking at the heart of a theme that provokes some of grand prix racing’s most contentious debates.

Throughout the 75 years of the F1 world championship, we’ve seen established title contenders crumble in the face of youthful ambition.

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher had destroyed every team-mate in his career when he retired from F1 in 2006. Tempted back in 2010, his aura of invincibility evaporated as Nico Rosberg, 16 years younger, made him look second-best.

Mark Webber was the established driver at Red Bull when Sebastian Vettel, 11 years his junior arrived and immediately outshone his team-mate, winning four titles in a row.

The tables were turned when Vettel moved to Ferrari and then Charles Leclerc joined the team. Vettel lost his mystique as Leclerc finished ahead in the championship for the two years in which they were team-mates.

Lewis Hamilton has personal experience of this too: firstly as a 22-year-old rookie in 2007 when he was instantly a match for double world champion Fernando Alonso.

In 2022, he was the experienced (seven-time) champion when George Russell joined the team. While there weren’t the fireworks seen between Hamilton and Alonso, there have been some heated clashes, including at the 2022 Miami GP where the pair enjoyed a brilliant wheel-to-wheel battle for fifth place and Russell came out on top. They went head-to-head again at the 2023 Japanese GP, with Hamilton aggressively defending his place. In Qatar in 2023, in a race down to Turn 1 from the start, the pair collided. Hamilton later apologised.

This year Russell will be challenged by his new 18-year-old team-mate Kimi Antonelli; another youth vs experience battle that will be playing out when F1 arrives in cinemas.