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The F1 driver whose 176mph crash inspired Brad Pitt’s film

Martin Donnelly nearly died in the 1990 incident and never drove in a grand prix again. The new movie made him miss the adrenaline — and money — but not the danger

That film is F1: the Movie, which was released on Wednesday and stars Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, an ageing American racing driver whose career had been halted 30 years earlier after he sustained severe injuries in a crash. Legs twisted and with part of his seat still strapped to his back, he was thrown onto the tarmac while other drivers continued around the circuit, until Minardi’s Pierluigi Martini parked his car in front of Donnelly to protect him. After leaving hospital, Donnelly went to stay in Austria with Willi Dungl, the fitness guru who had helped Niki Lauda back into his car six weeks after a horrific accident at the Nurburgring in which he sustained serious burns.

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