Former Belfast Grand Prix driver tells of ‘surreal’ experience on blockbuster movie set

The Belfast man was at the heart of the action on F1: The Movie which features genuine footage of the horrific 1990 crash which almost cost him his leg.

The surreal film experience started with an unexpected call from Lewis Hamilton, executive producer on the movie, and led to Donnelly directing Pitt in the pit lane.

The star plays Formula 1 driver Sonny Hayes whose career stalls after an accident, until he’s brought back to mentor a rising star, played by Damson Idris.

Martin, from west Belfast met Pitt and director Joseph Kosinski, who made high-octane Top Gun: Maverick, at Silverstone before filming started.

“The first thing Brad Pitt said to me was ‘you’re my hero. How the hell are you still with us?’ and we chewed the cud for half an hour,” says the 61-year-old.

“He’s not above himself, and he’s a lovely guy to speak to.

“When Lewis took him out on to the track in the car he had a real talent for driving.”

The dad-of-three was also surprised to be asked to show the actor how he should behave in the pits when filming started at Brands Hatch.

Martin shared his lucky ritual, which was to get in on the left side of the car, and put his left leg in first.

“Brad was asking me for directions, like where he should be standing, and I was thinking to myself, ‘is he talking to me?’

“I told him what I did, which was to ask the car to be kind to you, and took him through my superstitions.”

Luck was on Martin’s side in 1990 when he survived one of the most memorable crashes of Formula 1. During a practice lap in Jerez in Spain for Lotus a mechanical failure sent his car into the crash barriers at 160 mph. Viewers watched in horror as Martin, still strapped to his seat, was flung down the tarmac, breaking both legs, and left unconscious with his limbs horribly twisted.

The filmmakers had considered basing their story on Gerhard Berger’s 1989 crash, when his car burst into flames, but when Lewis Hamilton showed the director footage of Martin’s accident they decided to get him on board.

They then tried to recreate the crash but nothing compared to the real footage, which is used in the movie.

“I would have patented that footage if I’d known that someone from Hollywood was going to play my life,” says Martin.

“If I had done that I’d have more money now than Brad Pitt.

“When they were filming they tried throwing a mannequin from a trailer but Joseph decided the footage wasn’t good enough and it was easier to get permission from Formula 1 to use the actual footage.

“It’s odd watching yourself getting thrown about like a ragdoll, lying in the middle of the circuit with someone leaning in to feel for a pulse.

“But at the premiere I missed it. I got up to go to the toilet and when I came back Brad was sitting with my kids and he said ‘you missed your bit’. I’ll have to go back and see it again.”

Martin still works with Lotus and runs his own driving academy in Norfolk.

After his accident he continued to race in other categories, including the British Touring Championship in 2015, but his injuries ended his dream of top level competition.

He completed a test with Jordan in 1993, however the death of his friend Ayrton Senna a year later helped make his decision to leave F1.

His injuries were so catastrophic he was put in an induced coma for weeks and struggled to speak when he came out of it. He suffered head and lung injuries, had two heart attacks, and was given the last rites by a priest.

He also learned that Spanish surgeons were preparing to amputate his left leg when F1 medical director Professor Sid Watkins intervened.

“Sid grabbed this 19-year-old kid at the circuit who could speak Spanish and English and went to the hospital where the two surgeons were all gowned up and ready to take my leg off, because my femur was out through the skin,” says Martin.

“The surgeons were asking who Sid was and he was telling them I was his patient and this kid was translating. Sid took his belt off to tourniquet the blood and got me back to England.

“They were worried after I came round that I wasn’t speaking, until a doctor put a syringe into me one day and I grabbed him and said ‘that f*****g hurts’. He told Sid, ‘your colleague said his first words, and told me to f*** off’.

“I went through operations to get mobility back in my leg, but when Senna’s accident happened on May 1 1994 I said let it go. Enough is enough.

“And I’m here to talk about it,” he says.

The movie, on which he’s given a special credit, has taken $144 million so far at the box office and become Pitt’s biggest ever movie launch.

“Who doesn’t love a bit of Brad,” says Martin.

News in 90 Seconds - July 10th