Who Is Sonny Hayes? Brad Pitt’s F1 Character Explained

Sonny Hayes is the fictional Formula 1 driver played by Brad Pitt in the 2025 film F1. The character is a former open-wheel prodigy whose career was cut short by a devastating crash in 1993, only to return to the sport three decades later as a 55-year-old racing for the fictional APXGP team. The film became the highest-grossing auto racing movie in history, earning over $633 million worldwide, and Sonny Hayes became one of the most searched names in Formula 1 culture.

Sonny Hayes: The Character

Backstory and the 1993 Crash

In the world of the film, Sonny Hayes was a rising star in Formula 1 in the early 1990s. His career ended at the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix, where a high-speed crash left him with severe injuries and derailed what many in the paddock believed was a championship-level talent. The accident was not just physical. Hayes spent the following 30 years haunted by the failure to fulfill his potential, falling into gambling addiction and cycling through three failed marriages. By the time the film opens, he is living out of a van and working as a hired driver at endurance events across the United States.

Brad Pitt confirmed in interviews that the crash backstory was drawn directly from the real-life accident suffered by Martin Donnelly at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix. Donnelly, a Northern Irish driver racing for Lotus, hit a barrier at approximately 160 mph after a suspension failure. The car disintegrated on impact, leaving Donnelly exposed on the track surface with brain and lung injuries, a shattered right leg, and injuries severe enough that he was read his last rites at the circuit. Donnelly survived but never raced in Formula 1 again.

The Comeback at APXGP

The film’s central plot begins when Sonny’s old friend and former teammate Ruben Cervantes, played by Javier Bardem, approaches him at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Ruben owns the fictional APXGP Formula 1 team, which is struggling financially and faces the threat of being dropped from the grid. Sonny is reluctant at first but agrees out of loyalty, returning to the F1 paddock as the oldest driver on the grid by a wide margin.

At APXGP, Sonny is paired with Joshua Pearce, a talented young rookie played by Damson Idris. The two clash early in the season. Pearce sees Hayes as a past-it relic taking up a seat that should go to someone younger. Hayes sees Pearce as talented but reckless. Their relationship shifts across the season as both drivers earn results and begin to trust one another, with the team’s technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon) and team principal Kaspar Smolinski (Kim Bodnia) working behind the scenes to keep APXGP competitive.

The Abu Dhabi Finale

The film reaches its climax at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Joshua Pearce is fighting for the lead against Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, both appearing as themselves. Sonny is caught in a minor incident and the race is red-flagged. On the restart, Sonny overtakes Leclerc and then deliberately holds off Hamilton to allow Joshua to move into first place. On the final lap, Hamilton and Joshua collide, which clears a path for Sonny to take the victory. It is his first Formula 1 win, secured at the age of 55, and it guarantees APXGP’s survival.

How the Film Was Made

Real Cars, Real Circuits, Real Weekends

One of the most discussed aspects of the F1 movie was its production method. Rather than relying entirely on CGI or closed-set filming, the production team embedded camera-equipped cars into actual Formula 1 race weekends across the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Brad Pitt and Damson Idris drove modified Formula 2 cars fitted with APXGP liveries on real circuits at real speeds, with onboard footage captured at tracks including Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, and the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

The film was directed by Joseph Kosinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Lewis Hamilton, and written by Ehren Kruger. Hamilton’s involvement as a producer brought an unusual level of technical accuracy to the project. Real F1 teams, drivers, and personnel appear as themselves across the film, giving Sonny Hayes a fictional story set inside a real-world backdrop.

Why Sonny Hayes Resonated

A Story Formula 1 Has Told Before

Sonny Hayes is a fictional character, but the story the film tells sits close to real events that Formula 1 fans recognized immediately. The crash-and-comeback arc mirrors Niki Lauda’s return to racing just six weeks after his near-fatal accident at the Nurburgring in 1976. It echoes Robert Kubica’s eight-year fight to return to the Formula 1 grid after a rally accident nearly severed his right arm in 2011. And the core of the character, a driver robbed of his prime by a single moment of catastrophic mechanical failure, comes straight from Martin Donnelly’s story.

The combination of a recognizable Formula 1 narrative with Brad Pitt’s star power pushed the film past $633 million at the global box office. It outperformed every previous racing film, including the Rush and Ford v Ferrari adaptations that drew from similar real-world source material. A sequel was officially greenlit in February 2026.

The APXGP Team in Context

APXGP is presented in the film as Formula 1’s smallest and most financially vulnerable team. The parallel to real-world backmarker operations is clear. Teams like Caterham, Manor, and HRT all faced the kind of existential financial pressure that drives the plot of the film. APXGP’s story, a team on the brink of collapse saved by an unlikely result, is not far from the real narrative of Brawn GP, which won the 2009 World Championship in its first and only season after being rescued from the collapse of Honda Racing.

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Sources

• F1 (film), Wikipedia
• F1: The Movie (2025), IMDb
• Martin Donnelly had a ‘reality check’ seeing his crash recreated, CNN

Written by

Jarrod Partridge

Jarrod Partridge is the Co-Founder of F1 Chronicle and an FIA accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following Formula 1. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered F1 races at circuits around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every race report, driver profile, and technical analysis he writes.

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