A tennis ball yellow automotive ripped throughout the Sixth Road Bridge in a cloud of tire smoke on Tuesday night time. However in contrast to the standard scorching rods, drag racers, and lowriders which have lengthy made this L.A. River crossing famed amongst Angeleno automotive fans, and as a filming location in motion pictures like Grease and Terminator 2, it did so and not using a honking gasoline-powered engine. Moreover atypical, the span was closed to public site visitors and outfitted with signage that recommended it was a part of the German Autobahn. Additionally, when the automotive’s occupants emerged, one was Brad Pitt.
The star was reprising a job, of types, that of Sonny Hayes, the redemption-seeking racecar driver from 2025’s smash hit F1. This was based mostly not simply on the automotive’s velocity and attention-grabbing stunting, however as a result of the corporate backing Pitt in each cases is identical: Mercedes-Benz. The German luxurious automaker was the in-movie sponsor of Hayes’ fictional APXGP racing crew. And its go-fast subsidiary, Mercedes-AMG, hosted the L.A. occasion to advertise the worldwide reveal of its newest automobile, the AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, a swoopy 1153 hp all-electric sports activities sedan, able to sprinting from 0-60 mph in a Ferrari-besting 2 seconds.
Brad Pitt at World Premiere of the all-new Mercedes-AMG GT 63 4-Door Coupé in Los Angeles, 2026.
Mercedes-Benz Group AG
Becoming a member of Pitt on the occasion have been a passel of different notables. Jacob Elordi, Kevin Hart, Kourtney Kardashian, Odell Beckham Jr., Gabriel Macht, and Finneas have been all there, together with Olympic fencing medalist Miles Chamley-Watson, and Mercedes’ System One drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Including to the spectacle, pop-punk pioneers Blink 182 carried out a stay set after the crossing.
A few of these bold-face names present up simply because they crave affiliation with Mercedes’ three-pointed star. “A great example is Jacob Elordi, who found us,” says the model’s chief advertising officer Melody Lee. However, she provides, the construction is completely different for each celeb. “Some come uncompensated because they just truly love the brand. Others, sure, they ask for compensation to show up, and sometimes we work it out with a car or a fee or both.”
What about Mr. Pitt? “That’s a paid partnership. I can be upfront about that,” Lee says. “He is a really good driver after his training on ‘F1,’” she says, although it’s unclear how that is related since he didn’t drive the brand new automotive throughout the span, however was a passenger, with knowledgeable driver on the wheel. “And because of the ties between the team, the movie, and the car debuting here, he seemed like a logical choice.”
Extra necessary, how did Mercedes handle to shut an iconic public roadway within the coronary heart of Los Angeles in an effort to introduce an electrical scorching rod? “It took many months of discussions, negotiations, petitions, permits,” Lee says. “You obviously have to pay a price to shut down a major thoroughfare. But for the city of L.A, it’s a really exciting moment. It’s a lot of publicity for the city. But more than that, it’s an absolute tribute to the place that Los Angeles plays in our culture. The city, and the Sixth Street Bridge, are not just production locations, they’re iconic characters in movies and television.”
