FULL SPEED AHEAD

Revved up amid his 'reboot' and romance with Ines de Ramon, Brad Pitt talks fast cars, fate and why he's not ready for retirement

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In his new blockbuster, F1, Brad Pitt plays a retired race-car driver who gets a second chance on the track - and the Oscar winner certainly knows a thing or two about fresh starts.

Happily coupled with Ines de Ramon - his girlfriend of nearly three years - Brad seems to have found new peace in life. This comes after a tumultuous eight-year custody battle with his now ex-wife Angelina Jolie, 50, which was finally settled last December. During the process, the father of six also weathered estrangement from most of his children.

“I was pretty much on my knees, and I was really open,” Brad, 61, revealed on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard in June, explaining that he joined Alcoholics Anonymous following his and Angelina's split in 2016 after more than a decade together.

“I was trying anything and everyone. Anything anyone threw at me. It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting.”

EMOTIONAL EVOLUTION

His jewelry-executive girlfriend has been a crucial part of that reboot. Insiders say Brad and Ines, 32 – who moved in together last year – are “in a great place.”

Indeed, the pair – who met through mutual friends a few years ago – looked deeply in love as they made back-to-back appearances for F1 in New York and London. Working the circuit no doubt brought back memories as Brad and Ines made their public debut as a couple in 2024 at the Formula One Grand Prix in the U.K., where he was filming scenes.

This time around, they were joined by Brad's castmates, including Javier Bardem and real-life Formula One champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, as well as his old pal Tom Cruise – a frequent collaborator with Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced F1.