We are already on our way to the Australian GP. the third round of the season, with one of the most exciting seasons, starting in recent years. A mini-miracle from Aston Martin sends Fernando Alonso to the top of the Championship, fighting race after race for the podium, and with a level match with Ferrari and Mercedes that promises a lot.
Formula 1 has always been one of the most exclusive hubs in the world of sports, which always brings together the biggest VIPs to admire the best drivers competing for the highest step of the Podium in each Grand Prix. And of course, luxury watch brands also want to participate in this very select sector, accompanying the wrists of F1 Drivers with their best watchmaking jewels. Whether as sponsors of the teams, of the drivers or of the Formula 1 organization itself, Haute Horlogerie has always been a faithful companion of the highest category of motoring, let’s see what watches our protagonists wear!
Aston Martin Racing and Girard-Perregaux
The revelation team of the 2023 Season, Aston Martin Racing, collaborates closely with the watch brand Girard-Perregaux, which always accompanies Lance Stroll’s wrist, with its Laureato Aston Martin edition model in Carbon.
Fernando Alonso
On the other hand, his teammate and F1 legend, Fernando Alonso, is an ambassador for the super exclusive Richard Mille brand of luxury watches, since his years at McLaren-Honda. In recent seasons we have always seen him with a unique look, expressly customized for Fernando, with the colors of his helmet and the Spanish flag, a Richard Mille RM 67-02 unique piece.
Max Verstappen
The reigning World Champion, Max Verstappen, also wears a unique piece on his wrist, expressly customized for him: a TAG Heuer Monaco “Dark Lord”. As you can see, he has Max’s number 1 printed on the dial, to commemorate his two World Championships in the last 2021 and 2022 seasons.
His Red Bull teammate, Sergio Pérez, also wears a TAG Heuer in every race, as the watch brand is one of the team’s main sponsors. The Mexican driver usually wears different models to each Grand Prix, on the last occasion, in Saudi Arabia, we saw him celebrate his victory with a model from the Monaco collection.
Richard Mille
Richard Mille is one of the most present brands in the world of Formula 1, one of the most exclusive watch brands, and one of the most valued on the market, with a vital essence of the motor world. In fact, its own corporate motto is “A racing machine on your wrist”, which is why it has a great presence among F1 teams and drivers.
Ferrari is one of the teams sponsored by Richard Mille, also Charles Leclerc, one of his most important collaborators. The Monegasque driver usually takes different brand models to each circuit, but one of the most important is precisely another custom piece for him. A white carbon RM 67-02, with the flag of Monaco, his country, was made as a prototype so that he can wear it on his wrist.
Carlos Sainz also usually wears a 67-02 model, curiously an edition that has not yet been officially presented, with the flag of Italy, Ferrari’s mother house. These Richard Mille models are some of the most sought-after in the world, with prices that reach 300 thousand euros… And that for the standard models, imagine how much they would pay for these prototype parts!
Lewis Hamilton and George Russel
IWC is the protagonist of the wrists of the Mercedes AMG drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russel. The brand has been a faithful sponsor of the Mercedes team for many years, having accompanied them during the glorious years of their 7 World Championships.
Hamilton always opts for one of the models from the IWC Big Pilot collection, large watches with different complications such as Chronograph or Perpetual Calendar. At the Bahrain GP, we saw him with a black ceramic Top Gun, while at the last Saudi Arabian GP we saw him with a beige ceramic “Mojave Desert”.
George Russel, on the other hand, usually opts for the Portugieser collection, specifically for the Annual Calendar edition in steel. A more classic and traditional collection, but also very iconic within the IWC brand.
As you can see, these watches even accompany them in the races, since the pilot gloves have a Big Pilot model printed on the wrist… Totally inseparable!
Bell & Ross
The French Alpine team, formerly the Renault team, collaborates with the Bell & Ross brand, which has designed a special model for the Formula 1 team. This chronograph watch is usually one of those that we see on the wrists of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, Alpine F1 drivers.
A thoroughbred French cocktail, since the team is French, as are both pilots and so is the watchmaking brand, because although its watches are made in Switzerland, the Bell & Ross firm is of French origin, specifically Parisian.
And we come to one of the most important teams in the history of Formula 1, McLaren. A team that has enjoyed legendary and highly awarded moments, but has been suffering a lot lately in sporting terms, even more, so this 2023 season.
Richard Mille is also one of its main sponsors, so one of its watches always wears on the wrists of its pilots, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Lately, both drivers tend to wear the same model that we showed before with Leclerc, Sainz, and Alonso, the RM 67-02. A watch that gives a lot of play, because in addition to its incredible lightness and resistance, it is highly customizable. In fact, McLaren drivers also wear an exclusive edition for them, with the orange colors of the car they drive.
Rolex
And the close relationship between Formula 1 and Haute Horlogerie, how could we forget Rolex, the main sponsor of this sport, and the best-known brand in the world.
The signature of the crown has always had a special interest in the motor world, so much so that one of the most important collections bears the name of a legendary American circuit: the Daytona Cosmograph. Rolex took over from Hublot as Formula 1 title sponsor in 2013, and since then it has become one of the most important representatives of luxury in motorsport, being highly visible at every race of the season.
Daytona Oysterflex
Although it does not directly sponsor any F1 team or driver, many choose to take their watches outside the circuit, as we have seen Max Verstappen on more than one occasion, for example. But some of them even decide to wear a Rolex on the circuit itself.
Nico Hülkenberg was seen wearing a Daytona Oysterflex in Yellow Gold, during the first GP of the year in Bahrain. And, normally, he chose to wear it, it’s a beauty and a watchmaking legend, and even if you don’t get sponsored for wearing it, the pleasure of being able to look at the time on this model is indisputable.