The high-octane world of F1 racing has a surprising amount in common with the dramatically more sedate world of horology. While a wristwatch can’t go 200mph, it’s as much a piece of precision engineering obsessed with accuracy and the smallest of timing intervals as an F1 car. It’s little surprise then that looking around the paddock or at the livery of the cars themselves, the majority of racing teams have a wristwatch brand partner. Here are the F1 drivers watches prior to the 2023 season.
Mercedes AMG: IWC
Mercedes had a relatively disappointing 2022 season that saw the team off to a slow start and leaving Hamilton and Russell sadly too far off the pace to challenge for the championship, although they both had solid finishes. In 2023 they’ll be hoping for a return to form and a season as tight and dramatic as 2021 that saw Hamilton going wheel to wheel with eventual champion Max Verstappen. On the watch front, IWC continue to be the team’s partner and more collaborations in the vein of the fabulous Mercedes-AMG Petronas Team Watch are likely on the horizon.
Lewis Hamilton: IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Lewis Hamilton Edition
Unsurprisingly Hamilton, who we interview for the magazine here, wears the IWC “Lewis Hamilton” edition as his F1 driver’s watch. It’s a deep burgundy perpetual calendar with golden accents, a watch worthy of one of the greatest champions of all time. It’s powered by the 52615 automatic calibre with 168-hour power reserve.
George Russell: IWC Pilot Chronograph IW377709
Oddly, while Mercedes underperformed compared to expectations, last season was George Russell’s personal best with his first ever race win. On his wrist is the IW377709, a classic pilot’s watch chronograph with a steel case, black dial and white accents.
Oracle Red Bull Racing: Tag Heuer
Red Bull are currently the back to back champions thanks to Max Verstappen’s aggressive driving style. They also have the best car at the moment, comfortably coming in at the top of the constructor standings by a margin of over 200 points. Their watch sponsor is Tag Heuer, who have a long history of producing racing watches. Indeed, the majority of their watches are named after the most famous races in the world such as the Monaco and Carrera.
Max Verstappen: Tag Heuer Monaco Titan Special Edition
While Max has a Monaco dedicated to him, one of the most significant watches in his collection is the Tag Heuer Monaco Titan Special Edition from 2021, equipped with a 39mm titanium case. It was the watch he wore when celebrating his first ever championship.
Sergio Perez: Tag Heuer Carrera Tourbillon ‘Sergio Perez’
The Tag Heuer Carrera Tourbillon ‘Sergio Perez’ is dedicated to the Red Bull driver’s home Grand Prix, Mexico. It features a black design with golden accents and the tachymeter bezel bears an engraving of “Mexico”. This particular F1 driver’s watch is a limited edition of 2 pieces.
Aston Martin: Girard-Perregaux
Aston Martin’s 2022 season never really got started despite having a major name like Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel. With Vettel retiring at the end of the season, they’ve brought another veteran in to lead the charge, Fernando Alonzo. Their official timing partner is Girard-Perregaux, who produce some of the most interesting collab watches around with pieces like the Aston Martin Three Bridges Tourbillon.
Fernando Alonso: Richard Mille RM67-02 Fernando Alonso Edition
As Fernando is a relative newcomer to the team, he’ll surely pick up a Girard-Perregaux during the course of the year. For the most part, he can be seen sticking to his preferred watches from Richard Mille, including the stunning RM67-02 and the RM47 Samurai. It’s worth noting though that once the season begins in earnest, all drivers will fall in line with their team’s sponsors.
Lance Stroll: Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph Aston Martin
When it comes to watches themed around F1, they don’t get any more thematic than the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph Aston Martin, which contains actual parts of Aston Martin’s F1 car. A fitting watch for returning driver Lance Stroll.
McLaren: Richard Mille
McLaren have remained a solid mid-table team with drivers like Lando Norris steadily improving and starting to become real contenders for consistent podium finishes. Their watch partner is Richard Mille, who are perhaps the most iconic F1 drivers’ watch sponsor around with multiple teams in partnerships with them. Although, the extraordinary value of their sporty watches isn’t always a boon to their drivers…
Lando Norris: Richard Mille RM 67-02 ‘Automatic Extra Flat’
In 2021 Lando Norris had his RM 67-02 ‘Automatic Extra Flat’ stolen from him during a mugging that took place after he had attended a football match at Wembley. The watch has a value of around £120,000. It has a carbon TPT and titanium case and the calibre CRMA7 also features carbon composite components.
Oscar Piastri: Richard Mille RM 67-02 Automatic Winding Extra Flat ‘Alexander Zverev’
Lando’s team mate, Oscar Piastri also rocks an RM 67-02, although his hasn’t been stolen. Specifically, the version Oscar wears is the special edition created in collaboration with Alexander Zverev the young German tennis star, which introduces an attractive black and red colourway to the model.
Ferrari: Richard Mille
Ferrari is another team that has a partnership with Richard Mille. Together, the two brands push the boundaries of what is capable in timekeeping, having produced the world’s thinnest automatic wristwatch in the form of the RM UP-01 Ferrari. On the racing front, they’re hoping Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz can have a repeat of last year’s impressive start but with the consistency to see that high performance last through to the end of the season.
Charles LeClerc: Richard Mille RM67-02 ‘Charles LeClerc’
In another upsetting sequence of events, Charles LeClerc had his RM67-02 ‘Charles LeClerc’ stolen in a similar set of circumstances to Lando. Although, instead of attending a football game, LeClerc was signing some autographs for fans. Evidently F1 stars are a target for watch thieves and RMs are particularly prized. Hopefully nothing like it happens again.
Carlos Sainz: Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari
Naturally, with Richard Mille and Ferrari teaming up for the aforementioned RM UP-01 Ferrari ultra-thin, the F1 boys including Sainz would be given a chance to showcase the watch. It has proportions of 51mm x 39mm x 1.75mm. Yes, it’s just 1.75mm thick. A pretty special F1 driver’s watch to be sure.
Alfa Romeo: Rebellion Timepieces
Rebellion Timepieces recently announced a new partnership with legendary footballer Ronaldinho but in the field of F1 their partnership is with Alfa Romeo. The team had modest success last season with Bottas scrapping into the top 10.
Valtteri Bottas: Re-Volt Valtteri Bottas C42
In celebration of the partnership, Rebellion created the Re-Volt Valtteri Bottas C42, a sporty watch that incorporates parts of the rear wing of Bottas’ car into the watch itself. It’s made from a coloured carbon composite and was produced in a limited edition of 50 pieces.
Zhou Guanyu: Re-Volt Zhou Guanyu C42
Of course, Bottas’ fellow Alfa Romeo driver couldn’t be forgotten about and Rebellion also created the Re-Volt Zhou Guanyu C42. It’s virtually identical to the Bottas version but with a stronger red and black colourway, it also uses parts of Zhou’s sidepod rather than the rear wing.
Williams: Bremont
British F1 team Williams teamed up with fellow British brand Bremont at the start of the 2022 season and that partnership is continuing into the new year. They’re hoping for an improvement on last year’s last place in the constructor standings and low driver placements. However, while the racing can improve the watch game is strong with a duo of attractive collabs for F1 drivers’ watches.
Alex Albon: Bremont WR-22 Chronograph
The Bremont WR-22 is a 43mm diameter chronograph with a tricompax display featuring a 30-minute timer, 12-hour timer and small seconds. The design of the caseback and rotor is inspired by the wheel rim of the Williams car.
Logan Sargeant: Bremont ALT1-WT
In addition to the WR-22 Bremont have created many other collaborative timepieces, one such is the ALT1-WT in bright blue. It has a vertically stacked chronograph display with black subdials and white accents, looking as detailed and complex as the livery of an F1 car. It’s powered by the BE-54AE automatic calibre with 42-hour power reserve.
Alpine: Bell & Ross
Bell & Ross have been part of the F1 scene for several years now, working with the Renault F1 team that was rebranded into the Alpine team in 2021. Alpine had a really strong showing last season with both drivers finishing in the top 10 and finishing 4th in the constructor standings. They’ve very much the gatekeeper team that you have to get past if you want any chance of challenging for the title.
Esteban Ocon: Bell & Ross BR03-94 A521
Esteban Ocon was a stalwart of the team last year and he’ll aim to continue that in 2023, repping the BR03-94 A521, the collaborative timepiece created by the two brands. It’s actually one of many watches they’ve built together but with its square case and black, silver and blue colourway it’s probably the best one.
Pierre Gasly: Bell & Ross BR 03-92 A522
With Alonzo moving to Aston Martin, Pierre Gasly has taken his old position at Alpine. As a new team member he hasn’t had long to pick up a team watch and so there have been a few other brands on his wrist. This wouldn’t be an article about sport without at least one Hublot and Gasly delivers with the Big Band Unico King Gold, the most Hublot-ish Hublot out there. Again, worth re-iterating that very soon it will be a Bell & Ross on his wrist.
Haas: None
Haas no longer has a watch sponsor listed among their partners, but until recently they were working with haute horological specialists Cyrus. For the 2023 season they’re hoping to improve their form with the return of Kevin Magnussen and picking up Nico Hulkenberg, both of whom will be aiming to crack into the top 10.
Kevin Magnussen: Cyrus Klepcys GMT Retrograde
Magnussen, as a returning driver, was competing for the team during the Cyrus period and as such is often seen wearing the Cyrus Klepcys GMT Retrograde. A GMT watch makes a lot of sense for an F1 driver as they’re constantly moving across the globe and keeping track of the time at home is useful. The Klepcys GMT Retrograde achieves this with a linear 24-hour scale set into the middle of the dial.
Nico Hulkenberg: Rolex Daytona
Nico Hulkenberg unfortunately missed his chance at a Cyrus, but I doubt he’s too sad about it, rocking a Rolex Daytona instead. It’s somewhat surprising that there aren’t more Rolexes in the paddock, but with a duty to represent team colours the Rolexes can only come out when drivers are off duty so to speak. Nico’s Daytona is gold with black subdials and a black bezel.
AlphaTauri: None
AlphaTauri is another team going sans F1 driver watch sponsor this season after a middling performance that saw them trail toward the bottom end of both the driver and constructor standings. AlphaTauri, for those unfamiliar, is Red Bull’s fashion brand, although the F1 team has closer ties to Ferrari (through Scuderia) than it does to the actual Red Bull team.
Nyck de Vries: IWC Mercedes AMG Petronas
Nyck de Vries hasn’t yet had the opportunity to shine in mainstream F1, having had success in the Formula E World Championships for Mercedes and then being a reserve driver for Williams last year. As a team member for Mercedes until last year, he wears the IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Edition “Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team”.
Yuki Tsunoda: Swatch x Omega Moonswatch Mission to Pluto
We all remember the sensation caused by the Swatch x Omega Moonswatch when it launched almost a year ago and to be honest the sensationalism surrounding the model hasn’t faded. Yuki Tsunoda has the Mission to Pluto version, which always reminds me of raspberry ripple ice cream with its burgundy and cream colourway.
Find out more about the 2023 F1 Season drivers & races at Formula 1.
