Last year Tag Heuer celebrated the 75th anniversary of Formula 1 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed by launching the Carrera Chronograph x Festival of Speed special edition. Though there’s a certain irony in the fact that on the anniversary of F1 they launched a Carrera when one of their other models is actually called the Formula 1. But the Formula 1 collection is not being left out this year because for the 2026 edition of the iconic motor show, which takes place in West Sussex from 9th – 12th July, they’re releasing the Formula 1 Chronograph x Goodwood Festival of Speed limited edition.
Where last year’s Carrera was stylish and refined with a distinctive dial texture, this year’s watch is about pure racing functionality. That’s in part due to this year’s event theme of “The Rivals – Epic Racing Duels”, an ode to famous racing rivalries both past and present where fractions of a second determine who comes out on top. At 44mm in diameter, the watch is very large in order to provide a wide base for the dial and allowing the display to be as legible as possible at a glance. The same is true for the ceramic bezel which uses an oversize typography for the tachymeter scale.
The dial itself is a vertically arranged tricompax chronograph display. That means the 30-minute and 12-hour chronograph counters are laid out on the vertical axis at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock respectively, with the small seconds kicked out to the side at 9 o’clock. At 3 o’clock is the Tag Heuer and Formula 1 collection logo along with a date window so you can easily track when your next track day is.
In order to tie into the British theme of the special edition, the Formula 1 Chronograph x Goodwood Festival of Speed is presented in British Racing Green. It has a sunray brushed finish that catches the light nicely. It also provides a good level of contrast to the stark white subdials and red hands, making the display easy to read. The subdials are finished with a style of concentric circle engraving called azurage. An extra detail that ties the watch specifically to the Festival rather than being a generic green Formula 1 is that the 39th second marker is red to denote the current hillclimb record of 39.08 seconds – set in 2022 by Max Chilton in a McMurtry Spérling.
Powering the watch is the Tag Heuer Calibre 16, which is one of their Sellita base movements. It offers a 48-hour power reserve with automatic winding. It’s protected by a solid steel caseback that’s decorated with a Goodwood Festival of Speed motif as well as an inscription marking it as ‘One Of 500’, referring to its limited edition number.
Compared to last year’s special edition, I do think this model is a touch less exciting because there’s fewer details that make it stand out from a standard Formula 1 model in contrast to what was a very distinctive version of the Carrera. However, I do think it actually has potential to be more successful than last year’s model because the bold tool watch design will appeal to petrol head collectors. Plus, more collectors will be able to pick one up because it’s less exclusive with 500 instead of 100 pieces available at £4,250 instead of £6,450.
Price and Specs:
More details at Tag Heuer.
