Watch brands have a long and storied history of sponsoring major sports events around the world, from Omega‘s longstanding involvement with the Olympics to Tissot‘s more recent gig as the official timekeeper of the NBA. But no sport is as intertwined with the world of watches as motorsports, and that’s especially true when it comes to Formula 1 racing.
F1’s mixture of high-octane action and global glamour, along with its popularity with the well-heeled jetset, make it the perfect partner for luxury watch brands, which also pride themselves on performance and operate in rarified air financially.
A number of well-known watch brands, almost exclusively luxury brands, have acted as official F1 sponsors over the years and decades, oftentimes releasing special-edition watches to celebrate their partnerships. But these relationships can be fleeting. Sometimes, a watch brand will sponsor an F1 team for decades, while other times, the partnership lasts just a season or two. On the eve of the 2024 F1 season’s biggest race, the Monaco Grand Prix, what better time to look at the current landscape of F1 watch brand sponsors?
2024 Official F1 Watch Sponsors
Official Timepiece of F1: Rolex
Rolex doesn’t sponsor any specific F1 team. Instead, the most famous watch brand in the world sponsors the entire F1 organization, serving as the global partner and official timepiece of the F1 World Championship since 2013. And the partnership makes a ton of sense, as Rolex has a long and storied history not just with F1, but with motorsports in general.
On the F1 side, Rolex has had a relationship with three-time F1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart since 1968. Outside of F1, the brand famously sponsors the 24 Hours of Daytona race in Florida, from which its popular racing chronograph draws its name.
RolexRolex Cosmograph Daytona
Specs
| Case Size | 40mm |
| Movement | Rolex Cal. 4131 automatic chronograph |
| Water Resistance | 100m |
Red Bull Racing: TAG Heuer
Another obvious partner for F1, TAG Heuer perhaps has a stronger association with motorsports than any other watch brand. Heuer was a fixture at race tracks around the world in the 1960s and ’70s thanks to its popular Carrera, Monaco and Autavia chronographs. After the brand was bought by TAG in the 1980s, the newly formed company found huge success with its line of Formula 1 quartz watches — which it resurrected in 2024 to great acclaim with help from designer brand Kith.
TAG Heuer’s F1 history runs deep. TAG and Heuer, both separately before their merger and together after becoming TAG Heuer, have sponsored a number of F1 teams dating back to the 1970s, including Ferrari, McLaren and Williams. It also served as the official timekeeper of F1 from 1991 — 2003, and in 2016 it became the watch sponsor of Red Bull Racing. TAG and Red Bull have had a ton of success, with the team winning Constructors’ Championships in 2022 and 2023 and its star driver, Max Verstappen, dominating the field by winning the last three consecutive Drivers’ Championships and, as of this writing, leading the standings in 2024.
TAG HeuerTAG Heuer Formula 1 Kith
Specs
| Case Size | 35 |
| Movement | Swiss quartz |
| Water Resistance | 200m |
Mercedes: IWC
IWC may not seem like the most natural partner for Formula One. Sure, it’s a popular luxury watch brand known mostly for its sports watches and chronographs, but those watches tend to fall under the pilot or marine watch categories — the brand doesn’t really make any motorsports watches. But despite the seemingly unnatural pairing, IWC has absolutely killed it when it comes to its partnership with Mercedes.
Since joining forces with Mercedes-AMG Petronas in 2023, IWC has released special-edition watches in honor of the partnership on a fairly regular basis. These watches have mostly been well received, especially in recent years, as IWC has shown a knack for incorporating the racing team’s signature teal into its various product lines, particularly the Pilot’s Watch. Superstar Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has also been IWC’s most recognizable ambassador over the past decade, even helping to design watches for the brand. 2024 will be the last year of Hamilton wearing IWC, however, as the driver will jump ship for Ferrari in 2025 and IWC has already stated that its allegiance is to Mercedes and not Hamilton.
IWCIWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Edition Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Specs
| Case Size | 41mm |
| Movement | IWC Cal. 69385 automatic chronograph |
| Water Resistance | 100m |
McLaren: Richard Mille
Richard MilleRichard Mille’s slogan is “a racing machine on the wrist,” so it makes perfect sense that the uber-luxury brand would be an F1 sponsor — hell, the brand even uses F1 technology and materials in some of its watches. And when it comes to F1 sponsorships, Richard Mille gets around. Richard Mille previously was a sponsor of Haas and Alfa Romeo (now Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber), and in 2017 it inked a 10-year deal with McLaren which is ongoing.
To kick off its partnership with McClaren, Richard Mille released the RM 11-03 McLaren, which like all RM, is completely bonkers. The watch, developed in partnership with McLaren design director Rob Melville, is an automatic flyback chronograph with a case made from a mix of the brand’s proprietary Carbon TPT interlaced with Orange Quartz TPT, making it both lightweight and resilient, with titanium nods to McLaren cars found throughout the watch. Originally retailing for around $200,000, the 500-piece limited-edition watch now fetches more than twice that on the secondary market.
Richard MilleRichard Mille RM 11-03 McLaren
Specs
| Case Size | 49.94mm x 44.5mm |
| Movement | Richard Mille Cal. RMAC3 automatic flyback chronograph |
| Water Resistance | 50m |
Ferrari: Richard Mille
Remember how I said Richard Mille gets around when it comes to its F1 partners? Well, that statement still rings true for the 2024 season, as RM is the only watch brand to currently sponsor two separate F1 teams. In 2021, Richard Mille and Ferrari announced the start of a multi-year partnership, with RM supplanting Hublot as Ferrari’s watch sponsor.
To kick off the partnership, Richard Mille made a seriously big impact — or a seriously small one, depending on how you look at it. The RM UP-01 Ferrari watch released by Richard Mille in 2022 broke the world record set by the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra to become the thinnest watch in the world. (Bulgari later reclaimed the crown in 2024 with a new version of the Finissimo Ultra COSC.) The mechanical marvel measures just 1.75mm thin, and a prominent prancing pony on the dial(?) symbolizes the pursuit of top performance shared by both Ferrari and Richard Mille.
Richard MilleRichard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari
Specs
| Case Size | 51mm x 39mm |
| Movement | Richard Mille Cal. RMUP-01 hand-wind |
| Water Resistance | 10m |
Aston Martin: Girard-Perregaux
Of all the current F1 watch sponsors, Girard-Perregaux is the most gentlemanly. It’s the most old-school luxury brand, with a history dating back to 1791 and its signature design being a tourbillon with three gold bridges that first debuted in a pocket watch. As such, it may not seem like a perfect match for an F1 team. That is, until you remember that Aston Martin has a team and you realize Girard-Perregaux is the perfect match for the classically British luxury sports car brand known for making grand tourers.
GP and Aston began their relationship in 2021, and a couple of intriguing watches have already come out of it. Most recently, GP released the Neo Bridges Aston Martin Edition, an Aston-themed iteration of its updated take on its three bridges architecture. My personal favorite though is the Aston Martin Edition of the Laureato sports watch, which is fully executed in British racing green ceramic.
SelfridgesGirard-Perregaux Laureato Aston Martin Edition
Specs
| Case Size | 38mm or 42mm |
| Movement | Girard-Perregaux Cal. GP03300 automatic |
| Water Resistance | 100m |
Alpine: H. Moser & Cie.
H. Moser & Cie.Now here is a sponsorship that’s completely out of left field. Brand-new for the 2024 season is the partnership between H. Moser & Cie. and Alpine. So why is it surprising? Well, for a couple of reasons. For one, Moser is a very small, very niche brand. It makes high-end watches with minimalist designs and striking dials, often in fumé Grand Feu enamel. It’s never been a brand that screams “motorsports” by any means, but that’s part of what makes it so cool. (Moser’s CEO, Edouard Meylan, tells me that BWT Alpine F1 Team’s owner is a fan of the brand and he actually approached the watchmaker about a partnership.)
Luxury watch brands, especially those that play in the same high-end sandbox as Moser, tend to be very serious, veering on self-serious. Moser, by contrast, is not. The brand is down-to-earth, wildly creative and has a wacky sense of humor, present in both its marketing and in some of its watches (it once made a watch out of Swiss cheese). Its first F1 watches, both somehow created in only a matter of weeks, illustrate the brand’s ethos perfectly. The watches are skeletonized versions of the brand’s Streamliner sports watch featuring a cylindrical tourbillon and a rubber strap in either bright blue or brighter pink, and they certainly catch the eye at the track.
H. Moser & Cie.H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition
Specs
| Case Size | 42.3mm |
| Movement | H. Moser & Cie. Cal. HMC 811 automatic tourbillon |
| Water Resistance | 120m |
RB: Tudor
Somewhat confusingly, Red Bull actually owns and operates two different F1 teams for the 2024 (call them the Richard Mille of team owners). Making its debut this year is the, let’s say, uniquely named Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team, which I will be referring to as VCARB from here on out. The name may not be the greatest, but at least VCARB lined up an awesome watch sponsor for its debut season.
None other than Tudor is sponsoring VCARB, marking the first time Rolex’s sister brand has partnered with an F1 team. Of course, the news was hardly surprising. In 2023, Tudor entered a partnership with Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Red Bull’s America’s Cup team, so it makes sense that Tudor followed that up by sponsoring one of Red Bull’s F1 teams. VCARB drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda were spotted wearing Black Bay Ceramic watches with a blue dial soon after the partnership, and later received the same watch but with a multi-colored dial to match their car’s “Chameleon” livery. Tudor has stated that both watches are team-only editions that won’t be available to the public, with the Chameleon version being even more exclusive: Just two exist, one for Ricciardo and one for Tsunoda.
TudorTudor Black Bay Ceramic
Specs
| Case Size | 41mm |
| Movement | Tudor Cal. MT5602-1U automatic |
| Water Resistance | 200m |
2024 F1 Teams With No Watch Sponsor
We’re now eight races into the 2024 F1 season, and three of the ten competing teams do not have a watch sponsor. Those teams are Haas, Williams Racing and Sauber. Sauber was last sponsored by Rebellion Timepieces back when the team went by Alfa Romeo, but only from 2022 – 2023, as Rebellion has since gotten out of the watch industry entirely.
Haas also most recently had an obscure brand on board for a very brief time, with avant grade watchmaker Cyrus sponsoring the team from 2021 — 2023. Finally, Williams Racing also most recently linked up with an independent watch brand from 2021 — 2023, joining forces with fellow Brit, Bremont.
Former F1 Watch Brand Sponsors
As previously mentioned, Bremont, Cyrus and Rebellion (RIP) all recently sponsored F1 teams but are currently out of the game, er, race. But they aren’t the only watch brands who count themselves as former F1 partners. Oris previously served as Williams Racing’s sponsor for 15 years from 2003 — 2018, while Hublot had a decade-long partnership with Ferrari from 2011 — 2020. Longines also sponsored Ferrari for a time, back in the 1980s.
French watch brand Bell & Ross partnered with French F1 team Renault (now Alpine) from 2016 until 2023. And finally — and this is perhaps the strangest partner of all — there’s Casio. The only non-luxury watch brand to sponsor an F1 team in recent memory, Casio partnered with Red Bull from the 2009 to 2021 seasons, first sponsoring Red Bull Racing and then in 2016 shifting to the feeder team now known as VCARB (at the time known first as Toro Rosso, then AlphaTauri).
Hey, Casio, I hear Haas is looking for a partner. Let’s make #Haasio a thing.
