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This coming weekend, Melbourne will be full of tyre smoke, the smell of burning rubber and the well known "hhnnnggg" sounds. It's the first race weekend of the Formula 1 2020 season! To celebrate we've decided to put together a list pairing the various Formula 1 teams with their partnered watch brands, including the illustrious Mercedes-IWC and McLaren-Richard Mille partnerships. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!
IWC - Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas
The IWC-Mercedes partnership deal has been long standing and has gone from strength to strength since the dotted lines were signed way back in 2013. The IWC-Mercedes partnership was founded on three key pillars: Precision engineering; Heritage; and Performance engineering. Let's see if Lewis Hamilton can match Michael Schumacher's record of seven world championship wins this year.
Richard Mille - Haas - Romain Grossjean & Kevin Magnussen
As you will soon see, Richard Mille has partnered with a number of Formula 1 teams, including the struggling Haas F1 team. The team is still young, having only been founded in 2016 by Gene Haas, so big things are expected and needed for 2020. The charismatic Haas team principal Guenther Steiner summed up the Richard Mille-Haas partnership perfectly, stating 'Richard Mille is a pioneer in the watch industry, and the company is renowned worldwide for its technical innovation and pursuit of perfection in each timepiece. We share that desire to innovate and dare to do things a little differently without compromise to detail or performance.'
Richard Mille - McLaren - Carlos Sainz & Lando Norris
Aside from IWC-Mercedes, perhaps the most well known partnership in Formula 1 is between Richard Mille and McLaren. In the years since their partnership began, Richard Mille has created a multitude of highly complex, highly technical watches, many of which cost upwards to and beyond an eye-watering $1 million. Since their partnership began in 2017, it seems as though Richard Mille and McLaren have become synonymous with each other, further extenuated by a statement on the Richard Mille - McLaren website: 'Tourbillon watches are for Richard Mille what Formula 1 vehicles are for McLaren, a technical crucible from which to extract innovation.'
Richard Mille - Alfa Romeo Racing - Kimi Räikkönen & Antonio Giovinazzi
Perhaps the most well known piece to come out of the Richard Mille-Alfa Romeo Racing partnership is the watch made for the Iceman himself, the $1 million ($1,063,000USD to be exact...) Richard Mille RM 50-04 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Kimi Räikkönen Limited Editon. After partnering with the highly revered watchmaker in 2018, both Alfa Romeo Racing and Richard Mille are probably hoping for a more successful 2020 season.
TAG Heuer - Red Bull Racing - Max Verstappen & Alexander Albon
Red Bull Racing seems to be in the thick of it all, both in a good and bad way. Good in the sense that they are competing as one of the top 3 Formula 1 teams. Bad in a way that rumours seems to be fluttering about regarding star driver Max Verstappen's interest in moving away from the team, which may result in Red Bull pulling the plug on Formula 1 altogether. Any who, rumours are just that, rumours. Since 2016 TAG Heuer and Red Bull Racing have walked arm in arm (or should I say drove), marching to the beat of their own drum and producing a slew of timepieces and ensuing victories along the way. 2020 could be a big year for both brands, though.
Bell & Ross - Renault - Daniel Ricciardo & Esteban Ocon
Bell & Ross and Renault are now entering their fourth year of partnership and their relationship seems to be going from strength to strength despite the sub-par performance of Renault's Formula 1 team. A multitude of watches have been released including a super complex tourbillon, all of which feature Renault's iconic colour and racing palette throughout.
Hublot - Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel & Charles Leclerc
Hublot and Ferrari have been working together since 2011, making this partnership one of the longest standing in Formula 1. To date, Hublot has created over 50 collaborative timepieces with Ferrari, with both brands hoping to win their first Formula 1 World Championship together in 2020.
EDIFICE Casio - AlphaTauri - Pierre Gasly & Daniil Kvyat
Formerly known as Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri and EDIFICE Casio have renewed their partnership for the 2020 season. Team partners since 2016, EDIFICE Casio and AlphaTauri will be making their 'debut' since the Formula 1 rebranding this weekend.
Williams - George Russell & Nicholas Latifi
No association.
Racing Point - Sergio Perez & Lance Stroll
No association.