TAG Heuer Returns As The Official Timekeeper For Formula 1 In 2025

In the year that Formula 1 celebrates its 75th anniversary, TAG Heuer will return to the sport as its Official Timekeeper. It’s a combination that’s as natural as peanut butter and jelly. With the watch brand’s rich history in racing and its sponsorship of the leading F1 team, this new partnership feels like coming home. In a surprise move, LVMH outbid Rolex to take over the timekeeping duties in motorsport’s leading class last October. This next step, however, feels like the most logical one that the luxury conglomerate could have taken and connects TAG Heuer to Formula 1 in 2025. It’s a true return to form!

One of the biggest commercial changes of the guard in 2024 was Rolex losing its sponsorship role in Formula 1 to LVMH. We first reported on that in September when Lex wrote an article discussing whether the implications for Rolex as a brand would be bad if it lost its partnership. Only a few weeks later, there was a public announcement that the Arnault-led luxury conglomerate LVMH had struck a 10-year deal with Formula 1 for a whopping US$150 million to become its Official Timekeeper. It sparked the discussion about what we should expect from LVMH in F1.

TAG Heuer was the logical first choice for Formula 1

With the announcement that LVMH would take over, Lex shared the logical thought that we’d see more of the conglomerate’s watch brands on the grid. But he also predicted we’d see a greater presence of the other luxury brands in the group, such as Louis Vuitton (fashion), Moët & Chandon (champagne), and Hennessy (cognac). The main watch brand on people’s lips to take over as Official Timekeeper was TAG Heuer. Lex also mentioned that it was a no-brainer, and here we are three months later with TAG Heuer officially taking over as Formula 1’s main horological brand.

Fans worldwide will understand this choice as (TAG) Heuer has a rich history in racing, particularly Formula 1. Most Heuer fans know that Jack Heuer had warm ties with F1 legend Jochen Rindt, who became World Champion in 1970. He famously wore the Heuer Autavia ref. 2446 during his racing career.

Jack Heuer also landed the brand name on the car of Formula 1 driver Jo Siffert. Heuer and Siffert agreed to a deal that would see the driver help promote the revolutionary Heuer Calibre 11. With a logo on the Rob Walker Lotus 49B, the brand’s shield on his race suit, and an Autavia ref. 1163 on his wrist, Jo Siffert became the Formula 1 poster boy for the Heuer brand.

The history of Heuer in Formula 1

But that’s not where Jack Heuer’s ambitions ended. In 1971, he made a deal with Scuderia Ferrari to develop a timekeeping system for the brand’s famous Fiorano test track. Additionally, the brand developed the Le Mans Centigraph. This revolutionary quartz-controlled timing instrument could record times up to 1/10, 1/100, and 1/1000 of a second.

In 1975, Heuer further enhanced its partnership with Ferrari as an official team sponsor. Team drivers Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda drove the legendary Ferrari 312T and could be seen wearing legendary Heuer models. Heuer remained a Ferrari partner until 1979.

In 1985, Heuer was acquired by Techniques d’Avant Garde Group (TAG), which also owned the McLaren Formula 1 team. The name changed to TAG Heuer, and the brand became a partner of the McLaren team. This was the start of a relationship that lasted for three decades and saw some of the biggest names in the sport wearing TAG Heuer watches.

Probably the most iconic was Ayrton Senna, who could be seen wearing his famous TAG Heuer S/el ref. S25706C in the early ’90s. In 1992, TAG Heuer became the first Official Timekeeper of the sport. It’s a role the brand kept until 2003, after which it focused on its partnership with McLaren until 2016.

The modern era of TAG Heuer and Formula 1

That year, TAG Heuer’s then-CEO Jean-Claude Biver announced a new partnership with the Red Bull Formula 1 team. As most of you will know, that was not a bad move. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen became the most popular duo of drivers in the sport. Additionally, Verstappen went on to win the last four World Championship titles. It has made TAG Heuer a partner of the team that also won the Formula 1 World Constructors’ Champions in 2022 and 2023. That will remain unchanged in the upcoming season, making TAG Heuer the most prominent brand by a mile.

With the announcement of the new partnership comes the question of what we can expect from TAG Heuer. To mark the occasion, the brand highlighted its rich history in the sport and spotlighted some of its most famous F1-related timepieces. We would love to see some of those classics return, honoring the original timepieces. But the times have changed, and so have both Formula 1 and TAG Heuer. Over the past few years, famous names in the sport have been replaced by younger drivers who have also drawn a younger crowd. Does that mean TAG Heuer Connected watches for everyone? That might be a haunting image for fans of mechanical watches. But it’s easy to see that it won’t become a reality anytime soon.

The diversity of the current TAG Heuer brand

TAG Heuer’s current catalog offers a notable variety of styles and designs. It’s exactly that feature that makes the brand so well equipped to combine the traditional romance of racing and mechanical watchmaking with the modern technological side of Formula 1. For the nostalgic race fans, the brand’s portfolio features the classic Monaco and Carrera lines.

We have seen some great releases that honor that traditional side with the Carrera Glassbox models and some recent Monaco models. At the same time, these model families have a modern side to them with the Carrera Sport Chronographs and the skeletonized Monaco models.

Those are just two of the options that the brand could focus on. The Formula 1 collection of quartz chronographs and the aforementioned Connected smartwatches are also great fits.

Considering the new title as the sport’s Official Timekeeper, its Formula 1 and Connected lines would be more obvious picks when emphasizing the modern, technological aspects of the sport. As you can see, the brand has plenty of options to cater to the different types of F1 fans.

Other LVMH brands in Formula 1

This leaves the question of whether LVMH will also (re)introduce its other watch brands in the sport. Most of you will know that Hublot was an official Ferrari partner until 2021 when Richard Mille took over that role. We would not be surprised to see Hublot return to Formula 1 eventually. As Ben wrote, there is a small group of high-end brands that sponsor F1 teams, like Richard Mille, Girard-Perreguax, and H. Moser & Cie. Hublot would be the brand to compete with them.

Having said that, Hublot has a firm grip on international football as the Official Timekeeper of FIFA and the UEFA. On top of that, the brand is active in a wide variety of other sports. Adding the realization of the money involved in a Formula 1 sponsorship puts a different perspective on that move. Adding the softening of the watch market and a decline in Hublot sales from 2022 to 2023, it doesn’t seem all that likely that Hublot will return to Formula 1 soon.

Expect to see TAG Heuer everywhere

LVMH’s other watch brands, such as Zenith and Bvlgari, are not the greatest fit with the fast, technological world of Formula 1. Because of this, you can expect to see a lot of TAG Heuer on your screens when tuning into the world of Formula 1 in the upcoming months. One thing we do foresee is TAG Heuer having a far more active role than Rolex did. Rolex was simply there as the world-renowned name tied to the timekeeping of the events. But TAG Heuer moves and acts differently. Is it more in line with F1?

My gut feeling is that TAG Heuer is a better fit for the sport as a whole. Plus, as Lex already mentioned, Tudor is still active in Formula 1. The brand seems to be a better fit at this point than its bigger brother. It has a more action-driven profile that matches the fast world of Formula 1 better. Therefore, it seems like a more logical competitor for the name that will dominate Formula 1 in 2025. Indeed, you will see a lot of TAG Heuer in Formula 1 in the 12 months ahead, from the signage on the circuits to the name on the Oracle Red Bull Racing cars to the wrists of Max Verstappen and the team’s newbie Liam Lawson. TAG Heuer is already a winner before the season has started.

What are your thoughts on this new TAG Heuer and Formula 1 partnership? And would you like to see Hublot return to the sport? Let us know in the comments section below.