As Lewis Hamilton settles in at Ferrari, his father Anthony Hamilton has been a constant by his side at both race weekends so far in the 2025 season. While the season-opener in Australia was an utter disappointment with the seven-time world champion’s P10 finish, the Chinese GP weekend has kicked off on a wonderful note and Anthony was there to witness it.
With China hosting the first sprint event of the season, Friday afternoon saw all drivers compete in the sprint shootout to secure pole position for the sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit. Surprisingly, against the form book, Hamilton emerged as the top driver to put his Ferrari on pole, which was his first one in Rosso Corsa.
Right after the sprint shootout ended, the 40-year-old went on to meet Anthony and hugged him. Hamilton Sr. was naturally quite delighted seeing his son return to top form in China. While the cameras captured him celebrating with Lewis, they also spotted the rare Rolex Daytona watch he was sporting.
It was a Rolex Daytona Platinum 116506, which has a beautiful ‘Ice Blue’ dial and is worth $95,000. However, multiple aspects of this watch make it one of the rarest Rolex Daytona models.
Firstly, this Platinum edition of the Rolex Daytona series came out in 2013 on its 50th anniversary. It signifies the Swiss watchmaker’s association with the Daytona 24 Hours, which is why they crafted it with premium materials.
Made with 950 Platinum alloy, the Daytona 116506 model is heavier than dials made of steel/gold and is also more malleable, which is what makes it quite prone to scratches. Rolex would’ve done so to indicate its exclusivity.
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The Daytona collection, in general, will always remain special due to its connection with legendary racers of the olden days wearing Rolex watches while racing at the track in Florida. And given that F1 entities like Hamilton, his peers, and his family sport these watches, it further elevates the watch’s value.
However, at Ferrari, the British driver has got sponsor commitments to abide by as well.
Hamilton needs to wear Richard Mille watches
Anthony can wear whatever brand of watches he wants, but his son needs to wear Richard Mille watches as they are one of Ferrari’s top sponsors. Previously, the #44 driver had a similar obligation to wear IWC watches during his time at Mercedes.
Hamilton has followed these commitments so far, as he wore an RM 74-02 Tourbillon, which is worth around $518k, at the Australian GP weekend. While the watch comes in two variants, namely Gold Quartz and Gold Carbon, Hamilton was sporting the Quartz in Melbourne.
Even at the F1 75 event, the seven-time world champion had a Richard Mille on his wrists — the RM 74-02 Automatic Winding Tourbillon. Worth an eye-watering $613,000, this model really stole the show at the O2 Arena in London on February 18th when all drivers wore some exquisite timepieces from various brands.
Watches are something Hamilton carries wonderfully, which was evident during his time as IWC’s brand ambassador at Mercedes. Now, he is keen on emulating the same bond with Richard Mille at the Scuderia.
