Tag Heuer, without a shadow of doubt, is one of the most sought-after luxury watch brands worldwide. Thanks to their partnership with Red Bull Racing, they curated a personalized, ultra-exclusive timepiece for Max Verstappen. To be fair to the reigning world champion, he fulfills his commercial obligations by sporting the $10,000 watch in the paddocks. However, when he got a chance to flaunt a $40,000 beauty from a rival brand, he did not hesitate.
Nico Leonard is a famous watch expert YouTuber with 1.62 million subscribers. He posted a video, where he revealed how he spotted Verstappen wearing a $40,000 watch. That watch was from none other than Rolex’s Oysterflex Daytona. Describing its Daytona’s USP, Leonard said,
“What you see Max wearing is a Rolex Daytona, reference number 116518LN Noire with a black ceramic bezel, Oysterflex, and an 18-carat Daytona. The absolute b*llocks! The watch is worth between $35,000 to $40,000”
Verstappen openly flaunting the Rolex has got to hurt Tag Heuer. That is because the two brands are rivals not just in the luxury timepiece market but also in the realm of F1. While Tag Heuer was F1’s official timekeeper for 12 years until 2004, Rolex took over in 2013 and has stayed since then.
Further in the video, Leonard admitted that he wasn’t a fan of the Tag Heuer Monaco that Max regularly sports. However, the $10,000 watch holds a special place in the Dutchman’s heart. In a 2022 interview with the brand’s official website, he revealed that it was gifted to him in 2021 and has since then become a lucky charm. Given the successful run he has been on since getting the watch, not many arguments can be made against this claim.
Naturally, Max Verstappen is not the only driver who sports Tag Heuers in the paddocks. His Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez too has a couple of custom-made watches. Among those is the Carrera Heuer 02 Tourbillon. While Leonard was shocked to see the watch, he actually found it “quite cool”.
F1 and luxury watch companies- A match made in heaven
Watch companies’ legacy with F1 goes a long back in history. Being a racing league, the association with timekeeping was not just natural but also essential. That gave way to watch brands forging sponsorship tie-ups with the teams and the drivers.
While Red Bull has Tag Heuer as one of its major endorsers, rivals like Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren are not far away. Mercedes has an ongoing partnership with IWC Schaffhausen. While the Mercedes F1 team came into existence in 2013, the partnership between Mercedes AMG and IWC started back in 2004. Richard Mille, on the other hand, has associations with Ferrari and McLaren. Ferrari ended its ties with Hublot in 2021 to sign the deal with RM.
Lewis Hamilton for IWC Watches campaign#LewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/bPydtppBwB
— Olya (@hamdsomelew44) October 12, 2023
One of the biggest beneficiaries of these multi-million dollar deals are the drivers. Not only do they get to try their hand at designing their own exclusive watches, but they also get the expertise of such high-end brands.
This, however comes at a cost. Over the last few years, some F1 drivers have been subject to robbery attempts, with the robbers trying to steal these ultra expensive watches. The likes of Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris have all been victims of this.
