As Formula 1 descends on Malaysia for the Bahrain Grand Prix this Saturday, the grid’s watch game was on full display. Richard Mille, TAG Heuer, IWC, Tudor, Audemars Piguet, Breitling, and H. Moser & Cie. all had skin in the game trackside, and with prices ranging from high four figures to $2.2million for Lewis Hamilton’s, there’s plenty to love.
Lewis Hamilton’s watch sits at the very top as he wears a timepiece with a value higher than most people’s houses. But every other watch on the grid is equally as special or interesting in one way or another.
Lewis Hamilton’s Richard Mille dwarfs the rest
Hamilton’s Richard Mille RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph carries an incredible price tag of $2.2million. That would buy a small fleet of used Ferraris. That might be an appropriate trade given this model is designed to look like one. The Swiss luxury watchmaker designed the RM 43-01 alongside Ferrari’s own design studio with feedback from Ferrari chief design officer Flavio Manzoni himself.
Hexagonal screws are taken from Ferrari engine covers, internal bridges echo an Italian crankcase, and the buttons are shaped around the SF90 supercar’s taillights.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images
Richard Mille’s brand director Alexandre Mille argues that “true luxury is when the client feels like you took everything to the limit. We are natural partners with Ferrari because neither of us compromises on anything.”
Team-mate Charles Leclerc wears his own, the RM 67-02 “Charles Leclerc,” built as a piece unique.
McLaren and Red Bull have their own one-offs
Over at the Papaya team, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both wear Richard Mille RM 67-02 Automatic “McLaren” editions.
Max Verstappen predictably wears a customised TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph. Like the others, this is priceless, with standard models starting in the high four figures.
The rest of the grid still isn’t cheap
Moving away from the one-of-one tier and prices get a little more grounded – partly.
Nico Hulkenberg wears an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon priced at $250,000. Pierre Gasly was spotted wearing a H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton that retails at $95,380, while Franco Colapinto was seen wearing a Streamliner Alpine Drivers Edition, finished in stainless steel with a blue PVD treatment. That comes in at $72,000.
George Russell’s IWC Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive lists at $29,200, and championship leader Kimi Antonelli – the youngest driver on the grid – is showing off a modest IWC Ingenieur Automatic 35 priced at $11,800.
Fernando Alonso is celebrating his recent Aston Martin contract extension with a Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 in team colours, priced at $11,500. His team-mate Lance Stroll, also enjoying an extended contract, is wearing the same model.
At the Red Bull sister team, Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson is enjoying a Tudor Black Bay Ceramic, priced at $9,000.
While that Tudor watch is valued at around 0.4% of Hamilton’s, it’s worth noting that all of these incredible pieces come from sponsors, and likely aren’t owned by the drivers. Still, that doesn’t stop us ogling them and dreaming about our next investment.
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