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Last year, TAG Heuer returned as the official timekeeper of Formula 1. It was a welcome development that felt like a long-awaited homecoming, one in which the maison took back its rightful place at the top of the timekeeping podium.
The thing is, no watchmaker has a stronger link to F1 (and motorsports in general) than TAG Heuer. With a long history of timepieces developed to assist drivers and their teams as they push the limits of speed and endurance, it’s a connection that can’t be denied.
From the timeless racing pedigree of the Autavia, released all the way back in 1962, to this year’s Connected Calibre E5 45mm x Formula 1 Edition, which lifts the brand’s racing efforts to innovative new heights, TAG Heuer has cemented its timekeeping expertise over a span of decades, never settling for what was considered yesterday’s best.
TAG Heuer’s attitude to pushing the envelope can perhaps best be summarised by three-time F1 World Champion and former TAG Heuer ambassador Ayrton Senna, who said, “As soon as you touch this limit, something happens, and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high.”
Even before returning to its role as official F1 timekeeper, the people who really matter (the drivers) have always known who they can count on. Throughout the sport’s history, TAG Heuer has been there to provide the timekeeping tools they need to figuratively and literally push the needle into the red. As Christian Horner said in 2016, “The TAG Heuer motto of ‘Don’t Crack Under Pressure’ is something that we at Red Bull Racing live by day to day.”
With that, let’s discover why so many Formula 1 drivers, both past and present, have relied on TAG Heuer. To do this, we’ll explore the product lines that intrinsically link the brand with the most prestigious of motorsports, illustrating how TAG Heuer has racing embedded in its DNA.
Autavia
Preceding the iconic, motorsport-synonymous Carrera and Monaco, the original Heuer Autavia was released on March 3, 1962, and the chronograph was a landmark release in the brand’s precision timing journey. Boasting a manual-winding movement, large sub-dials, a screw-back case, and a rotating bezel, it helped establish the format for the timepieces that would adorn drivers’ wrists for decades to come.
Worn by the maison’s first brand ambassador, Jo Siffert, a Swiss driver who recorded 96 Grand Prix starts, and Ferrari’s Formula 1 legend, Derek Bell, the Autavia was a revolutionary timepiece that set the standard for the kind of timekeeping that, moving forward, professional racers could expect right from their wrists.
Carrera
Arguably the most famous of TAG Heuer’s racing timepieces since its launch in 1963, the Carrera has been worn by a who’s who of Formula 1 greats over the years, including Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, as well as legendary drivers like Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti, and Jacky Ickx.
This should come as no surprise, as the line’s chronograph movement has remained at the pinnacle of timekeeping excellence, thanks to TAG Heuer’s refusal to rest on its laurels. No matter the decade, the Carrera chronographs have set the standard by which all other timekeeping watches are judged. Plus, as the watchmaker’s flagship line during its years as the Ferrari F1 team’s official timekeeper from 1971 to 1979, the Carrera will forever be associated with a particularly iconic period in the world’s greatest motorsport.
The Carrera continues to be refined, with exciting new incarnations of this historic line introduced as recently as January at LVMH Watch Week. The first of these is the Carrera Split-Seconds Chronograph, marking the first time a Carrera timepiece has featured the rattrapante complication, which allows for the measurement of two events that start simultaneously but have different durations. The watch’s 42-mm grade-5 titanium case features tactile pushers on either side of the crown for chrono activation, and a third, integrated pusher at 9 o’clock to activate the split-seconds function. It sets a new standard for race readiness within TAG Heuer’s historic line.
The second is a classic yet undeniably modern 41-mm incarnation of the legendary Carrera Chronograph. Powered by the brand-new Calibre TH20-01 movement and offering enhanced legibility thanks to its larger dimensions (compared with recent 39-mm models), it’s a sublimely contemporary update on the timeless Carrera Chronograph formula.
Monaco
Originally unveiled to the world in 1969 and perhaps most famously worn by Steve McQueen in Le Mans, the Monaco has nonetheless become synonymous with Formula 1, not least of all because its moniker pays homage to the famed Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Immediately recognisable due to the bold design of its stunning square case (a radical departure from conventional watch design at the time of its launch and one that still turns heads to this day), the Monaco remains arguably TAG Heuer’s most identifiable piece of race-ready wristwear. The line recently achieved a new pinnacle of engineering excellence, with the 2025 release of the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph | F1. Realised in brilliant white with red accents, it contained the TH81-00 movement, one of TAG Heuer’s lightest and most advanced chronograph calibres ever.
As four-time Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen described the watch in 2025, “My tastes with TAG Heuer have evolved. I started with the smallest, and we ended up going to the Monaco. It’s how my career went, so it’s perfect.”
Who could possibly argue?
Formula 1
First launched in 1986, the Formula 1 line’s connection to motorsport’s crowning glory is right there in the name. Drawing inspiration from the aesthetics of the F1 cockpit, its commitment to a bold, readable design that could be discerned in a heartbeat made it a unique take on F1 inspiration within TAG Heuer’s stable, and it remains so to this day.
With an approach to bright aesthetics that’s reminiscent of the range of liveries we see lined up at the commencement of every Formula 1 race, the watch that takes its name from the sport we all love also gave team personnel, engineers, and fans alike an accessible timepiece that expressed their passion.
Since its inception, the Formula 1 line has expanded to include ever more sophisticated timepieces, including chronographs that bring some of the DNA of watches like the Autavia, Carrera, and Monaco into the line.
Connected Calibre E5 45mm x Formula 1 Edition
All of the timepieces we’ve touched on have brought us to the Connected Calibre E5 45mm x Formula 1 Edition: an innovative new chapter in the relationship between TAG Heuer and Formula 1.
Central to the watch’s appeal is a suite of 24 exclusive Formula 1 watch faces that are designed to evolve throughout the season. The watch has everything Formula 1 obsessives need to stay up to date, delivering the full calendar, Grand Prix schedules, results, and driver and team standings, all sourced directly from the race schedule. Further, smart widgets provide instant updates without opening the watch’s app, keeping the wearer fully connected at every stage of every Grand Prix.
Beyond the digital, the watch carries Formula 1 in its bones. Crafted from ultra-light grade 2 titanium, it’s a racing machine imbued with the spirit of F1 innovation, delivering the ultimate racing experience right on your wrist.
The Future of Formula 1 Timekeeping
TAG Heuer’s mastery of Formula 1 timekeeping resonates through everything the maison does. From the celebrated timepieces that established what Formula 1 drivers needed over six decades ago to the cutting-edge features of its latest Connected Calibre release, TAG Heuer is the undisputed king of the timekeeping paddock. It’s the watchmaker that drivers have always looked to for peak performance.
As the world’s premier motorsport continues to evolve, it’s safe to say drivers, crews, and fans alike will continue to look to TAG Heuer to push the envelope of timekeeping to new extremes of accuracy and dependability.
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