Formula 1 racing teams and their watch sponsors in 2026 – who wins the horological championship?

In lieu of the cancelled Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix races, we thought we’d stage our own F1 horological championship instead – ranking the watch sponsors of the 2026 grid.

You see, on any given race weekend in 2026, the Formula 1 paddock is not merely the world’s most expensive sporting circus – it is also one of the most densely concentrated showcases of fine watchmaking on the planet (except for when Watches and Wonders is on). From the pitwall to the podium, the wrists of engineers, drivers, team principals, and VIPs are adorned with timepieces that are collectively worth billions of dollars.

But with nine of the 11 teams now paired with a watch sponsor, an interesting question presents itself: which partnership is the most fitting, and who takes the horological championship?

Formula 1 and TAG Heuer

Before we look at the teams, a word about the series itself – TAG Heuer is the official timekeeper of Formula 1.

It’s a relationship that stretches back to the 1960s, and one that carries real legitimacy – TAG Heuer’s motorsport credentials are almost unrivalled in the watch world.

So while every team carries its own watch partner, TAG Heuer’s name sits above all of them, emblazoned on hoardings, timing towers and broadcast graphics.

McLaren and Richard Mille

Richard Mille’s association with McLaren is, in many ways, the most natural pairing on the grid. Richard Mille watches are built around the same philosophy that underpins a Formula 1 car: obsessive weight reduction, exotic materials, extreme mechanical performance, and a price tag that makes no apology for itself.

A Richard Mille tourbillon and an MCL40 are both objects in which engineering has been pushed so far that the result becomes almost too technical for words.

Aston Martin and Breitling

One of the youngest pairings on the grid – Aston Martin and Breitling announced their partnership in February this year.

Breitling built its reputation in aviation, producing cockpit instruments and chronographs for pilots long before it became a lifestyle brand, and Aston Martin makes some of the sexiest cars in the world. Both brands have spent more than a century obsessed with speed, precision and style.

Both brands have also undergone significant reinvention in recent years, each blending heritage with more contemporary design. The partnership sits comfortably with me. It’s aspirational, good looking, and they have just enough shared history.

Mercedes and IWC

IWC Schaffhausen has long cultivated an identity built on serious, masculine engineering – pilot’s watches, deep-sea divers, proper tool watches. Mercedes-AMG Petronas is, when all is said and done, a team of German engineers who also happen to win a lot of races.

There is a lot of shared philosophy here: precision, understatement, and a big focus on performance. The silvers, blues, and blacks of the Mercedes livery even echo perfectly with IWC’s preference for cool, restrained colours. It’s a very good pairing.

Ferrari and Richard Mille

Richard Mille’s presence extends beyond McLaren – the brand also partners Ferrari, giving it a remarkable foothold across two of the most historic teams in the F1 paddock.

Ferrari’s identity is steeped in Italian passion, heritage and red, and, while Richard Mille is a French brand, it has built its aesthetic around a similar ethos of performance and desirability. The partnership works really well, and it’s bold of Richard Mille to work with two teams.

Red Bull Racing and TAG Heuer

As well as being F1’s official sponsor, TAG Heuer also serves as a dedicated partner the Red Bull Racing. As a result, the brand occupies a very dominant position in the paddock. They’re everywhere, basically, and impossible to miss.

TAG Heuer’s allegiance is smart here. After all, being strapped to the wrist of Max Verstappen, one of the most successful and popular drivers of the current era, is no bad thing. TAG’s watches show up in every picture of him hoisting a trophy, and there are plenty of those.

Alpine and H. Moser & Cie

The most intriguing partnership on the grid may well be Alpine and H. Moser & Cie. Moser is a fiercely independent, contrarian Swiss manufacture – a brand that once made a watch with no logo on the dial simply to make a point, and that regularly lampoons the watch industry’s own excesses with wry humour. Alpine, meanwhile, is a French constructor trying to carve its own identity in a sport dominated by better-funded rivals. Both are underdogs with something to prove, and the watches that have come from this partnership have been ace.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls and Tudor

Tudor, the sister brand to Rolex, aligns itself with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls – Red Bull’s junior outfit. There is a pleasing symmetry here: Tudor occupies the same relationship to Rolex that VCARB occupies to Red Bull Racing.

Believe it or not, Tudor actually has a long legacy of competing on the racetrack, supporting winning teams during the golden era of motorsport in the ’70s. Not to mention currently serving as the timekeeper of the legendary Dakar Rally.

VCARB is a young, energetic Formula 1 team and Tudor has a daring spirit – this pairing feels very considered.

Williams and Girard-Perregaux

Another new partnership on the grid. So new, in fact, that there has not been an official Girard-Perregaux x Williams watch launched yet (the watch above is from a GP x Bamford London collab last year).

Williams is one of the oldest and most storied names in Formula 1, and Girard-Perregaux is one of the oldest and most storied names in Swiss watchmaking, founded in 1791. Both have navigated periods of dominance and reinvention.

On a personal level, as a fan of both these brands, I’m very excited to see what this partnership spawns.

And the winner?

If the horological championship were awarded on the basis of exposure, it’s a toss up between Richard Mille, who sponsors two of the most historic F1 teams (Ferrari and McLaren), and TAG Heuer, who sponsors the sport itself as well as the most successful driver in recent years.

But the people’s championship, for sheer narrative charm, belongs to H. Moser & Cie and Alpine: two independent-minded operations sharing a corner of the paddock and refusing to be boring about it.

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