Formula 1 Season Preview – The teams and their watch sponsors (Part One)
Fergus NashAll bets are off for the 2022 Formula 1 season, with sweeping regulation changes that promise to shake up the pecking order that we’ve all grown so tired of over the last eight years. The big names will always have an advantage when it comes to funding and organisational streamlining, but with a strict budget cap in place and extra development time granted to teams that placed lower in the championship, there’s a big chance for surprising results as the first race in Bahrain approaches. The role of sponsorships within F1 teams are always vital and a focal point of discussion, and watch brands have a rich history with sponsoring both teams and specific races. In our Formula 1 season preview, we take a look at the current situation and what could change in the months ahead, starting at the bottom of the 2021 championship results.
10. Haas
Haas are a big mystery in F1, having delivered extremely up and down results since their relatively recent introduction to the sport. Not only are they the only American-based team on the grid, but their willingness to participate in Netflix’s Drive to Survive series has given fans an incredibly intimate relationship with both the management and the drivers. While they were once impressive enough to warrant a sponsorship deal with the likes of Richard Mille, in 2022 Haas find themselves with just a single major sponsor in 1&1, a German web-hosting company. Their main breadwinner in 2021 was the Russian fertiliser company Uralkali, however both the sponsorship and their Russian driver Nikita Mazepin have been dropped due to the ongoing war with Ukraine.
While having a single major sponsor and only a handful of minor ones would seem like a dire situation, Haas’ 2022 pre-season testing has shown the possibility of a comeback story that could see them fighting high up in the midfield. That would be an incredibly lucrative situation for any hovering brands looking to join the Formula 1 cash cow. Richard Mille have worked with young gun Mick Schumacher in the past, and given that they have no qualms about sponsoring multiple F1 teams it would be easy to imagine a return with the American underdog squad.
9. Alfa Romeo Racing
A team that seems perpetually stuck towards the back of the midfield, Alfa Romeo Racing have had an incredibly tough few years. Sauber, the Swiss-based team that forms the backbone of the Alfa Romeo team, has long been a midfield contender with flashes of brilliance throughout its history. From what we can garner from the pre-season testing, it doesn’t seem like there will be much of a jump forward from the new line-up involving ex-Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, although there’s always room for surprises. China’s first F1 driver Zhou Guanyu has been spotted wearing Richard Mille in the past, but there’s no primary watch sponsor for the team at this stage.
8. Williams
In a way, eighth place for Williams in 2021 seems like a massive understatement for how drastic their improvement was. Although Haas got the wooden spoon last year, Williams seemed even more hopeless just a few seasons ago when morale was sparse and points were a far-off dream. Last year, with new team ownership and the excitement of now-Mercedes driver George Russell delivering mind-melting qualifying performances, British watchmaker Bremont announced their partnership with the second most successful F1 team in history and have already created the Bremont WR-22 to celebrate the union.
The current line-up of Nicholas Latifi and returning talent Alex Albon will be attempting to continue that forward momentum into this new era of cars, bringing Williams back into winning ways, even though the team seems to have struggled during pre-season testing.
7. Aston Martin
Aston Martin are a brand that need no introduction, with the likes of James Bond representing their clientele. The mix of cutting-edge engineering and luxury flair make the British car manufacturer the perfect match for Formula 1’s personality, however their promises of immediate race wins and championship contentions have fallen fairly flat under their billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll, who also happens to be the father of their race driver Lance Stroll. While they may have been languishing in the midfield, the marketing largesse of Aston Martin matched with the titanic driver in four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has made them an ideal candidate for a luxury watch sponsor, which they promptly landed with Girard-Perregaux.
The partnership led to the creation of both the Laureato Chronograph in British Racing Green, as well as the hyper-complex Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges. With green watches in their peak of popularity, this is a partnership that’s bound to succeed regardless of where Aston Martin place in the 2022 F1 World Championship.
6. ALPHATAURI
Red Bull’s sister team has been somewhat of a finishing school for their rookie drivers before graduating on to the championship contenders Red Bull Racing, however that’s not to say they aren’t capable of some incredible achievements in their own right. With their superstar race-winner Pierre Gasly finding incredible form in that car, the clothing brand is never completely out of the conversation in regards to podiums and on-track battles that make races memorable. In fact, when the team used to be named Toro Rosso, they actually won a Grand Prix in 2008 even before Red Bull Racing managed one.
The team is sponsored by Casio Edifice, the side of the Japanese consumer-friendly brand that tends more towards cutting-edge design while still being relatively affordable. It’s brilliant to see top-tier athletes like Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda wearing watches that the average fan could obtain without too much struggle, and their quartz-powered analogue watches are a perfect match to F1’s marriage between old school and new tech.
Stay tuned for part two of our F1 preview coming soon.