The Formula 1 Watch Season Has Officially Begun

The cast of Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive—also known as Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and the other stars of motorsport’s biggest stage—took their new cars for a test spin in Barcelona this past week in preparation for what promises to be another drama-filled F1 season. Meanwhile, in Switzerland, the biggest watch brands on the grid are making preparations of their own.

At IWC, long the “Official Engineering Partner” of the Mercedes AMG Formula 1 Team, this meant giving Mercedes driver George Russell carte blanche to put his stamp on a new watch. Russell joined Mercedes in 2022 as Lewis Hamilton‘s number two, and after his teammate left for Ferrari in 2025, Russell had a promising first season in the driver’s seat, finishing fourth overall. Given the success of Hamilton’s IWC collabs during his tenure at Mercedes, however, Russell has some good-sized Sparco booties to fill in watch design as well as on the circuit.

IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 George Russell

Courtesy of IWC

IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 George Russell

Courtesy of IWC

Russell opted for an understated approach for his first outing, working with two iterations of the IWC Pilot, to create the aptly named Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 George Russell and the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 George Russell. Both feature black faces and ceramic cases—40mm for the Automatic and 42mm for the Chronograph—with baby blue detailing pulled from Russell’s helmet for the rubber strap and luminescence, and Russell’s number 63 engraved on the watch’s titanium caseback.

Across the grid, following a newly inked deal with Aston Martin, Breitling unveiled a stunner of a timepiece, the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team, to commemorate the occasion. While most famous today for its aviation watches, Breitling’s history with racing timers goes all the way back to 1907, when Leon Breitling unveiled the Vitesse, the first chronograph to measure speeds of up to 250 miles or kilometers (it was so good, apparently, that it was later used by Swiss traffic cops in the pre-radar days). That’s not the only synergy at work here. In the 1950s, when Aston Martin joined F1 with Graham Hill and Jim Clark—both aircraft pilots, as it happened—behind the wheel, the pair wore Breitling Navitimers, aviation chronographs whose functions transferred easily to the needs of racers.

Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

Courtesy of Breitling

Courtesy of Breitling