At the beginning of the Formula 1 season in 2021, it is worth taking another look at Richard Mille’s impressive commitment to the sport. The brand now supports two full Formula 1 teams and four top-class drivers (with a fifth still recovering after a terrible accident towards the end of the 2020 season).
These are such natural partnerships: The premise of the entire Richard Mille brand is based on the fact that his watches are “racing machines on the wrist”.
Car fanatic Richard Mille wears an RM 011
The slogan reflects Monsieur Mille’s predilection for racing and his love for collecting vintage racing cars. Seldom have two areas worked together as well as Richard Mille watches and fast cars. Mille is a well-known racing enthusiast and his (and therefore that of his company) work in motorsport is not just a favorite project or marketing. Richard Mille – the man and the company – lives and breathes cars.
Richard Mille’s Formula 1 teams: Ferrari and McLaren
Richard Mille started supporting the Haas team back in 2016. That news broke just days after the brand announced its support for McLaren (see Richard Mille Sponsored Two Formula One Teams in 2016: McLaren And The New American Team Haas Ferrari).
Haas is no longer part of the Richard Mille family, but the technical Swiss brand is supporting the star driver of the Haas team, Mick Schumacher, who will start his Formula 1 race on the weekend of March 26-28, 2021 with the first race of the season. Debut there.
Seldom have two brands had so much in common as Richard Mille and McLaren, including pioneering, cutting-edge advances in an insanely limited luxury segment coupled with extreme technology and materials.
McLaren F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo wears a Richard Mille RM 11-03 Automatic Flyback Chronograph McLaren
Hundreds of tiny, seemingly meaningless (but very meaningful) details make up both a complicated world-class watch and a world-class Formula 1 car. Both are about pushing the boundaries. The first watch to emerge from the Richard Mille / McLaren partnership was the incredibly technical Richard Mille RM 50-03 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ultralight McLaren F1.
“Some people might say that I love cars more than watches. But you can feel my love for cars in my watches anyway, ”laughed Richard Mille when I asked him in 2016 about his extensive car collection, which includes several historic McLaren racing cars. “For me there is no comparison to McLaren.”
I think if I could talk to Mille about it now, he could take that statement back now that his brand has also partnered with Ferrari, a combination that has certainly been a long time coming.
The Ferrari F1 SF21: the Scuderia Formula 1 racing car for 2021
As early as February 2021, word got around in automotive circles that Richard Mille had taken over the coveted partnership with Ferrai from Hublot with the official announcement of a multi-year contract towards the end of the month.
This matchup could well lead to an extremely authentic partnership. And hopefully great watches!
“This multi-year partnership extends from the top of motorsport in Formula 1 to WEC long-distance programs, Competizioni GT, Ferrari Challenge, Ferrari Driver Academy and the rapidly developing esports category,” the press release said.
McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris wears a Richard Mille RM 11-03 Automatic Flyback Chronograph McLaren
“I am very happy about this new multi-year partnership,” said Mattia Binotto, Managing Director and Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, the brand’s racing arm.
“Ferrari and Richard Mille share a lot of common values, from technology to the use of similar materials, as well as the passion we put into developing and designing our products. Both brands bear the name of their founder and stand for their dreams and visions. The partnership will have a wide scope and I am particularly pleased that it also extends to the Ferrari Driver Academy. Richard Mille is a big racing fan and shares our commitment to bring talented young people with us and to get young people excited about motorsport. “
Richard Mille Formula 1 drivers: Mick Schumacher, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikönnen and Romain Grosjean
In addition to these two top-class Formula 1 teams, Richard Mille, as already mentioned, also supports top-class drivers.
Mick Schumacher wears a Richard Mille RM 033
Best known at the moment is Mick Schumacher, the son of the legendary driver and seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, who will make his Formula 1 debut with the Haas team in the 2021 season. Michael was a staunch Omega ambassador in his day, but I dare say that Richard Mille might have changed his allegiances in his heyday.
Mick signed with Richard Mille in 2019, the year he rose to the Formula 2 championship with Prema Racing and was announced as a driver for the Ferrari Driver Academy.
This young 21 year old talent certainly has a great future ahead of them, a future that the coolest possible wristwear is sure to brighten up.
Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc wears a Richard Mille RM 67-02
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who was a famous protégé of Jean Todt (a close friend of Mille), has been in Richard Mille’s family since he was karting. “I have followed Charles’ development closely since he first started karting,” says Richard Mille. “The driver, known for his times and quick qualifications, caught my attention and enthusiasm and immediately convinced the brand to support his emerging talent.”
Leclerc joined the Richard Mille family about a decade ago and joined Scuderia Ferrari in 2019. He wears a white RM 67-02.
Fernando Alonso wears a Richard Mille RM 67-02
Fernando Alonso is a long-time Richard Mille ambassador who Mille met before joining the McLaren Formula 1 team. In the 2021 season he will be driving with the Alpine team (formerly Renault), whose watch sponsor is Bell & Ross. Alonso also wears the RM 67-02.
Kimi Raikönnen wears a Richard Mille RM 50-04 (photo courtesy Edwin Koo)
Kimi Raikönnen is more of a friend of the brand than an official ambassador. The 41-year-old Iceman, as he is known in racing circles, will drive with the Alfa Romeo team in 2021, where he came in 2019 after leaving Scuderia Ferrari.
In 2019 Richard Mille also supported the Swiss Alfa Romeo team for a year, and in honor of Raikönnen’s arrival, the technical Swiss brand presented the RM 50-04 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph with manual winding RM 50-04 in a limited edition of only 30 pieces.
Romain Grosjean wears a Richard Mille RM 011 Red TPT prototype (photo courtesy of Renaud Corlouer)
Romain Grosjean is a high profile driver who drove with the Haas team from 2016 until the end of the 2020 season. At the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, Grosjean suffered a terrible accident on the first lap that split his car in half after crashing into a crash barrier at high speed. He missed the last two races of the 2020 season and is still recovering from injury from surgery in December 2020. He’s not back in the race yet.
Grosjean generally wears the Richard Mille RM 011 Red TPT Quartz Automatic Flyback Chronograph. We wish him continued health.
You can also enjoy:
Richard Mille sponsors two Formula 1 teams in 2016: McLaren and the new American team Haas Ferrari
McLaren Formula 1 Team announces new sponsorship partner Richard Mille after leaving TAG Heuer
Surprising use of quartz: Richard Mille RM 011 Red TPT Quartz Automatic Flyback Chronograph
Richard Mille (all women) Racing Team and the (virtual) 24 hours of Le Mans
Driving the McLaren 570s Coupe
Richard Mille RM 50-03 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ultralight McLaren F1: Born from cutting edge science and a new partnership Rev
You are there: Visiting McLaren with Richard Mille
Richard Mille’s Celebration of Jean Todt: Limited Blue RM 11-03, RM 050, and RM 056 Sapphire
The post Richard Mille and Formula 1: The collaboration now includes Ferrari, McLaren, Mick Schumacher, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikönnen and Romain Grosjean first appeared on monter-une-startup.
