Last night the TAG Heuer brand brought together almost 200 guests from the world of media and business along with celebrities to celebrate Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen. During the night TAG Heuer presented the Max Verstappen Special Edition to honour his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona as the youngest Formula 1 winner ever.
With a perfect combination of charm and professional racing expertise, the evening was hosted by Kristina Bozilovic and former Formula One driver and TV commentator Robert Doornbos. The highlight was a BATAK© #DontCrackUnderPressure contest in which Max Verstappen competed against the reigning Kickboxing World Champion Rico Verhoeven, as well as Robert Doornbos and a guest selected by the jeweller Gassan as part of an online competition held before the event. And as it turned out, the participants weren’t too far apart in their skills.
Max Verstappen was bitten by the racing bug at an early age, inspired by his father, the former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen. He began karting when he was just eight years old and soon moved onto international karting where he was crowned European Karting Champion twice and World Karting Champion once. After the Formula 3 European Championship in 2014 Max’s meteoric rise continued when he was promoted to the premiere league of car racing and joined the Formula One team Scuderia Toro Rosso for the 2015 season.
Since the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016 Max has been a member of the Red Bull Racing team. In the first Grand Prix race of his career for the new team he set a phenomenal precedent, becoming the youngest Formula One Grand Prix winner of all time. Following this sensational victory on the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, team partner TAG Heuer decided to bring out a special edition for Max – a timepiece in honour of the youngest Grand Prix winner in Formula One history. With the watch, Max Verstappen’s fans now also have the opportunity to wear a little piece of racing history on their wrists.
Speaking after the event, Max Verstappen said: “It’s cool for me to have a brand like TAG Heuer create a special edition watch in my name. I’m only very young in my career so I would not really expect such things, but the watch is really nice so I’m happy to be given it! It’s been a fun day. When you’re travelling so much it’s nice to occasionally do these events in your home country, so it’s been a good one.”
A landmark agreement back in December 2015 saw TAG Heuer become the Official Timekeeper & Official Watch of the Red Bull Racing Formula One team. The two brands announced the new name of the 2016 car, “Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer RB12”, with TAG Heuer being included in the team’s official constructor listing. It is the first time a watchmaker has ever been named directly in the constructors’ listing in this way.
Red Bull Racing has amassed four Double World Champion titles, having won the FIA Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles each year in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. However, it was Red Bull Racing’s refreshing approach to the sport and to entertainment which appealed to TAG Heuer, one which is perfectly in line with the Swiss watch brand’s new marketing strategy.
To celebrate the first year of partnership with the most unorthodox team in Formula 1, TAG Heuer introduced during the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco two special watches called TAG Heuer Formula 1 Red Bull Racing Formula One Team editions with stainless steel bracelet and blue nato strap.
In addition to these two team watches TAG Heuer now presents the drivers watch, TAG Heuer Formula One Max Verstappen Youngest Grand Prix Winner Special Edition. It has a blue aluminium bezel with tachymetre scale and a specially marked orange space on the dial (from 0-180 of the tachymetre scale) with the “18” of the 180 in bold to underline the age of Max when he won his first Formula One Grand Prix. Other highlights of the watch include an orange perforated calf leather strap and “TAG Heuer Formula One Max Verstappen Youngest Grand Prix Winner Special Edition” engraved on the back of the case. This edition will be available from November 2016.
Technical details
References: CAZ1018.BA0842 – Blue dial, aluminium bezel and steel bracelet. CAZ1018.FC8213 – Blue dial, aluminium bezel and strap made from technical textile. Case: 43 mm in diameter, made from polished and brushed steel. Fixed bezel made from polished and sand-blasted steel and matte blue aluminium, with a silver-plated tachometer scale. Sapphire crystal – Polished steel screw-down “Easy Grip” crown with TAG Heuer logo. Brushed steel crown protection – Push-buttons in polished steel. Screw-down case back in brushed steel with the text “Red Bull Racing” – Water-resistant to 200 m. Movement: Ronda 5040D – Quartz chronograph with date window at 4 o’clock. Dial: Blue with 3 white counters: a 1/10 second counter and chronograph hour counter at 6 o’clock, a chronograph minute counter at 9 o’clock and a current seconds counter at 3 o’clock. Hand-applied faceted and polished indices with luminescent markers. Polished hour and minute hands with luminescent markers. Black gold polished counter hands with red tips – Red central seconds hand. Printed TAG Heuer logo and text “TAG Heuer – FORMULA 1” – Blue and red printed minute track. Strap Triple-row brushed stainless steel bracelet with brushed steel clasp, dual safety mechanism and extension for the motor races, or blue strap made from technical textile with red stitching, inspired by a racing seat belt.
Sales price: € 1,500 (stainless steel bracelet), € 1,350 (Nato strap), € 1,350 (Max Verstappen Special Edition)
