Bremont becomes the Official Timing and Watch Partner for Williams Racing

Just before the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship in Bahrain commences, Bremont announces its new role as Official Timing and Watch Partner for the British Formula One motor racing team.

There is a multitude of synergies to appreciate between prestigious watchmaker, Bremont and British Formula 1 team, Williams Racing. The Henley-on-Thames-based watch manufacturer beautifully engineers and hand-assembles all its parts in Oxfordshire, sharing the county with the British Formula One motor racing team. The racing team and constructor company was founded by Frank Williams - the former team owner - and automotive engineer, Patrick Head. The team has racked up Grand Prix wins, nurtured some of the greatest talents in sporting history and experienced championship glory at its finest. It has secured 16 FIA Formula One World Championship titles since its foundation in 1977 and recorded a total of 114 wins, 7 driver’s crowns and 8 constructors’ championships with some of the world’s most dominant cars in F1 history.

Sharing similarities in provenance and determination, Bremont is a manufacturer that has stopped at nothing to reach its mission in creating some exceptionally beautiful timepieces that aim to reinvigorate Britain’s horological past. It celebrates both innovators that have left a legacy behind and those who are making history in real time. Since 2002 when the brand officially launched, Bremont has been making an impact upon the wrists of professional pilots, pioneers of the aviation industry, deep-sea divers, classic luxury watch collectors and historians. It has worked closely with other British manufacturers like Martin Baker, producing exclusive wristwatches for qualified ejection seat personnel. These exceptionally built timepieces are on par with Martin Baker’s safety-related equipment for aviation. It has also expressed its passion for the automobile industry with watches mirroring the profile of the original Jaguar E-Type, even creating innovative models to mark the 60th anniversary of the classic car’s iconic design. Extending upon its passion for car engineering and manufacture, and tapping into the Formula 1 industry - Bremont announces its role as Official Timing and Watch Partner of Williams Racing. Together the two will focus on precision and engineering – values that hold the secret to success in expert timekeeping.

In 2014 Bremont began its quest to manufacture some of its own movement components and case parts, creating its own Parts Manufacturing Facility and has never looked back since. It comes as no surprise that it chooses Williams Racing to embark upon a new pivotal chapter together. Both companies look to collaborate on a deeper technical level, crossing over to one another’s area of expertise to cut out a path in racetrack precision. Uncovering this exciting news has come a poignant time. Not only coinciding with the start of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championships in Bahrain, but also at a time when Bremont has just confirmed the opening of its new 35,000 sq ft Manufacturing and Technology Centre named “The Wing”. In light of Britain’s one-year anniversary of the start of national lockdown, it seems even more fitting that Bremont is reaching new goals despite the challenges that Covid has brought with it. As with many recent sporting events, the F1 World Championships, similar to Bremont’s growth, will not be defeated and will continue, as it did before, to secure a champion amidst these unprecedented times.

Under the lights of the Bahrain International Circuit, the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship gets underway this weekend, where two experienced Williams Racing drivers, George Russel and Canadian Nicholas Latifi will take to the track sporting one of Bremont’s highly robust and remarkably accurate timepieces on their wrist – the Bremont ALT1-WT World Timer.  Behind the wheel of the Williams Mercedes FW43B, both drivers will contend with a whole new set of conditions. A highly abrasive track surface, strong winds and a sand-filled atmosphere will prove a formidable force to be reckoned with. Assisting each driver with the meandering track, its unforgiving corners and long straights - the Bremont ALT1-WT World Timer is sufficiently equipped to beat the odds stacked against it. Expected to perform relentlessly whilst each driver will take advantage of some critical opportunities to overtake – the Bremont ALT1-WT World Timer Blue, with its “wonderfully over-engineered” design (as Bremont likes to describe it) allows for the easy accessing of times around the world thanks to a legible dial and 24 world time zones etched onto a world globe dial design. The watch will also be worn by other members of the team. More information on the Bremont ALT1-WT World Timer can be found here. Despite the tricky circuit and the race taking place in incredibly unusual circumstances, George Russel is ready for the challenge:

“I’m excited to get the season underway and be back out on the track. I’ve been out in Bahrain since the test a couple of weeks ago, so I’ve been able to do lots of training in the sunshine and I’m feeling ready and motivated for the year ahead.”

Similarly, Nicholas Latifi is both mentally and physically prepared for the race:

“It goes without saying that I’m super excited for the first race of the year! The pre-season run-up has obviously been a little different to normal with the shorter schedule test taking place in Bahrain and only having one day in the car, so I’m looking forward to getting back out on the track. It’s been a huge amount of hard work from everyone at the factory and here at the circuit to get everything ready to go, so I’m incredibly excited and motivated to start the new season and see what kind of progress we can make this year.”

In addition to the Williams Racing team sporting the Bremont name emblazoned onto its gloves, interview boards, transporters and garages – the collaboration hints at the possibility of equipping the Williams F1 racing cars with Bremont’s parts, as well as the opportunity to draw upon one another’s specialist knowledge to implement improvements within their own fields of expertise. Cleverly overlapping both brands will be a shared skill set of innovation, technology and engineering, with whispers of a new collaborative timepiece between Bremont and the Williams racing team debuting in 2022.