TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Red Bull Racing Special Edition Watch Review
Tuesday - 08 February 2022
TAG Heuer has harvested a new crop of tie-in sports watches to mark the 2022 racing season and its long-standing role as partner to the Red Bull Racing team. The result is an aggressive, masculine and adrenaline-infused chronograph watch – a design that has been revamped almost entirely to reflect 2022’s new generation of racing cars. The release of these two new models – one on a textured blue rubber strap and one on a stainless steel bracelet - comes in the wake of 2021’s victorious World Drivers’ Championship winner, Max Verstappen. The TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Red Bull Racing Special Edition watch is launched alongside the news that the La Chaux-de-Fonds-based watchmaker has extended its partnership with Red Bull Racing until the year 2024.
The TAG Heuer Formula 1 watch – the famous watchmaker’s most popular collection – is utilised both on and off the racetrack by racing drivers of the Red Bull Racing team to engineers and technicians. It has been a strong and powerful design worn by motorsport enthusiasts and fans of the watchmaker itself ever since it launched back in 1986, embodying values associated with success on the racetrack; precision, speed, adrenaline, passion, ambition and accuracy. The Red Bull Racing Formula 1 Team acquired TAG Heuer as its official partner and timekeeper back in 2016 and since then, the watchmaker has been experiencing all of the team’s race-winning moments.
The two new references under the Red Bull Racing umbrella of the Formula 1 series sport new livery and several modifications. Advanced technical features are fused with an overall bolder look that allows for easier legibility whilst out on the racetrack. The dark blue and racing, red colours of the Red Bull Racing Team are as present as ever yet the sun-brushed dial and its surrounding tachymeter bezel have received a makeover that strengthens the alliance between TAG Heuer’s precision timekeeping and Red Bull Racing’s success all the more.
The new TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Red Bull Racing Special Edition watch
The case
The TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Red Bull Racing Special Edition is a sharp-looking elemental 43mm stainless steel chronograph watch. It shares its basic DNA with the rest of the Formula 1 watch collection but boasts a handful of extra-special touches. To start with, there is a red stripe running around the 2 o’clock chronograph push-piece. Secondly, the tachymeter bezel has a heavy gear-toothed structure that supports an easy grip under racing gloves, but the measuring scale itself has been completely re-worked. TAG Heuer abandoned the oversized numerals seen in previous models and replaced them with hash markers and the red “tachymeter” lettering has been replaced for the “Speed” lettering now in a sporty white. The red TAG Heuer shield emblem sits at the top of the bezel to mark “0”. The blue aluminium insert is even more legible than before in this simple yet functional design. The case of the new TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Red Bull Racing Special Edition watch is also 200-meter water-resistant and features the Red Bull Racing Team emblem upon the surface of its caseback.
The dial
The TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Red Bull Racing Special Edition watch has a reworked dial, which is where most of its modifications can be instantly noted. The deep blue sunburst dial is kept the same but the brand replaces the indices seen in previous models with applied Arabic numerals that are squared off to replicate the look of modern racing car dashboards. Red Bull’s signature red and yellow colours surround this hour track in the form of a newly designed chapter ring. The white accent markings seen at 5 and 7 o’clock convey the look of the racetrack starting positions painted onto the racing grid. The black chronograph sub-dials are now swapped out for blue-filled centres to match the rest of the display.
The 1/10th of a second counter at 6 o’clock is executed in red and yellow, whilst the 30-minute totaliser is finished in red accents. The baton handset that normally occupies the dial of a Formula 1 Red Bull Racing watch is changed for polished skeletonised hands for a more contemporary look. These are partially treated with Super-LumiNova to assist with timekeeping in the dark. The red minute track and vibrant yellow second hand are joined by a date window in white at 4:30 – all housed underneath a strong piece of anti-reflective and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass.
The movement:
It is the Ronda 5040D quartz chronograph movement that powers these two new TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Red Bull Racing Special Edition watches. The movement is both precise and robust, with the capability to measure 1/10th of a second. Without all the unnecessary frills and thrills – the quartz movement – considered a mainstay in the brand’s catalogue – is perfectly geared for use on and at the side of the racetrack.
To complete the design of the two new TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Red Bull Racing Special Edition watches, one is offered on a sporty and supple dark blue rubber strap with a fabric texture embossed onto its surface, along with a central raised stripe for extra detailing. The rubber band option, which goes by the ref. CAZ101AL.FT8052 secures with a stainless steel pin buckle. The other model ref. CAZ101AL.BA0842 is fitted on an oyster-style stainless steel bracelet with a three-link design. It secures firmly with a double safety folding mechanism engraved with the TAG Heuer logo and a pilot extension feature.
For more information on either of these two models, you can check the spec out online here, or call our Jura Watches sales team on 01335 453453
