The Swiss watchmaker accelerates into pole position with F1, the upcoming Formula 1 racing feature starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris.

<a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/watches/iwc-the-pilots-watch-mark-xx-mercedes-amg-petronas-formula-one-team-luxury-watches" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IWC</a> struck gold with the <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/living/here-are-formula-one-f1-hottest-drivers-on-and-off-the-track-celebrities-athletes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Formula 1</a> racing feature film F1, which premieres on 26 June. Appearing as a sponsor of the fictional APXGP team, the watchmaker&rsquo;s presence has exploded beyond the movie into real life as its logo speeds down actual racetracks and appears on the <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/culture/every-celebrity-spotted-at-the-2025-f1-miami-grand-prix-blackpink-lisa-rose" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grand Prix</a> circuit. Even the timepieces worn by Brad Pitt and Damson Idris&rsquo; characters have come alive as limited edition models. It&rsquo;s a dream come true, and Chief Marketing Officer Franziska Gsell-Etterlin couldn&rsquo;t be more pleased.

How did IWC&rsquo;s involvement with F1 come about?
We&rsquo;ve been the Official Engineering Partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team for over a decade &mdash; we&rsquo;re now in our 12th season &mdash; so it&rsquo;s quite a big moment for us. Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, whom we&rsquo;ve worked with previously in Top Gun: Maverick, approached us for this Apple Original Films production. The story goes: they had a conversation with [CEO of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team] Toto Wolff, who pointed out that there was no Formula 1 movie that showed how fast the drivers are really going. So they decided to take on the challenge, because they already had the technology from Top Gun: Maverick which can be translated over into Formula 1 racing.
We saw a glimpse of that in the official teaser for F1. Those shots with &ldquo;IWC&rdquo; front and centre on the nose of the car and racer&rsquo;s helmet, speeding down the racetrack &mdash; amazing.
That is exactly what we wanted to bring to life through storytelling for so many years. Beyond that, a large portion of the movie was shot in and around actual Grand Prix races, and to see this fictional APXGP team interacting with real-life Formula 1 scenery was absolutely fascinating. Then, of course, we had Lewis Hamilton coming in to consult on how to do the branding on the cars and liveries, how to make it feel authentic. We had another of our ambassadors, Hans Zimmer, doing the music. We&rsquo;ve never had such an opportunity where everything came so nicely together. It&rsquo;s a dream come true.

Why are IWC watches perfect for an adrenaline-driven story such as this?
We are the engineers of watchmaking, so technical features and performance materials are at the heart of our timepieces. Looking at the over 100 watches we delivered on set, a large extent of them are Pilot&rsquo;s Watches because that is what you see on the wrists of technicians and engineers in real life. There&rsquo;s also the new Pilot&rsquo;s Watch Performance Chronograph 41, a beautiful performance-oriented chronograph worn by rookie driver Joshua Pearce, played by Damson Idris.
Then you have Brad Pitt, who chose a vintage piece because it was [his character Sonny Haye&rsquo;s] father&rsquo;s watch and also his lucky charm. It&rsquo;s the original G&eacute;rald Genta Ingenieur SL Ref. 1832 from 1976, but he changed the dial to his signature green colour, which we modified through his jeweller Cloister Watch Company in New York. Finally, we have two APXGP Pilot&rsquo;s Watch Chronographs, which are similar to the actual Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team watch. It&rsquo;s a beautiful collection for the movie.
IWC is certainly no stranger to the big screen (Top Gun: Maverick, The Bourne Legacy, Mr &amp; Mrs Smith etc.). What do the characters who wear IWC timepieces have in common?
With our association with engineering, they&rsquo;re often bold characters who value freedom. Captains of their own lives. It is also important to us that our watches play a role, or fit the characters. A great example is Top Gun: Maverick, because, of course, we have our Top Gun collection. F1 pushes that synergy even further, because now we are seeing our watches in action in real-life settings. It can&rsquo;t get any better in terms of authenticity. But I wouldn&rsquo;t say we invest in movies for the sake of it; it always has to involve a bit of brand storytelling as well.

"Reference 1832. Our Most Brilliant Failure." A documentary about Gérald Genta and the IWC Ingenieur

There has been a recent wave of Formula 1-related shows and movies &mdash; Senna, Ferrari, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, and more. Why is there such a fascination for the sport, even outside of the racetrack?
It&rsquo;s interesting because what has changed in the past five, seven years is the audience has become much broader. Today, more than half are female, which wasn&rsquo;t the case 10 years ago. The sport has become more lifestyle, thanks to series like Drive to Survive expanding the audience beyond racing nerds. Why is that the case? Racing is a specialised sport: you have 10 teams with two drivers each, all competing against one another, even against their own team mates. There&rsquo;s a lot of human skill involved, a lot of technical performance and engineering. These are usually not appealing to general audiences. So it&rsquo;s a good question, and I&rsquo;m fascinated to see how this has developed.
We have two young drivers, Kimi Antonelli especially so, and honestly I was a bit hesitant without Hamilton on the team. But then you see how successful Antonelli is, you see his personality and how he now brings another, different audience to the circuit. And F1 is just another part of the puzzle in enriching the lifestyle aspect of the sport.
Lastly, what is your favourite silver screen timepiece from across cinematic history?
Personally, what is close to my heart is usually what&rsquo;s around the corner. We just announced our short film The most brilliant failure, which is about the Ingenieur SL. In 1976, G&eacute;rald Genta was commissioned to redesign this original tool watch from the 1950s, and when he did IWC marketed it solely to engineers (unlike other manufacturers who positioned their Genta designs in the luxury sports watch category). That was a mistake, and as a result only 598 pieces were sold. The model was taken off the lineup and put to sleep for nearly 50 years, until it was brought back as a 21st century sports watch two years ago. And now, it is worn by Brad Pitt in the F1 movie as well. For me, that&rsquo;s a great and beautiful success story.

"We&rsquo;ve never had such an opportunity where everything came so nicely together. It&rsquo;s a dream come true."

IWC’s Hollywood-Powered Lap Around the F1 Circuit

Tags

Related Articles

Style

Brad Pitt Channels '90s David Beckham With a Slim Sweater and Buzz Cut

Watches

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Is OMEGA's Newest Watch Ambassador

Culture

Every Celebrity Spotted at the 2025 F1 Miami Grand Prix

Recommended posts for you

Style

Tommy Hilfiger Revisits New York Tailoring at Pitti Uomo 2025

Watches