CAZ1018.BA0842
A year is a long time in Formula One. When TAG Heuer announced they were abandoning their long standing deal with McLaren and instead shacking up with Red Bull, I'll admit I winced a little. Yes I could see the logic in their thinking, TAG want to appeal to a younger demographic, and McLaren is the most 'statesman-like' of all the Formula One teams. In contrast, Red Bull sponsor extreme sports and air racing... but at the same time a year ago they were a team with a bit of an image problem.
You may remember about this time last year Red Bull were well and truly throwing their toys out of their pram because Mercedes wouldn't sell them an engine and the Renault engine (which was utterly compromised by the FIA's ridiculous token system) was about as much use as a chocolate teapot. What followed was a lot of very undignified squabbling which led to Red Bull terminating their contract with Renault, only to change their mind when the FIA didn't 'force' Mercedes to sell them engines and the only other options were out of date Ferrari engines or the Honda (which was even less appealing, frankly).
And so a compromise was reached whereby Red Bull would run the Renault engines but they would be branded 'TAG Heuer' (though I've barely heard anyone call them the TAG Heuer engines all year if I'm honest). And then somehow, everyone forgot about all the crybaby antics (yes Red Bull had a point, but it was the 'entitled' attitude that annoyed a lot of people), not least because Red Bull kind of stepped up and took some of the races to Mercedes. Sure, no one wanted to see Red Bull dominate again, but right now it's Mercedes who are boring the pants off everyone, and then of course along came this chap.
Yes, he's a jumped up teenager who thinks he owns the place, but Max Verstappen has without doubt been a shot in the arm for a sport which desperately needs to attract a younger audience. Yes he seems to be getting away with some very dodgy driving at the moment, and there's more than a little talk on the internet forums that he's being treated differently because he's 'box office', but the fact remains he won his first race as soon as he was promoted to the senior team from Toro Rosso and finally broke the Mercedes stranglehold on the season. Well, okay technically Rosberg and Hamilton were in the gravel trap on the first lap, and Ricciardo probably should have won if it weren't for a dodgy strategy from the team, but still, fairy stories don't get much better than that do they?
Somehow throughout the season Red Bull's image has improved dramatically and so the time was more than right for TAG to release a Red Bull special edition. Again I winced, expecting a ham-fisted 'Red Bull' logo plastered across the face of an entry level Formula One watch, priced as low as possible to draw in the crowds.
But how wrong could I have been! What TAG Heuer delivered is a very stylish looking chronograph, yes it's quartz (as expected), but in a sensationally smart move the Red Bull logo is banished to the back of the case. So what we are left with is a very smart looking chrono with an attractive blue face, available on either a bracelet or what TAG are calling a 'technical' strap.
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For me the 'technical' strap looks far too much like a Nato (which I dislike intensely), but on the bracelet this watch looks extremely classy and at £1300 (£1150 on the technical strap) seems like good value for money. I have seen one or two of these in the shops, but I haven't yet tried one on. I think if I try one on I might be tempted to buy one and I'm trying to stay away from quartz watches.
Also, following Max's maiden win, TAG are launching a special edition of the special edition, with an orange strap and a segment of orange on the dial. This will be available in Holland only from November 2016.
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