Tung and Chandhok named to TAG Heuer Team

Tung and Chandhok

Known as the first watch brand ever to sponsor a racing driver with Jo Siffert in 1969, TAG Heuer has a unique and legitimate tradition to support drivers.

Since that time, famous F1 racing legends like Juan-Manuel Fangio, Jacky Ickx, Clay Regazzoni, Niki Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Mika Häkkinen, Jacques Villeneuve, David Coulthard, Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have been on TAG Heuer’s stupendous roster of F1 racing ambassadors. They have celebrated together 25 F1 World Championship titles wearing TAG Heuer chronographs on their wrist and TAG Heuer colors on their racing suits or helmets.

In 2010, with Jenson Button joining Lewis Hamilton at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, the Swiss Brand has become the only watch brand in Formula 1 to have the two last World Champions as brand ambassadors on the starting grid. This repeats their feat of 20 years ago – more precisely in 1988 and 1989, when Prost and Senna were World Champions for McLaren and TAG Heuer.

Nowadays, TAG Heuer’s team of Ambassadors has grown outside the F1 track, counting worldwide movie star and environmentalist Leonardo Di Caprio, golfer Tiger Woods, tennis player Maria Sharapova as well as the Audi Sport drivers for Le Mans.

In 2010, the year of TAG Heuer’s 150th anniversary, the Swiss brand has been able to further extend its leadership in F1 by having under contract the two talents Button and Hamilton.

And for the first season F1 driver Karun Chandhok, the 26 years old Indian driver racing for Hispania F1, will wear TAG Heuer’s colors. Already associated with TAG Heuer since 2008, the partnership strengthened as Karun reached the pinnacle of motorsports. According to him, “precision and performance are the hallmarks of TAG Heuer, which I have always tried to live up to in my career. I have already worked closely with the brand on many occasions in the past; now to be made Brand Ambassador in its 150th year is a dream come true. I really look forward to working with them for both timepieces and avant-garde eyewear", said TAG Heuer Ambassador Karun Chandhok.

Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung has been joining TAG Heuer’s young driver team alongside Chandhok after starting at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 16. A former F1 test driver for Renault F1 and GP2 driver with Dams., he has been a fan of the brand since his professional debuts: ’My 1st ever sports watch was a TAG Heuer. I got it when I won my 1st race in Formula BMW Asia in 2003. Being now a TAG Heuer ambassador myself after having looked up at those sponsored before me or the current ones like Jenson, Lewis or Karun, is a stepping stone. I can’t wait to work closely with them in China and in Europe, participating in their events and promotions’’.

Jean-Christophe Babin, TAG Heuer’s CEO and Chairman, has underlined the importance of motor racing in the brand’s DNA: ‘’TAG Heuer philosophy is always to be associated with the best drivers, the best teams and the most prestigious events. While we had great successes with the last four F1 World Champions, we always keep an eye on young drivers, trying to help them to reach their F1 dream. With Karun and Ho-Pin, we are not only promoting and supporting young talents and raising their profile around the world, we are also creating a close relationship with India and China racing fans’ community in 2 very important markets for luxury timepieces. For example, both of them will participate in TAG Heuer’s 150th anniversary celebration and will take part in the Odyssey of Pioneers, the 1st world tour ever to be achieved in an electric car, our TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster, that will stop in May and June in Delhi, Beijing and Shanghai’’.

As stated by the CEO, discovering and nurturing young talents and bringing them to F1 is part of TAG Heuer’s comitted sponsoring partnerships. TAG Heuer discovered Lewis Hamilton in 2003 and offered him a fully branded TAG Heuer Formula Renault when he raced the British series. Since then Lewis has won consistently and climbed the podium to receive the F1 Title with a TAG Heuer chronograph on his wrist. At the end of 2008, to celebrate his World Champion title, Lewis helped design and promote a special edition of the Carrera chronograph, bearing his name and signature.

In the past, TAG Heuer has given the same support and encouragement to a few motor racing budding stars: like Sebastian Vettel, 2009 F1 Vice Champion and the youngest ever Grand Prix winner, Sébastien Bourdais, the current driver for Peugeot Sport for Le Mans 24 Hours and a TAG Heuer ambassador for watches and eyewear since 2002, and like F1 Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Buemi, discovered by TAG Heuer in 2006 when he was driving in F3 Euroseries.

The mental determination and focus of all these drivers nurture a constant inspiration for the brand’s watchmaking and technology teams.

TAG Heuer wishes all his racing ambassadors some great achievements for their respective seasons.