Heuer/TAG Heuer in Motorsports

There have been so many legendary cars that've worn the Heuer and TAG Heuer shields, thought it would be fun to have a thread about them.

I'll start at the beginning...

Jo Siffert driving Rob Walker's Lotus-Ford 49B in 1969. I believe this is the first race car to wear the Heuer badge, although the sponsorship was with Siffert.

Monaco GP '69


United States GP '69


The first Formula 1 sponsored team was Ferrari. Heuer x Ferrari made its debut at the South African GP in '71, it was also their first win, at the hands of Mario Andretti in the Ferrari 312B.


1971, Heuer would also adorn the Ferrari 312P Endurance Race Cars. Shown here with Jacky Ickx.


The first Heuer Formula 1 World Championship with Ferrari was won by Niki Lauda in '75


TAG Heuer would make its debut on the 1986 McLaren at the Brazilian GP. It would go on to win the World Championship that year with Alain Prost, the first for the newly named TAG Heuer.


There have been so many more! Please post your favorites... 👍

^But of course!

Another cool car is Mika Hakkinen's 1993 Carrera Cup winning Porsche 911 RS (964)

Class win at the 88th running of Le Mans with Aston Martin


Class win with Porsche at the 90th running of Le Mans


Hoping for an outright win this year! 😀

What a fantastic posting and discussion . . . looking forward to contributing on this topic!!

For the record, I believe technically '85 was TAG Heuer's first F1 world championship. But their logo wasn't on the McLaren cars that year. So '86 was their first with a car wearing the TAG Heuer shield.

I did a little more research into '85 vs '86 as TAG Heuer's first F1 World Championship. I learned that while Techniques d'Avant Garde's acquisition of Heuer started in '85, it wasn't officially complete until Jan 1986 per this article by TAG Heuer: Vintage TAG Heuer Formula 1 Collection | TAG Heuer ®
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When Techniques d’Avant Garde completed its acquisition of Heuer in January 1986, TAG Heuer was positioned to launch an entirely new type of watch. Not a racing chronograph, and not a dive watch, the new Formula 1 collection would capitalize on the demand for colorful, inexpensive quartz watches. The “Formula 1” name was perfect for TAG Heuer’s new collection, with Jack Heuer having developed Formula 1 sponsorships in the 1960s and 70s, and TAG Heuer having what would be a long-lived partnership with McLaren in 1985. TAG Heuer catalogues of the period proclaimed proudly that the “Formula 1” name was in honor of the company’s highly successful involvement with the Marlboro McLaren Formula 1 racing team.
--
So whether the 1985 WDC should be counted is up for debate. Certainly, TAG Heuer was associated with McLaren via Techniques d'Avant Garde and Ron Dennis (McLaren Team Principal) in 1985, but perhaps the name TAG Heuer could not be legally used until 1986.

In any case, after '85 & '86 the next 4 McLaren x TAG Heuer world championships would come not from TAG-Porsche power, but with Honda power.

1988 Senna - McLaren MP4/4


1989 Prost - McLaren MP4/5


1990 Senna - McLaren MP4/5B


1991 Senna - McLaren MP4/6


Senna's last championship in 1991 not only marked the end of McLaren Honda's championship run, but was also the last time "TAG Heuer" would be seen front & center on a McLaren WDC car. Neither of Mika Hakkinen's '98 or '99 West McLarens wore TAG Heuer, nor did Lewis Hamilton's 2008 Vodafone McLaren.

It would not be until the Max Verstappen Red Bull era that TAG Heuer was to be seen again front & center on the F1 championship winning cars.

I'm wetting myself looking at these pictures...

Besides Ferrari, Heuer also appeared on the BRM and McLaren F1 cars in the early 1970s. I believe this was in sponsorship connection with drivers like Regazzoni (BRM) and Fittipaldi (McLaren).

Niki Lauda in the 1973 BRM

Emerson Fittipaldi in the 1974 McLaren

Thanks to TAG Heuer's recent Instagram post, I see that Mike Hailwood was another F1 driver sponsored by Heuer. Shown here in his '73 Surtees F1 car.

Here's my posting covering Mike Hailwood -- http://www.onthedash.com/racer/mike-hailwood/

He had an interesting racing career, on two wheels and four.

Jeff

Good info on Hailwood! I wasn't aware of him before, as I'm not into Motorcycle racing and he wasn't that successful in F1.

It's interesting to me that he was sponsored by Heuer in 1973, but when switching from Surtees to McLaren in '74, it seems Heuer dropped Hailwood in favor of Fittipaldi.

I don't see Heuer on Hailwood's '74 helmet, overalls, or McLaren racecar.

Smart move by Heuer to back Fittipaldi instead, which brought them their very first World Drivers Championship in '74!

Hailwood was probably one of the greatest motorcycle racers ever. Certainly in the top 5 (depends on your viewpoints/age tbh).