TAG Heuer Goes BIG for the 2025 F1 Monaco Grand Prix

Running from today until Sunday, the Formula 1 TAG Heuer Grand Prix de Monaco signals that we are now in the real “meat” of the 2025 F1 season (BTW, this is the first time the illustrious race has had an official title sponsor).

The season kicked off officially with the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix (another title-sponsored race) back in March, with the most recent – the Emilia-Romagna race in Italy – completed earlier this month. The season will culminate with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (December 5 - 7).

However, this weekend, all eyes turn to Monte Carlo for the “big one” as the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix draws a great deal of well-deserved attention.

Before we get to the watches, here is a quick recap of the current F1 standings: Going into the Monaco race, Austria’s Oscar Piastri from the McLaren team leads the field, with his team partner Lando Norris in second.

Meanwhile, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen is in third place, George Russell of Mercedes-AMG Petronas in fourth, with Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc filling out the current top five (Ferrari’s star driver Lewis Hamilton is currently ranked just under teammate Charles Leclerc, BTW).
 

Naturally, the two top drivers’ team, McLaren Formula 1, currently holds the top team position, followed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas. Red Bull’s team is in third, followed by Scuderia Ferrari in fourth. Then, the Atlassian Williams Racing team is in fifth.

However, there is still a long way to go to the end of the season.

Given TAG Heuer’s overall F1 partnership, title sponsorship of the Monaco race, and the resounding prominence of the race itself, the watchmaker is coming to Monte Carlo with a full bag of race-related goodies for watch fans, focusing, aptly, on the fabled square-cased Monaco model.

First up, the TAG Heuer Monaco Split Seconds Chronograph, with its masterful mix of edgy materials and track-ready functionality, is the “halo car” of the special offerings.
 

Crafted from the in-house developed TH-Titanium alloy, this rattrapante chronograph’s case has gone through a proprietary thermal process to create a textured pattern so that the titanium looks almost carbon-like. Moreover, the Monaco’s square dial format takes the model’s visual DNA into a new dramatic arena.

Since the Monaco watch’s debut in 1969 as the first water-resistant automatic square chronograph wristwatch, the timepiece has always stood at the spearpoint of chronographic innovation. Leveraging decades of split-second timing expertise in stopwatches, TAG first brought the rattrapante complication back to the Monaco wristwatch last year.
 

However, the TH81-00 movement that drives this new masterpiece, and its split-second function, is now crafted in titanium and weighs just 30 grams. Meanwhile, its square, domed sapphire crystal practically melts right into the pixelated 41mm titanium case, adding a degree of visual airiness to the already lightweight metal (the total weight of the watch is just 86 grams).

With a black skeletonized dial, featuring bold neon lime and white on the markers and hands, this new Monaco Split Seconds Chronograph’s square/polygonal sub-dials amp the race-ready chronograph message, with a minutes tallier at 3 o’clock, hour tallier at 9 o’clock, and small seconds at 6 o’clock.
 

The same neon lime green on the dial adorns the watch’s rotor when you view the movement through the exhibition caseback. It is also picked up in the stitching of the sleek black calfskin strap, which is textured to deliver a dramatic effect that is more technical than classic.

The sticker price for the TAG Heuer Monaco Split Seconds Chronograph, which, as far as we know, is not a limited edition, is CHF 145,000.

As a counterpoint to the technicality and edginess of the Monaco Split Seconds above, the new, special-for-the-race TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph x Gulf delivers a little something for the vintage fans. After all, the hearts of most lifelong car-racing fans beat a little bit faster when they spot the tell-tale blue and orange of the iconic Gulf racing livery (I know mine does).
 

This 971-piece limited edition was created in partnership with Gulf (a small Gulf logo appears just under the dial center) and presents the “blue-and-orange” as bold racing stripes on the right side of the clean, white dial, interrupted only by the black sub-dial at 3 o’clock.

This dial design calls back to the fire suit Steve McQueen wore as he drove the Gulf-sponsored Porsche 917K in the 1971 movie Le Mans. If you haven’t seen the movie, be warned, it is probably the most common gateway drug to rabid car racing fandom in history.
 

This modern Monaco sports a durable sand-blasted 39mm titanium case, with permanent small seconds and minute talliers at 3 and 9 o’clock, respectively, and a Monaco-original date window at 6 o’clock. Interestingly, TAG Heuer has returned the crown to the original Monaco’s disruptive location: on the left side of the case.
 

The new Monaco x Gulf Chronograph comes on a bold white textile strap with orange stitching, and a second perforated blue calfskin leather strap to dress things up is also included. The workhorse Calibre 11 automatic powers this timepiece and is viewable from the case back. You can get into the driver’s seat for CHF 9,300.

To really hammer home the unique nature of race timing, TAG Heuer has created a special Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch timepiece directly inspired by the exacting hand-held racing timers it produced in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Do not be confused: This is a modern, sleek 39mm wristwatch. That said, nearly every function, colorway, and detail can draw a direct line back to the iconic trackside timers of the mid-century.
 

Powered by the Calibre 11 movement, and mimicking the original-Monaco crown position (9 o’clock) and date window (6 o’clock), this chronograph is created from black DLC-coated titanium, sports a classic perforated calfskin leather strap, and carries 100 meters of water resistance.
 

The black and silver opaline dial is a nod to the iconic stopwatches, as are the two squared totalizers at 3 o’clock and 6 o’clock (although, on the stopwatches, these appeared at 12 and 6 o’clock). Meanwhile, the vivid red, numberless ring gauge is the most prominent ode to the heritage stopwatch devices, where seconds counted more than anything else.
 

You can conduct your own expert timings from your wrist for CHF 9,600.

For more information about the brand’s latest releases, visit the TAG Heuer website.