Following the news last year that IWC was to become the new partner of the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team, it was inevitable that the team’s drivers would be officially signed up to wear the brand’s watches sooner or later.

After Richard Mille chose the Spanish Grand Prix to reveal its new association with the Lotus F1 team, IWC chose the glitzy Monaco Grand Prix to confirm that Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are now wearing the brand’s timepieces in an official capacity.

New IWC ambassadors Nico Rosberg, left, and Lewis Hamilton

The timing was propitious, since Nico Rosberg, who was born and grew up in Monaco, went on to win this year’s race from pole position, 30 years after his father won the same grand prix. After starting second on the grid, his team-mate Lewis Hamilton dropped two places to Red Bull to finish fourth.

Georges Kern, CEO of IWC, said of the two new friends of the brand, “Lewis and Nico are two amazing personalities who work every day at getting that little bit more performance out of themselves and their cars. In their own inimitable way, the two of them represent all that is best about IWC Schaffhausen. I am deeply moved that I am now able to call them Friends of the Brand.”

Source: IWC