Tag Heuer moves from McLaren to Red Bull

Eric Boullier’s concerns are therefore beginning to materialize. Last September, the McLaren team director stated that he feared losing sponsors if the team’s results did not improve in the near future: « If we fail to attract new sponsors, there will inevitably be damage, which cannot be quantified in millions. But it will be more difficult to attract sponsors if we cannot show that the team is moving forward and that we will soon be in the points. »

It would seem that this is already the case since Tag Heuer has decided to abandon a partnership launched in 1985 to move to a direct competitor, Red Bull, as confirmed by Jean-Claude Biver, the CEO of the luxury watch brand, to the Swiss newspaper L’Echo: « Yes, we have just signed Red Bull Racing in F1 for the next season. It’s a young, dynamic, aggressive team, perfectly in line with TAG Heuer’s strategy. »

This departure of the subsidiary of the French group LVMH is highly symbolic for the team. Indeed, it should not be forgotten that the very name TAG refers to the company Technology Avant-Garde, which is none other than the group of Mansoor Ojjeh. Although this group sold its stake in Tag Heuer in 1999, it remains a 25% shareholder in the McLaren Group. The ties between the two companies have therefore been very close for many years.

Furthermore, this departure could also be followed by another major McLaren sponsor, namely Johnnie Walker, which might be heading to Sahara Force India if an agreement could be reached with Aston Martin.

Moreover, the arrival of Tag Heuer at Red Bull should also mean the end of the latter’s association with Casio, as it’s hard to imagine two companies from the same industry coexisting on the same car.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr