The 2025 Formula 1 season will see Lewis Hamilton racing in a Ferrari for the first time, following an 11 year stint with Mercedes. The switch also means a change in his wrist game – swapping UK online replica IWC Schauffhausen watches for Richard Mille (who sponsors Ferrari).
Eager to kick off the post-Hamilton era with a bang, it was no surprise to see IWC and Mercedes come out with a strong united front with all its drivers and the big boss rocking best fake IWC watches at last night’s F1 75 Live, a massive 75th anniversary bash at London’s O2 arena.
The purpose of the event was for all teams to unveil their new cars for the season ahead. Mercedes dropped its 2025 silver, pure blue and black liveries to the sound of ear-splitting bassy music with flames blasting up into the air. Then Mercedes-AMG Petronas CEO Toto Wollf took to the stage with George Russell and Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who’s making his Mercedes F1 debut this season.
Given Wolff’s success and pedigree in F1 – he’s led his team to eight Constructors’ titles – a boss-level watch flex comes with the gig. And at the O2, wearing the new IWC Shock Absorber XPL Toto Wolff – a watch made in his name and team colours, that’s exactly what he did. It’s a pretty big deal, packing in IWC’s own shock absorbing system, which cushions the watch’s movements with a cantilever spring for impacts. It’s a very F1 watch for a very F1 guy – and proof IWC is very much in the business of cooking up signature high quality fake watches post Hamilton.
Russell followed up Wolff’s executive flex with cheap super clone IWC Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN Edition in a stealthy Mojave Desert colourway. It’s an understated big boy designed with the needs of elite level pilots in mind, which also makes it ideal for an F1 driver. This pared-back colourway was inspired by Top Gun’s China Lake HQ in mind. But it also looks just as good with a crisp shirt, which is exactly how Rusell wore it last night. Packing in IWC’s 69380 calibre automatic chrono movement into its hardy ceramic case, it’s the kind of humble flex we’d expect from Russell ahead of the 2025 season. It’s not too loud, but packs in winning features where it needs to (46 hours power reserve, antireflective sapphire glass, and it can handle a drop in air pressure if necessary), so it checks out with Russell’s ‘if in doubt go flat out’ mindset.
And 18 year old newbie Antonelli flew the flag for Mercedes with a Pilot Mark XX in team colours. But supportive design aside, this is the kind of ticker that speaks directly to the IWC’s military history, and a bit of a legend in the IWC line-up (in 1948, the brand dropped the Mark 11 for RAF Navigators). Antonelli’s team coloured ticker houses an automatic movement in a brushed titanium case, and uses luminescent hands for max visibility. It’s top tier tool UK AAA replica watches for a top tier team. And for a fresh-faced driver, it works really well.
Reserve driver Valtteri Bottas also kept the team vibes going strong with Swiss fake IWC Pilot Chronograph Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 41mm. And it’s got a lot going on – like its grade 5 titanium case, which offers the highest strength to density ratio of any metal, and is actually the same stuff they use in F1 cars. Very smart.
Lewis Hamilton switching out his top copy IWC pilot’s watches for a Richard Mille RM 74-02 Automatic Winding Tourbillon might leave some IWC execs wincing, but with a stacked line-up of tickers ahead of the new season, Mercedes’ quadruple threat at F1 75 Live is a strong start to its post-Hamilton chapter – united on all fronts.
