Richard Mille RM 43-01 Ferrari: An F1 car on the wrist

Watches have long been closely associated with motor racing. There is the element of timing, which is an integral part of the sport, measuring the success of teams and their drivers throughout a race weekend. But there’s also a synergy between the mechanical aspects of both. Both fine watches and racing cars are powered by a complex array of moving elements that are greater than the sum of their parts. Watch brands have been tied into the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula 1, since the 1970s. But never has a brand encapsulated the high-tech, glamorous nature of the sport more than Richard Mille.

Founded in 2001, the Swiss brand quickly redefined the sports watch, creating an entirely new look that combined F1-inspired design with highly skeletonised, complicated movements. Richard Mille’s signature was quickly defined with tonneau shaped cases that made use of carbon fibre and titanium in ways never previously attempted. Lightness and shock-resistance was prioritised, and it wasn’t long before the likes of Jay-Z and Pharrell were name-checking the brand in their lyrics. In 2004, another milestone was hit when the brand signed its first ambassador; the young second year F1 driver, Felipe Massa. Unusually for a partnership, no money exchanged hands. Instead, he would be given a watch he would wear behind the wheel of his Sauber C23.

I chatted to Massa at the launch of Richard Mille’s latest collaboration, this time with Ferrari for the remarkable RM 43-01. ‘We were looking for a watch brand to sponsor me, and my manager was reading a magazine where he saw a picture of a Richard Mille’, he tells me. ‘There was a telephone number, so he called, and he was talking away with a person from the brand. Then that person said, “Richard Mille is here. Do you want to talk to him?”’ He said yes, and the rest is history.

‘Richard Mille was very enthusiastic to enter the Formula 1 world, and to sponsor a driver’, he continues. ‘He already knew me and said he was building a completely new watch, the RM 006, which would be the lightest tourbillon. He said he would be really happy if I became his ambassador, while also using the watch in the car. The only thing is that Richard said, “We don't have money this time, because we are investing a lot in the company, but it would be nice if Felipe started with a watch, the 006.” I was happy and every race I did since then, I had a Richard Mille watch on my wrist. Being part of the family is like when you enter Ferrari; you get inside the family, and then you’re always a Ferrari driver.’

It was an ingenious move. Massa would move on to race for Ferrari two years later, fighting for race wins and winning the Constructors’ Championship for the team in 2008, giving both himself and Richard Mille, who sponsored him throughout his career, great exposure. Massa would leave Ferrari in 2013, and F1 altogether in 2017. By that point, Richard Mille was already sponsoring McLaren. Shortly after, in 2021, it would partner with Ferrari.

The first watch birthed from that deal was the remarkable RM UP-01: an ultra-flat, technical feat that measured just 1.75mm thick. This latest release, unveiled in Paris with Massa and Alain Prost in tow, looks more traditionally Richard Mille. But it is no less impressive. Looking particularly dashing on the wrists of current Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, the RM 43-01 Ferrari is a tourbillon split-seconds chronograph, finished in either grade 5, microblasted titanium, or in pure carbon TPT. Both watches are limited to just 75 pieces and will cost over £1m, making them fairly special.

Making them more special still are the Ferrari-inspired details. A full creative collaboration with Ferrari’s Centro Stile and chief design officer Flavio Manzoni, both watches feature details taken directly from the Prancing Horse’s road and race cars. The movement reference features stars on either side, mimicking the chassis number of a 365 GTB. The watch’s bridge is designed after the crankcase of a SF90 Stradale, while the movement screws have an identical look to the engine screws of Ferrari’s current 6.5-litre V12 that powers the 12Cilindri. Elsewhere, the strap features the same pattern found on the Purosangue’s seats, and the Cavallino logo plate is inspired by the shape of the Le Mans-winning 499P’s rear wing end plates.

How did Ferrari approach the partnership? ‘The first thing we have to think about is the common values, and we have a lot of common values’, says Manzoni. ‘There’s the research of
perfection, the research of innovation, and also this incredible coexistence of beauty, technology, and performance. So we are very proud of the watch. Every time my team and I make this type of project, it’s incredible. How beautiful it is to transfer our vision from cars to [this watch].’

Will it ever work the other way round, with future Ferrari models borrowing elements from the skeletonised movements and TPT cases of a Richard Mille? ‘There is a kind of feedback process that goes both ways, so maybe one day you will discover in our future cars some elements inspired by this incredible journey.’