“It’s exciting isn’t it?” grins TAG Heuer CEO Antoine Pin over Zoom. He’s referring to January’s announcement that his brand will become the official timekeeper for the Formula 1, a role that starts this month at the Melbourne Grand Prix.

In reclaiming the position from Rolex, TAG Heuer resumes the duty that it performed for Formula 1 from 1992 to 2003. But Pin is keen to stress that the brand’s relationship with motorsports goes much deeper. In 1916, he points out, Heuer (the watchmaker’s original incarnation) created the first stopwatch capable of measuring to 1/100th of a second, an innovation specifically developed to time motor racing. “This deal is a very important investment,” says Pin. “But it also makes logical sense.”