The McLaren F1 team has announced a new, 10-year deal with luxury watch maker Richard Mille, ahead of the 2016 season.
The Woking-based outfit lost watch brand TAG-Heuer to Red Bull in 2015, after 30 years working together, but it has now picked up a new partnership with Swiss company Richard Mille.
The long-term sponsorship deal will see McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso wear Richard Mille timepieces, with branding also appearing on the MP4-31 car.
"As both a passionate aficionado and long-time advocate of international motorsport, I’m incredibly pleased and proud to be able to announce our new partnership with McLaren-Honda," said chairman and CEO Richard Mille.
"The McLaren brand has existed at the very pinnacle of Formula 1 racing for 50 years, and its reputation for continual technical innovation, painstaking attention to detail and race-winning success perfectly matches the philosophy of the Richard Mille brand.
"The chance to partner with McLaren is particularly timely: we’ve been evaluating Formula 1 on a restricted basis for several years, but this opportunity has enabled us to engage in a deeper, more meaningful way, with proper focus and effort directed on a major team."
Ron Dennis, McLaren Technology Group chairman and CEO, added: "I’ve watched with quiet admiration as Richard and his team have built up the Richard Mille brand over the past 15 years. To have established himself at the vanguard of the watchmaking world in such a short space of time is an incredible achievement, and a testament to his vision and determination.
"For him to commit Richard Mille to a 10-year partnership with McLaren underlines our shared belief in the value of long-term agreements, and the benefits that can be derived from growing and developing together."
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