The Official Watch of Formula One

The F1 season kicked off this past weekend in Bahrain. But in addition to the race action, Formula One Management signed there a new commercial agreement with Swiss watchmaker Hublot. The arrangement gives Hublot the right to use the F1 name commercially, and will see the brand represented at select races with unique hospitality events throughout the year. But more than that, it means that Hublot will begin marketing a special F1-branded line of watches.

The first example is what you see here: the Hublot F1 King. The opposite of the kind of bling you'd typically associate with grand prix racing, the timepiece is based on the King Power model, with everything blacked out for a sleek, matte look. Only 500 examples, each individually numbered, will be on offer before Hublot unveils its next F1 edition.