LEWIS HAMILTON AND GEORGE RUSSELL JOIN IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN AND MERCEDES-AMG AS THEY CELEBRATE THEIR PARTNERSHIP AT “SPEED CITY” IN LAS VEGAS
Schaffhausen/Las Vegas, 14th November 2023: To kick off the upcoming Las Vegas Grand PrixTM, IWC Schaffhausen celebrated its long-standing partnerships with Mercedes-AMG and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula OneTM Team with a spectacular event. For this special occasion, IWC and Mercedes-AMG have created “Speed City”, an outdoor pop-up venue in the Las Vegas desert. In a celebration of their shared passion for performance and design, Mercedes-AMG showcased the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupé, while IWC presented the new Pilot’s Watch Performance Chronograph 41 collection. A particular highlight was the performance driving show of the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupé with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell behind the wheel, accompanied by a spectacular drone-supported light show.
IWC Schaffhausen and Mercedes-AMG have been partners since 2004, making their collaboration one of the longest running between a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer and an automotive engineering company. Ahead of the upcoming F1TM race in Las Vegas, the partners joined forces to organise an exclusive event in the Las Vegas desert. To mark the occasion, they took over the famous Speedvegas racetrack and built a pop-up “Speed City”, a desert camp and entertainment venue. In the presence of dozens of guests, they celebrated their long-standing collaboration and shared passion for performance and design.
The similarities and differences in the design processes for cars and watches were key topics in a panel discussion with Christian Knoop, Chief Design Officer at IWC Schaffhausen, and Robert Lešnik, Head of Exterior Design Department at Mercedes-Benz and responsible for the design of the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupé. Interviewed by technology journalist and BBC presenter Lucy Hedges, the two professionals revealed stunning facts about what it is like to work as designers in their respective industries. Robert Lešnik detailed how design can be used to accentuate technical features of a car and which considerations went into the sporty-emotional look of the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupé. Christian Knoop shared an in-depth look at IWC’s chronograph and materials expertise and explained how these competences came together for the development of the Pilot’s Watch Performance Chronograph 41. IWC officially launched the new collection with four performance chronographs in titanium and Ceratanium® the day prior.
Following the design talk, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1TM Team drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell delivered a fantastic driving performance in the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupé. The action on the track was accompanied by a spectacular drone show supported by lights, illuminating the night sky above the Las Vegas desert and giving a glimpse of the upcoming night race in the “City of Lights”. Both drivers then joined Lucy Hedges and former F1TM driver and IWC brand ambassador David Coulthard for an entertaining conversation, reflecting on the performance and giving an outlook to the upcoming night race.
To close off the event, Chris Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, Michael Schiebe, CEO of Mercedes-AMG, and Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1TM Team, joined the stage. They looked back on the successful and long-standing collaboration between the companies, and shared memories.
GUESTS EXPLORED THE POP UP EXHIBITIONS IN “ SPEED CITY”
During the entire evening, the guests were invited to explore the many attractions at the “Speed City” venue in the Las Vegas desert. Among other things, they could visit an exhibition from Mercedes-AMG and learn more about the company’s range of performance cars. In addition, IWC set up a pop-up watch boutique with a curated selection of some of the most iconic watches from Schaffhausen.
MERCEDES-AMG
Mercedes-AMG is the performance and sports car brand of Mercedes-Benz Cars based in Affalterbach, Germany. Driven by the fascination of motorsports Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher founded the company in 1967. Since 2005 Mercedes-AMG GmbH has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG representing the sporting spearhead of the company with a wide range of models ranging from performance compact cars up to true sports cars like the AMG GT family. In contrast to large-scale production, Mercedes-AMG’s engines are assembled in Affalterbach according to the “One Man, One Engine” principle. AMG was born on the racetrack and is up to this day committed to “Driving Performance” in every detail, which is also expressed in every vehicle’s perceptible, innovative excellence. AMG – these three letters stand for supreme automotive performance, exclusivity, emotion, efficiency and highly dynamic driving pleasure and for exclusive encounters, contact points and collaborations for customers all around the globe. AMG continues to set benchmarks and, as a sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz, has the ambition to strengthen the product portfolio as a performance luxury brand. Currently, AMG is pushing the transformation of the company and redefining the Future of Driving Performance with electrified powertrains.
MERCEDES-AMG PETRONAS FORMULA ONE
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team is the works team of Mercedes-AMG, competing at the pinnacle of motorsport – the FIA Formula One™ World Championship. Formula One is a sport like no other. Combining elite teamwork, cutting-edge technologies and innovation, high-performance management and exceptional driving skill, teams develop race cars capable of competing against their rivals in a high-octane environment that spans upwards of 20 races across five continents throughout each season.
The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, based across Technology Centres at Brackley and Brixworth in the United Kingdom, brings together over 1,000 dedicated and determined people that design, develop, manufacture and race the cars driven by seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Grand Prix winner, George Russell. Winning seven consecutive double Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships from 2014 to 2020 and securing a record-breaking eighth consecutive Constructors’ Championship success in 2021, the Team is one of the most successful in the sport’s history. Between returning as a Constructor in 2010 and the end of the 2022 season, the Mercedes-AMG works team has scored 116 wins, 264 podium finishes, 128 pole positions, 91 fastest laps and 54 one-two finishes from 259 race starts.
IWC Schaffhausen is the Engineer of Watchmaking. In 1868, the American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones established the ‘International Watch Company’ in Schaffhausen in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. By combining the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge industrial technology and processes, he laid the foundation for IWC’s unique engineering approach to watchmaking.
IWC’s distinctive and pure design is brought to life through collections ranging from elegant dress watches to sports and luxury sports watches, notably the Portugieser, Portofino, Pilot’s Watches and Ingenieur. Over its more than 150-year history, IWC has earned a reputation for creating professional instrument watches and functional complications, especially chronographs and calendars, which are ingenious, robust and easy to use.
A pioneer in the use of titanium and ceramic, IWC specializes in performance materials such as Ceratanium®. IWC’s advanced engineering division XPL develops technologies that enhance the durability of mechanical watches and extend their applications to environments with extreme conditions such as jet aviation and human spaceflight.
IWC is a leader in luxury watchmaking, crafting timepieces built to last for generations and continuously improving every aspect of how it manufactures, distributes and services its watches responsibly. Empowering the next generation of engineers, the brand also partners with organizations that work globally to support children and young people. IWC. EngineeredTM.