Luxury watch brand Tag Heuer has agreed a sponsorship deal with Formula One motor racing team Red Bull, bringing to an end its long-standing partnership with rival outfit McLaren.
The Swiss company will sever its ties with McLaren at the end of the 2015 F1 season before joining up with Red Bull next year. The length of its new agreement was not disclosed.
“It (Red Bull) is a young, dynamic, go-getting team that fits perfectly with the Tag Heuer strategy,” Tag Heuer chief executive, Jean-Claude Biver, told Swiss magazine L’Hebdo.
Tag Heuer first teamed up with McLaren in 1985 and the two parties have enjoyed a successful relationship ever since.
“It is with gratitude that we announce the end of our 30-year partnership, satisfied as both parties are with a job well done,” a McLaren spokesman told the Reuters news agency. “Our relationship with Tag Heuer’s parent company LVMH continues via our new partnership with (wine brand) Chandon, announced last month.”
Red Bull’s existing partnership with Japanese watch brand Casio expires at the end of the 2015 season, while the loss of Tag Heuer comes as the latest sponsorship blow for McLaren, which has been without a title sponsor since 2013.