Virtually single-handed Casio drove Swiss watch makers up-market. For many decades Swiss mechanical watches had set the world standard, their finest moment being when Neil and Buzz wore Omega Speedmaster watches on the Moon. A remarkable mission timed by the Swiss.
Then quartz came along and "...accurate to within a minute a week" was buried by "...accurate to within fifteen seconds a year." That hurt. So as the world rushed to have LED and LCD black plastic wrapped around their wrists, the Swiss masters fell into a slump until some marketing genius reimagined Swiss watches as art pieces. Tradition, craftsmanship, limited editions, serious history, an item of body-wearable mobile art, oh and just happened to tell the time. Bang! The more-or-less affordable Swiss mechanical watches became a semi-collectible to highly-collectable work of functional art.
The beauty being this approach worked both ways. Those that like to think they are in the know, knew the history of Swiss watches and wanted one for specific reasons. Used for the first crossing of the Atlantic, the first watch on the Moon, "Pilots' watches" had one set of complications (that is more dials and hands), while "Divers' watches" had big simple to read dials coupled with an ability to withstand pressures which would crush most submarines. The in the know crowd would know the specific story of their watches and select accordingly.
Those with not a clue about things horological, just asked vendors for "...something which speaks class and expense!" This was usually met with the classic response, "How expensive can sir/madam afford?" The Swiss were quick to build a glorious staircase of up-selling. Earlier this year your humble scribe tried on a marvellous Swiss watch in Melbourne. It looked wonderful, and had a 500 year calendar, meaning no fiddling around on February 29th every four years (so tiresome). My Minister for Finance also liked it. How much is it? We asked (given the brand I asked far more nervously than my watch-innocent good wife). Smiling we were informed by the lovely lady "We can do it for you today on this strap for $68,900." My wife's lightning response was, "We'll think about it!" As with a speed Houdini would admire she whipped the watch off my wrist, back into its case, and me out of the shop faster than Valtteri Bottas departing the grid at Suzuka in 2019.
It continues as a win-win for the Swiss watchmakers, why they even have some "low end" quartz offerings these days. A "collectable" for every pocket, a story for every buyer so they sell the watch to themselves, while the majority of us continue to marvel at Casio getting multiple alarms, stop-watches, and calculators into their quartz creations. More on how watches relate to F1 will be written before season 2025 commences, but for now let us refocus this marketing spin to F1. Specifically three intriguing areas being, engines, Toto and the "great value" of Cadillac.
Alpine will no longer be building engines. Toto states Sir Lewis had run-down the clock, and what on earth will Cadillac bring to F1 for anyone outside the US of A? Knowing the price of everything, yet the value of nothing, frequently becomes a damaging mind-set in the long run. First, Alpine.
Flavio, he of many mighty watches, has dismissed engine building as a mug's game. Of course he would, as his team had become increasingly useless at this venture. If "no one cared" about the engine then we would all be following Formula-E and riding e-scooters. I'd love to see the take-down Enzo Ferrari would have performed on Flavio. Ferrari is all about engines, we can only imagine the priceless sound-bites Enzo would have uttered, prior to ensuring Flavio never got to talk to a single person about power units ever again. Possibly barred from the paddock for good measure... again.
Sure, Drive to Survive converts might not care about the engine, but one does not need to move too far past being a casual fan before it matters very much. It would be better if Flavio had spoken the truth, which would run far closer to, "Our sponsors prefer us winning more to building engines. Therefore I'm trying to win a race as soon as possible, not improve our engineering such that our engines are eventually good..." Flavio will live to regret this decision. "You only won a race because of the Mercedes engine", will come back to haunt him, when the team is trying to promote Alpine and Renault... oh... unless they are up for sale in which case it no longer matters. Expect a "surprise" sale of Alpine the second they win a race to a non-manufacturer investor.
Toto clams he is happy to see Sir Lewis jump ship as it saves him the pain of the push. Ummm... Given how close Lewis has run George in a Mercedes he dislikes - cockpit still too far forward for his liking - I think this is Toto spin for putting on a brave face. Let's see how Kimi Antonelli goes. It is useful to recall the majority of rookies stumble. A Senna, a Schumacher or a V. Max is the rarity, not the rule. Just like Liam Lawson over at Red Bull, Kimi will have nowhere to hide if he fails to deliver... unless of course he is down in ninth, while his teammate is down in fifteenth each race. Toto is concerned Ferrari will put the fire back into Lewis, and given the strength of the 2024 Ferrari, season 2025 could prove very difficult for Toto and the Mercedes gang.
Cadillac! Your scribe has experienced a number of their cars, all on star spangled American soil. In the late 1990's I had the good fortune to drive a few V8 Cadillac sedans, which to my surprise are front-wheel drive cars, with a transverse V8. The first few days I saw them as whaling ships, lacking even the handling of a tea clipper, let alone a European sports sedan. Until I completely changed my driving style. Accelerate swiftly, not full throttle, this still being brisk progress thanks to that Northstar V8. Ease into bends - it took me a few days to stop yelling "prepare to go about!" to my passengers. Enjoy the straight-line urge, while cocooned within the comfort of a deep armchair at the Waldorf Astoria. Brake very, very, early and softly so that corner entry speeds become sleepy, then apply increasing throttle once past the apex. I actually missed it once I left. But a sports car it is not. Then Cadillac provide the SS Titanic of American roads, the Escalade. This is an up-market (for the USA) SUV of massive proportions. I think I've visited European Principalities smaller than the boot (trunk in America). The only two positives I could find? "It's huge". Being a benefit on American roads, and "while cruising in a straight line it is as if you're still sitting in that Waldorf Astoria cocktail lounge armchair and the world is moving past you." Do not ask about fuel economy.
Cadillac has raced in many series and provide Indy Car engines. Most of the series, past and present, have been sedan (saloon) car racing. They first entered Le Mans in 1950, via the private entry of Briggs Cunningham, fielding a mostly standard Coupe de Ville, and a streamline spider, developed in the Grumman Aircraft wind tunnel. In a then record field of 60 starters they came home tenth and eleventh of 29 finishers. The race that year being won by father and son pairing of Louis and Jean-Louis Rosier in their privately entered Talbot-Lago T26 GS Biplace. In 2001 a briefly returning Cadillac, run by DAMS, managed a modest 15th at Le Mans. So not too much progress over 51 years.
Cadillac open-wheeler experience is mostly limited to past and current engine supply. If the new F1 team then splits design and engineering efforts between the UK, America, and in some manner Italy - they will initially use Ferrari engines - I fear for the project. Haas are small, agile, determined and a world class engineering firm. Yet they struggle to remain off the bottom of the pool each year. The chances of Cadillac "doing a Toyota" are significantly non-zero. The only value they add to F1 is that a few Americans who follow Indy Car might, might, follow Cadillac across to F1.
When Toto glances down at his limited edition IWC Schaffhausen over-sized wrist watch he is well aware what the time is. He has 1,001 computers, 10,000 sensors and hundreds of engineers that can confirm the time to twenty decimal places. Time to let Lewis go? Time to give Susie a hug? Time for a sound-bite on Christian? It is the things of passion that require timing on a Swiss watch, and Toto knows where to focus his passion. Beating Lewis in a Ferrari in 2025? That has his passionate focus. Alpine engine supply? Makes Toto laugh! Cadillac entry? Toto is not even pre-planning for it. He knows he has all the time in the world for that minor inconvenience.
Max Noble
Learn more about Max and check out his previous features, here
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