Track the Grand Prix with new TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E5 Formula 1

TAG Heuer’s new Calibre E5 Formula 1 is the first smartwatch with a dedicated function, allowing the user to track each of the 24 Grand Prix of the racing season, and provide live updates about results and driver standings

By Josh Sims

published 25 February 2026

in Features

TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E5 Formula 1 watch — TAG Heuer Calibre E5 Formula 1 watch, £2,150 (online presale begins 3 March 2026)

(Image credit: Tag Heuer)

Jerome Matthieu concedes that he’s more of a 'digital guy' than a mechanical watch guy, but that he’s learned a lot about the latter since joining TAG Heuer, especially its remit to bring the two worlds of craft and computing together. 'Many customers have been requesting an F1 watch for a long time, without being specific as to what it would actually do,' laughs the managing director of the brand’s Connected Watch Business Unit. But now, with the Connected Calibre E5 Formula 1, comes the answer.

The watch displays the track outline, country flag, race name and racetrack silhouette for each of the 24 Grand Prix of the season (with a dot moving around the circuits outline to indicate the passing seconds) – allowing the dial of the watch to change with each race too. The in-house developed software is linked to an exclusive app allowing the display of schedules, team standings and the season calendar, the info sourced direct from the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Key moments in a race are also displayed directly to the watch, with each alert coming with a custom icon, haptics and – gimmicky but undoubtedly fun – pit radio-inspired sounds.

Might this be considered a kind of smartwatch complication, beyond the usual health and activity metrics that smartwatches provide (as this one does too) and a step on from TAG Heuer’s E4 x Oracle Red Bull Racing edition of last year? Matthieu reckons so, and this time with that clear F1 association too.

The TAG Heuer Calibre E5 Formula 1 watch

'That is definitely part of the intention. [A TAG Heuer Connected watch like this] can’t just be [the equivalent of] an Apple watch with a nice design,' he says. 'We can’t compete with the big players [in the smartwatch sector] for all the features they offer, but TAG Heuer does have a legacy and heritage we can work with to create a watch with a functionality that can’t be found in those products. The idea is to develop these Connected products to create something that allows users to go beyond [the usual smartwatch] functionality.'

TAG Heuer has responded to this idea before – with last year’s E5 New Balance edition, specialised for running. But as smartwatches from tech brands continue to evolve their own ‘complications’ too – from Garmin’s Marq Commander, with skydiving mode, to Huawei’s Ultimate 2 diving smartwatch, with a sonar-based underwater communication system – TAG Heuer is having to dial up its particular strengths too, most notably its build quality.

Matthieu sees the E5 as appealing both to motor-racing enthusiasts – especially since, as of 2025, TAG Heuer is back in the driving seat as Formula 1’s official timekeeper, replacing Rolex – but also to watch enthusiasts drawn to the watch’s 'very racy' construction: inevitably it makes use of brushed and sand-blasted grade-two titanium, carbon fibre, DLC and other advanced materials now critical to racing-car design, with a Tron-like display adding to the high-tech-meets-savoir-faire feel. The packaging nods to the chequered flag of the finishing line.

'I think the engineering mindset of the watch, the look of it, will give it appeal [beyond F1 fans]. It’s cool because it’s different, a real blend of the physical and the digital,' says Matthieu. 'When we started on the project, we didn’t have a clear idea what we wanted to create other than “an F1 watch” and it took a lot of brainstorming. But we did conclude that a strong emotional draw was really important, and especially so with a smartwatch from a brand that’s not known for them.'

Online pre-sale begins 3 March 2026, tagheuer.com

Josh Sims is a journalist contributing to the likes of The Times, Esquire and the BBC. He's the author of many books on style, including Retro Watches (Thames & Hudson).