ALL ABOARD

Formula 1 is just the first step in TAG Heuer’s grand master plan. CEO Antoine Pin shares more.

- WORDS FARHAN SHAH PHOTOS TAG HEUER

LAST YEAR, ANTOINE PIN jumped on board a speeding train. “It never slowed down for me!” says Pin, laughing. It's not a literal train, of course. The Frenchman is using the automotive metaphor to describe his initial feelings when he took over the TAG Heuer reins in September 2024.

We're seated in the TAG Heuer paddock suite, just before the Formula 1 Australia Grand Prix qualifying session starts. It's a giant hive of activity. Servers in white shirts and black pants flit around guests with the grace of a butterfly. On their hands are metal trays. Some have lobster sandwiches while others are laden with olives and desserts. A few metres away from us, a pushcart offers caviar bumps and vodka shots. Pin and I are on the second floor. Below us, on the ground, scores of mechanics move in formation to work on their respective ground rockets. It's almost lights out for the first race of the season, but the glitz and glamour are well and truly underway.