Pretty much like any other major and televised sport.
Any credence to rumblings that the Mercedes 2026 Engine is very good
Hard to tell. They do have a history of getting hybrid engines working well, I wonder if that is where journalistic speculation comes from.
We should know within 18 months whether they have or not.
Does the change from Rolex to LVMH for timing sponsorship mean that drivers on the podium will get a LV Handbag in Gold Silver or Bronze depending on where they finished?
I didn’t realise they were getting Rolexes up till now?
But in seriousness, I am curious which of their watch brands they’ll use. I don’t think that has been disclosed. Or will they rotate? They own quite a few.
So they give them an expensive piece of jewellery for doing their job of driving a car fast and then ban them from wearing the prize in the car 
I think individual drivers have been sponsored by different watch brands for years . As soon as a race finishes you see them putting on a watch, normally the size of a side plate.
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Interesting - I always assumed (probably completely wrongly as I never bothered to check my theory!) that the watches were foisted onto the drivers by the FIA sponsors, not the individual driver sponsors. Sixes and sevens though!!
Peter
A good question. suspect there is a bit of both. Some drivers have images of watches on their gloves so I suspect that is probably personal or team sponsorship, whilst the jewellery given to the drivers as prizes is by F1/FIA sponsors. Please let us know what you discover about this,
My understanding is that where a watch brand has some form of sponsorship on a team, IWC - Mercedes for example, then the drivers will wear the watches of their sponsor when they are working for their team.
Richard Mille has deal with both McLaren and Ferrari so you will see the drivers wearing these watches, I would also presume that key personnel are given watches by the team sponsor - Lando was sadly mugged leaving Wembley stadium after the Euro’s final a few years ago and had his RM watch stolen as he got in his car.
I’m not aware of Rolex issuing drivers winning or finishing on the podium with any watches, the drivers wouldn’t be able to wear them due to it conflicting with their team sponsorship deals.
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