Rolex, the leading luxury watchmaking brand and a pioneer of sports sponsorship, will become a major long-term partner of Formula 1 from 2013 as Official Timekeeper and Official Timepiece.  This reinforces Rolex’s commitment to motor racing and its support of global sport at the very highest level, and hey how about that just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Rolex Daytona (2013)!!!

It should be noted that Rolex is replacing Hublot who was the Official F1 Timekeeper since 2010 and who I think set the standard for the “Official Timepeice of F1″ with its superb F1 Series (see them all here).  It will be interesting to see if Rolex — a brand known for moving slowly — can bring as much dynamism and creativity to its new title role.  Also for what its worth, according to industry insiders, Hublot claims to have essentially let the F1 sponsorship go in favor of forming a tighter bond with Team Ferrari.

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One group stated, “Without question Rolex is the partner of choice for a world class sporting series like Formula One.  The brand’s prestige, the excellence of its watches as well as Rolex’s passionate and long-standing commitment to motor sports gives it true credibility. This partnership is something that many people interested in Formula One will have been waiting for and should rightly be excited about. Rolex has incredible sporting heritage and therefore Formula One is the right place for Rolex to be.”

More at Rolex.com.