Lewis Hamilton starts his Ferrari era with these Richard Mille watches

Lewis Hamilton has wasted no time in embracing the watch sponsor of his new Ferrari F1 team, and has already been spotted with a trio of blockbuster Richard Mille pieces worth over £1m.

During his stint at Mercedes-AMG, we’d grown used to Hamilton sporting a wide range of IWC watches. But with his move to Ferrari comes a switch to team partner Richard Mille.

Founded in 2001, the relatively young Swiss watchmaker has quickly established itself as a major name in motorsport, and its watches can be found on the wrists of many top drivers. There hasn’t yet been news of a Lewis Hamilton edition of Richard Mille, but it wouldn't be a surprise if such a watch comes later

For now, Hamilton has been spotted wearing several different Richard Mille watches. The first was the RM 67-02 ‘Italy’, with its distinctive red strap and lightweight carbon case – in fact, at just 33 grams, this is the lightest watch Richard Mille makes, and it’s the same model frequently worn by his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton has also been seen wearing a pair of Richard Mille’s RM 74-02, one with a white case front and one in black. A compact timepiece, with a thickness of 13 mm and a case diameter of just 34.4 mm, the RM 74-02 has a complex tourbillon automatic movement, a skeletal dial and a carbon and gold case.

The black version seen on Hamilton’s wrist during pre-season photoshoots has a red gold chassis, visible on the sides of the case, along with lines of yellow 24K gold laid between the carbon of the front and rear. A white model has also been spotted on the driver's wrist, as seen in the photo above.

Richard Mille explains how its Gold Carbon TPT material comprises “some 600 layers of parallel filaments obtained by separating out carbon fibres.” The watchmaker adds: “The layers, no more than 30 microns thick, are impregnated with a black matrix. They are then assembled on a dedicated machine, which stacks the layers, varying the orientation of the fibres by 45 degrees between layers and alternating them with 24K yellow gold leaf”.

Next, to fuse the gold with the carbon, the component is heated in a kiln to 120 degrees centigrade and at six bars of pressure. It’s a manufacturing process similar to that of aeronautical components.

This watch is water resistant to 50 metres, so it’s safe to shower and swim with, and should also survive being sprayed with champagne at close quarters. Handy for an F1 driver with a record-breaking eighth World Championship in his sights.

The in-house CRMT5 automatic movement has a power reserve of up to 50 hours, so Lewis had better keep it on if he wants to keep accurate time across a whole race weekend. There’s sapphire crystal on the front and back, giving a complete view of the intricate movement within, and for an extra flourish the rear crystal is set into a frame made from titanium.

Being a tourbillon, this watch’s movement employs a fantastically complicated way of combating the pull of gravity to help maintain accurate time – see how tourbillon movements work for more details.

And the price of Hamilton’s new wristwear? You’re looking at about £1,000,000 for the trio of watches he’s worn so far, with each costing in the region of £300,000 to £450,000.