Watch Paparazzi

Pilot Antônio Pizzonia spotted wearing Richard Mille

Antônio Pizzonia, the Brazilian racing driver best known for his stints with Williams and Jaguar in Formula 1, was recently spotted wearing a Richard Mille RM 11-02 Flyback Chronograph, personalised with a green rubber strap that references the colours of Brazil. The sighting is a textbook example of the symbiotic relationship Richard Mille has carefully cultivated with the motorsport world since the brand's founding in 2001.

The RM 11-02 is built around the RMAC2 calibre, an automatic movement developed in collaboration with Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi. It delivers a flyback chronograph, an annual calendar, and a GMT complication within a single mechanism — a considerable technical achievement for a watch of this size. The movement beats at 28,800 vph, offers approximately 55 hours of power reserve, and is mounted in a tonneau-shaped case crafted from grade 5 titanium, measuring 50mm × 40mm. The tripartite case construction — bezel, middle, and caseback in separate sections — is a signature Richard Mille engineering detail that allows for both structural rigidity and component-level serviceability.

The RM 11-02 carries real collector weight. It succeeded the original RM 011, which was produced in limited numbers across multiple material variants including red gold and carbon. The -02 designation introduced incremental movement refinements and updated aesthetics while retaining the open-worked dial architecture that makes the full depth of the RMAC2 legible from the front. Pieces in exotic case materials regularly command significant premiums on the secondary market.

Pizzonia's connection to the watch is more than aesthetic. A driver who competed at the highest level of motorsport understands the engineering values Richard Mille markets — lightness, shock resistance, mechanical precision under stress. The green strap customisation adds a personal layer, turning an already distinctive timepiece into something singular.

At a UK RRP of approximately £118,000, the RM 11-02 sits in the mid-tier of the Richard Mille catalogue — substantial by any conventional measure. On the grey market, strong examples trade at or above retail depending on configuration and provenance, reflecting the brand's continued secondary-market resilience.