Formula 2 has become an increasingly visible part of the motor-racing business for companies looking to associate themselves with drivers on the route to Formula 1. That relationship can take different forms, from conventional sponsorship to closer commercial involvement. The arrangement between Virtuosi Racing and Invicta Watch Group followed that path over a relatively short period. Invicta first became a title partner in 2023, when the team competed as Invicta Virtuosi Racing. Later that year, the watch company bought an ownership stake. From 2024, the Formula 2 operation competed as Invicta Racing, marking a change from a sponsored team to one with direct backing from the brand.
The first agreement was announced on 25 February 2023 and covered the Formula 2 season beginning in Bahrain that March. Invicta became the team’s title partner under a multi-year arrangement, with its branding placed on the cars, drivers’ race suits and team clothing. The agreement also included investment in marketing and activation around the partnership. The team’s name changed to Invicta Virtuosi Racing, making the commercial relationship visible in the championship itself. At that stage, however, the arrangement was a title partnership rather than an ownership transaction. The ownership structure changed later that year when Invicta acquired a stake in the team.
Declan Lohan’s involvement was at a senior level. The 2023 announcement shows that Lohan is named CEO of Virtuosi Racing and speaks about the deal. In particular, his statements focused on the growth of Formula 2’s international audience and the involvement of bigger brands in the championship. He also said Invicta’s involvement would increase the team’s visibility both within Formula 2 and beyond. This matters because the partnership was not presented as a logo placement.
The relationship moved further in December 2023. Invicta announced that it had acquired an ownership stake in the UK-based Formula 2 team, with the change taking effect for the 2024 season. The team would drop the Virtuosi part of its Formula 2 name and compete as Invicta Racing, using the watch company’s yellow-and-black branding. Autosport described the deal as an expansion of the partnership that had begun earlier in the year. The investment was also linked to plans for additional marketing and communication work away from the circuit. Invicta said it planned to develop watches and other lifestyle products connected with its involvement in Formula 2.
The change in ownership did not immediately mean that the Virtuosi organisation disappeared. The 2024 Formula 2 operation continued the programme that had competed as UNI-Virtuosi from 2019 and as Invicta Virtuosi Racing in 2023. Lohan, Andy Roche and Paul Devlin remained connected with the operation during the transition. The existing Virtuosi leadership remained involved in the racing programme during this period. Formula 2’s official entry list for 2024 recorded Invicta Racing with Maini and Bortoleto as its drivers. The new name therefore marked a change in the commercial identity without an immediate break with the team’s established personnel.
The commercial change coincided with a wider effort by Invicta to make the racing operation part of its brand activity. The company described its investment as a way to strengthen marketing and communication away from the track. It announced plans for an Invicta Racing watch collection and other lifestyle products. The investment was intended to extend the relationship beyond the racetrack through marketing, communications, watches, and other lifestyle products. For Virtuosi, the arrangement provided a direct connection with a consumer brand with its own products, marketing channels and a global retail presence. Available announcements do not provide a financial value for either the sponsorship or the later ownership transaction, so public information cannot reliably quantify the scale of the investment.
The first season under the Invicta Racing name produced a Formula 2 Teams’ Championship and a Drivers’ Championship. Bortoleto won the Drivers’ title, while the team finished first in the Teams’ standings with 288.5 points, according to the team’s final race report. The achievement gave the new identity a significant competitive result in its first year. However, the title reflected the racing programme rather than proving the commercial partnership alone produced it. FIA reporting confirmed that Invicta and Bortoleto secured the two championships at Yas Marina in December 2024.
For Lohan, the partnership covered a period when the organisation he had helped establish moved from founder ownership to external ownership. He was named CEO when the sponsorship began and again when Invicta acquired its stake; his direct involvement with the Formula 2 operation ended with the full acquisition. In March 2025, Invicta Watch Group announced that it had acquired 100% of Invicta Racing. The subsequent management restructure saw Lohan, Roche and Devlin step away from the Formula 2 operation. Roche remained as a consultant, while James Robinson became CEO and Team Principal, and Spear became Team Manager. The three founders continued separately with the Virtuosi Formula 4 operation.
The Invicta relationship therefore developed in three stages: sponsorship in 2023, partial ownership from 2024 and complete ownership in 2025. For Virtuosi, the process changed both the name under which its Formula 2 programme competed and its ownership structure. Lohan remained involved through the first two stages, including the period when the relationship moved from commercial partnership to investment. By the time Invicta assumed full control, the Formula 2 operation had become part of a wider corporate brand strategy. For Declan Lohan, the sequence marked the end of his direct involvement in Formula 2 after more than a decade with the racing organisation he helped build.
