Record your lap times with a modern take on the iconic Santos de Cartier, exclusive to MR PORTER .

From the exhaust fumes to the burning rubber, to the snarl of a V8 engine, life in a pit lane is intoxicating – and that’s before you’ve even clambered into the cockpit, smelt the leather, ridden the bumps and felt the g-forces of the inside track. As Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons famously said, “the car is the closest thing we will ever create to something that is alive” – and it’s this similarly visceral cocktail of engineering that a mechanical watch shares. This explains why nearly every motorsport nut wears a mechanical watch; essentially a high-performance engine in miniature, mounted within a lithe monocoque chassis, ticking with breakneck precision. Clutching that Alcantara wheel, one watch you’re likely to want peeping from your elasticated Sparco sleeve is this steel Santos de Cartier on a grained, black-leather strap – exclusive to MR PORTER and bestowed with wrist-hugging contours and racing lines straight out of Sebring. Mr Louis Cartier may have designed it in 1904 for Mr Alberto Santos-Dumont, but the Brazilian aviation pioneer would surely be dabbling in high-octane pursuits of a four-wheeled variety today and Santos de Cartier would certainly be keeping track of his track times.

From the rounded square bezel to its eight exposed screws and gently flowing “shoulders”, both inspired by the neo-industrialism of the Eiffel Tower, the design of the Santos de Cartier was so coherently distinctive from the outset that in 114 years, all that has happened are sympathetic tweaks and twists. The aesthetic pedigree remains as intact and iconic as the Porsche 911. This year’s revival of the model comes 40 years after Santos’ last big overhaul in the late 1970s, when the screw head motif was flowed through the length of its bracelet and steel-with-gold was made the norm. This time around, though, the tweaks couldn’t feel more 2018. Focusing on ergonomics and sleeker lines, the elegant leather strap is instantly interchangeable with a metal bracelet if you’re feeling more “blue steel” than leathery. What’s more, in a first for the Santos, you’ll find Cartier’s in-house automatic movement, the 1847 MC ticking away beneath the bonnet.

Stitched, grained black leather on polished stainless steel is pure 1960s accessory – whether we’re talking briefcases, Leica cameras or sports watches. And when it comes to the latter, think Mr Paul Newman hanging out trackside on a Sunday. In other words, if the casual petrolhead look is executed perfectly, no one will know whether you’re racing that day, or happen to own three of the teams. An ivory rollneck under a suede bomber is a great start, with pale fitted chinos or – SS18 trend alert – “Dad denim” (Levi’s 501s, in short). As for your shoes, you can pick up on the black leather, but make sure you retain the possibility of some double-declutching or heel-and-toe with soft-soled pumps – nothing stiff, unless you want to get fast acquainted with some hay bales.