After terminating their deal with title sponsor ROKit, Williams knew they had to do something about their livery ahead of next week’s Formula 1 season debut in Austria.
Their solution is a simple yet classy design that combines a mainly white exterior with various blue stripes and some black here and there. Main sponsor aside, the livery now boasts branding from Canadian food company Sofina and tech firm Acronis.
While there is still room for new sponsors, including a title sponsor, areas such as the front and rear wing will simply say Williams for now. The team will field George Russell and Nicholas Latifi on this year’s grid.
In an exclusive interview with Autocar, Williams F1 deputy team principal Claire Williams revealed that her outfit’s situation has completely changed thanks to these new regulations.
“And funnily enough, the ante has been upped further by the way the virus has affected us all,” she added. “We’ve come together to realize we have to do a better job creating parity within the sport and of getting costs down.”
“Until now, being an independent hasn’t made a whole lot of sense. But we believe, and thankfully so do the new administrators, that doing your own design and engineering should not be allowed to be a disadvantage.”
Whether the British team will be able to make any noise on the track this year remains to be seen, especially after coming in dead last in 2019. Still, they did show some progress during pre-season testing, so maybe the likes of Haas and Alfa Romeo should be a little worried.