Bolstered by new sponsorship, the team showed off its ‘hint at history, focus on the future’ livery. And, while light on specifics, the positivity is strong
JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE
When I look at the livery, it’s got this progression between the blues, which for me signifies where we have been – and where we’re going,” mused Williams team principal James Vowles, as the Grove squad unveiled its 2024 livery and a new sponsorship deal with Japanese heavy machinery manufacturer Komatsu at Puma’s Fifth Avenue store in New York City.
Billed as a ‘season launch’, the livery was transplanted onto 2023’s FW45 chassis while this year’s new car remains under wraps. It features an evolution of the differing shades of blue used over the past two seasons. But, pleasingly, there’s a nod to the team’s history; a red and white pinstripe runs along the car’s nose to evoke memories of some of Williams’s most successful cars, including the FW14B and FW15C. Komatsu has also picked up significant branding presence after being involved with the team during the 1980s and 1990s. Sportswear giant Puma and data platform VAST Data have also joined the team.
“[The livery has] got a nod, which is subtle in there, but you will see it back to Frank and back to our history,” added Vowles. “It contains for me the history of what the team is, signifying elements of where we’re going. And then just really some top class sponsors that are part of our journey. Look at the car 12 months ago and look at the car today. Look at the amount of top brand sponsors that are on the journey with us. And that for me is a real boon and that suggestion of direction of travel that we’re in.”
The absence of a proper FW46 from the team’s launch was a limiting factor in the information available, although the drivers relayed their experience of it within the squad’s simulator, and quietly hinted at positivity and a step over last year’s car. According to Alex Albon, Vowles’s influence in the Williams set-up has pushed the technical team out of its comfort zone; the FW46 should be visually different when it eventually meets the world in Bahrain.
“I don’t want to put pressure on James, but it’s his first year where he’s really taken control and you can see that,” Albon explained. “I think over the past four or five years, there has been an inherent way the cars have been designed. And this year there’s been quite a big divergence to that. That’s why you’re hearing us ta
