This is the new livery design for Williams as the Formula 1 outfit revealed the FW43B, which will take part in the upcoming season.
Williams had planned to present its new racing car via an augmented reality app, only for hackers to force the team to abandon the idea and remove the app from digital platforms.
The team issued the first computer generated renders of the FW43B, revealing a striking new livery for the new car that will be raced by George Russell and Nicholas Latifi.
While the front of the car has retained its largely white-base design, the rear looks completely different, sporting a blue striped pattern that also incorporates the Williams ‘W’ logo.
The livery is also accompanied by some yellow elements around the sidepods, bulkhead and front wing endplates.
2021 marks the team’s first full season since its takeover by American investment group Dorilton Capital in August, which led to an overhaul of its senior management team.
The exit of the Williams family led to Simon Roberts taking over as team principal, while former Volkswagen motorsport chief Jost Capito has joined as CEO.
“Williams Racing is a sporting icon, and a team that has forged a reputation of success through sheer determination and grit intertwined with innovation, passionate and skillful race-craft and an absolute desire to win,” Capito said.
“Highs and lows are typical in any long-established sporting brand’s journey and historic success can be a strong motivator, but it cannot be relied upon to define future success in the modern era of Formula 1.
“Therefore, we have created a fresh new livery for the 2021 car; one that acknowledges our incredible past and retains the spirit, drive and motivation that remains at the core of Williams’ DNA yet looks to the future and signposts our long-term ambition to return to the front of the grid.
“Whilst we are just starting out on this journey and there is still a lot of work to do, we are happy to see momentum in the right direction and look forward to continuing that progress on track this season.”
Besides Capito, Williams has also been boosted by the return of 2009 world champion Jenson Button, who serves as an official advisor to the team he debuted with in 2000.
The team has finished last in the constructors’ championship each of the last three years, but enjoyed an upswing in form through 2020 as it regularly competed with Haas and Alfa Romeo.
Social media:
https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/status/1367839203892068361
https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/status/1367842993286299651
https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/status/1367837346138324993
Official website:
https://www.williamsf1.com/news/2021/team/williams-racing-unveils-livery-for-the-2021-season
News stories:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.first-look-williams-reveal-new-livery-inspired-by-all-conquering-cars-of-the.YPh8lomGIht2GnphHAt59.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.new-ceo-capito-convinced-williams-can-get-back-to-the-front-of-the-grid-in.2wDbwfBsEHKuagN897Djsm.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56291716
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12476/12236441/williams-reveal-new-look-for-f1-2021-with-fw43b-car-images-online-after-vr-launch-hacked
https://www.racefans.net/2021/03/05/first-pictures-williams-presents-a-new-look-for-the-2021-f1-season/
George Russell has set his sights on Williams consistently beating Haas and Alfa Romeo this season, despite his belief the duo will receive a boost from the “big step” Ferrari have made with their power unit.
Williams ended up bottom of the constructors’ championship last year, having failed to score a single point. But rather than being cut off at the back of the field, like the previous year, they were part of the pack and regularly challenging and beating the likes of Haas and Alfa Romeo – both customer teams of Ferrari.
Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto has said his team are planning an all-new power unit for this season, having dropped to fourth and last in the engine stakes last year, and Russell says the improvements they are believed to have made has forced Williams to double their efforts.
“We want to be in the same position as last year [of racing Haa and Alfa Romeo] as a bare minimum,” Russell told F1.com as Williams launched their 2021 challenger on Friday. “We do appreciate and recognise that the Ferrari power train will take a big step forward so that’s a bit unfortunate for us, so we’ve had to do almost double the work over the winter.
“But that’s the bare minimum [target], fighting and ahead of Alfa Romeo and Haas, which I think is a realistic target and fingers crossed hopefully fighting toward the mid-pack.”
Russell, who will again be partnered by Nicholas Latifi at Williams this year, impressed the Formula 1 world when he stood in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in Bahrain last season, almost winning the Sakhir Grand Prix before a pit mix up dropped him down the field.
He appreciates that kind of form isn’t possible at Williams this season, so is instead focusing on doing the best with what he has.
“Following every single race, I know if it’s been a successful weekend or not,” he added. “That doesn’t matter if I have finished 14th in Q2 or only 17th or 18th. I know if I believe I have got the absolute most out of the car or I haven’t, so I think a successful year would be coming away from it and saying, you know what, 75% of the races or more, we got absolutely everything out of it.
“Obviously you can’t achieve it every weekend. I’m just being realistic. [I want to leave each weekend] knowing I didn’t make any stupid mistakes, continuing to improve as a driver, continuing to improve and help the team.”
Source: Formula1.com