The Williams Racing team has revealed their 2023 car livery, as well as introducing new driver Logan Sargeant alongside Alex Albon.
In a dedicated event organised at its Grove factory, Williams showcased the colour scheme that will eventually be used on the FW45 car the team is currently finishing building.
The 2023 livery bears a considerable resemblance to the colours with which it ended running in the 2022 season, albeit with more of the upper surfaces painted in a new matte finish compared to the largely all-black carbonfibre approach it had to use to help hit Formula 1’s minimum weight requirements last year.
The livery, which was showcased on an FW44 model, does feature prominent new branding afforded to Gulf International as the oil company has been signed as a new partner for 2022 after its deal with McLaren ended at 2022’s conclusion.
Williams described its 2023 livery as an “evolution” of what adorned the FW44 and was “retaining the brand visual cues which features a contrasting diamond shape and flashes of red and blue, embodying the exciting new era of Williams Racing [under Dorilton Capital ownership]”.
Although it did not show the finished FW45, a Williams statement described it overall as “an evolution of the FW44”, although featuring what it calls a “heavily evolved” sidepod concept, with additional “modifications to the front suspension layout as well as the major external aerodynamic surfaces”.
Williams claims its soon-to-be released 2023 challenger is “more aerodynamically efficient than the FW44” with “more overall downforce and improved handling characteristics”.
The FW45’s livery was revealed by Williams board member James Matthews and Gulf CEO Mike Jones, flanked by Albon, Sargeant and 2023 Indy NXT driver Jamie Chadwick, who remains part of the Williams driver academy she joined in 2019 and from which Sargeant graduates this year.
Ex-Mercedes strategy boss James Vowles was recently announced as Williams’ replacement for Jost Capito as team principal but was not present at the livery launch as he will only start working for the squad on 20 February following his release from Mercedes.
Matthew Savage, Williams’ board chairman, said: “As Williams Racing continues its transformation, we’re proud to unveil this year’s livery.
“We are excited about this year’s car, and I cannot thank the entire team at Grove enough for their hard work to get ready for the season. I am delighted to welcome both new and existing partners to our journey.
“With our new team principal James Vowles joining us later this month, as well as our exciting driver line-up of Alex and Logan, Williams Racing will be giving its all in 2023.”
Albon added: “I’m really excited to be starting back for another year with the team. The car looks great and will hit the track at Silverstone.
“The team has worked really hard last year and over the winter to address some key areas in our car, putting in the work to try and maximise what we get out of the car for 2023, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the FW45 can do.
“We also welcome new partners to the team this year, so it’s great to have them onboard.”
Sargeant said he is “really excited for the season to get started after what, for me, feels like a long winter!”
“I’m super motivated and we’ve put a lot of hard work in,” he continued. “The car is looking amazing and it shows the huge effort the team has put in the off-season, so I’m looking forward to getting started at Silverstone before heading out to Bahrain.”
Williams official website and social media:
https://www.williamsf1.com/
https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/status/1622596594955702278
https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/status/1622598612654891008
News story on the Gulf partnership:
https://www.williamsf1.com/posts/0ec41419-8cb9-4ae5-9429-8620771f7bfe/williams-racing-gulf-oil-international-long-term-partnership
News stories:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-williams-reveal-2023-livery-ahead-of-fw45-unveiling.3r7DQ6HX9izQe2G6E4z8Li.html
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12476/12804568/formula-1-launches-williams-reveal-sleek-new-car-livery-and-gulf-oil-partnership-for-2023-season
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/64539592
https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/06/albon-doubts-williams-can-emulate-haas-leap-up-the-order-in-2023/
https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/06/first-pictures-williams-presents-2023-livery-including-new-gulf-sponsorship/
Alex Albon admits that his Williams Formula 1 team has a “long road ahead” as it tries to progress up the field this year.
Williams finished 10th in last year’s world championship, having scored just eight points – 27 fewer than closest rivals AlphaTauri.
Albon stressed that he and new recruit Logan Sargeant will have to work closely together in order to help develop the new FW45, which will be shaken down next week.
However, he conceded that it won’t be easy as the team has to make such big steps from where it was last year.
“Obviously, Logan’s coming in with fresh experience or let’s just say, less experience than someone like myself,” said Albon.
“But it’s kind of just trying to keep it real. A lot of it is just trying to work together. We’ve got a long road ahead, realistically speaking.
“We’ve driven the sim now for a month, we’re making inroads. The main thing is that feedback is the same, we’ve got similar areas that we want the car to improve in. So we’ve been chipping away at it.
“And as we’ve said before, it’s a real team effort here to bring the car up the field. We need to be open and honest with where we are and see how it unfolds itself in Bahrain.”
Albon doesn’t want to make any predictions about the team’s potential form in 2023.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “I would say that we are definitely in a better position ourselves than we were end of last year. But I don’t know how that translates to the circuit, I don’t know how big of a step everyone else is going to make. Only time will tell.
“When you drive on a simulator, there’s a lot of different things that can be misled, correlation and whatnot, you never quite know. So for now, we’re in a better place. But it’s hard to say really where we stand.”
Expanding on the key areas that had to be addressed for this year, he added: “There were clear weaknesses in the car. It’s not just me, also Nicky [Latifi] last year, Logan drove the car as well last year. There were pretty obvious weaknesses in the car.
“I can say that low speed front-locking was quite a big problem for us last year, and we’re trying to get around that and understand why it was so difficult.
“So areas like that there’s a common goal to improve the car and those areas, it’s not just myself. The goals are pretty clear.
“Logan, even last year, he had similar feedback, he knows the problems in the car, it’s not totally new to him, the feeling of the car. He gets where the car needs to be quicker. So everyone’s involved in the development and trying to address the weaknesses we had.”
Source: Motorsport.com