Williams hopes the new-look livery on their FW42 represents a “revitalisation” of their historic brand.
Having lost the iconic stripes of title sponsor Martini at the end of 2018, the British team was expected to return to their traditional navy blue colour scheme for this season.
However, at the car’s launch on Monday, surprised many with a white and electric blue design combined with the colours of new title sponsor ROKiT.
“Martini’s departure gave us a great opportunity to show how we wanted to position Williams moving forward,” deputy team boss Claire Williams explained.
“This is a very important year for us, so we spent a lot of time on this livery. A lot of people are fully aware of our traditional colours, but I wanted to move away from that and show the world we are a fresh, revitalised brand.
“A Formula 1 car is your shop window to the world so I wanted to make sure we came out with a really bright livery.”
Williams also revealed her father, team founder Sir Frank Williams, also gave a thumbs up to the change.
“Frank loved it, and you might be surprised to hear that,” Claire told PA Sport. “I was a little nervous presenting it to him. Frank is very traditional and protective of the traditional navy blue and white, but also understanding of the arguments behind the change.
“We are telling the world a very clear story and clear message as to where we are as a company, he is fully behind it.
“I am still here, and if he didn’t like it, he would have fired me.”
Also Read:
- Claire Williams prepared to ‘go down fighting’ to protect team legacy
- Williams confident of 2019 improvement but recovery still a ‘work in progress’
Williams head into 2019 after what was the third-worst year in their long history in terms of points scored, with just seven leaving them bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.
“Last season was very tough for us,” the deputy boss admitted. “It is very painful for every team to be in our situation, however, nobody left our team during the winter and that says something about how strong Williams is as a team.
“None of us wants to relive 2018, our goal is therefore also to make progress. As a team, you do not just drop out to P10 if you do not have any weak points. We have worked very hard, but it will be a long journey.
“Paddy [Lowe] worked very hard to put the right people in the right places and I am convinced that we have the right tools to walk the right path again, however, we only know in Melbourne where we really are.”