Williams has quickly become a fan favourite for their FW-46 car launch for the 2024 season.
New sponsors, a car that is more blue and contrasting minimalist white driver overalls have put the team in the forefront of Formula 1 buzz upon its livery launch on February 5th. The colours of the livery are a contemporary tribute to the championship-winning legacy of the team as they move on from Navy Blue to incorporate a more modern look with New Era Williams.
Embodiment of class and power, the new livery is a strong harkening back to the position improvement the team has achieved in the 2023 season. As they gear up to fight for the 6th position on the Constructor's Championship, the team is going with the same driver lineup, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant.
Talks of the livery is really incomplete without mentioning the driver helmets! The helmets have, quite literally, stolen the show for Williams Racing. Alex's pink and blue and Logan's white and American flag helmets are all about speed and kawai!
FW-46 is the first car completely developed under the supervision of new team principal James Vowles and fans are excited to see its performance and eventual climb up the charts. While 2023 saw a really inconsistent car performance varying heavily depending on the race tracks, 2024 is most likely to be a trial-and-error year as well. But leveraging the experience under James’ hood from Mercedes, building a race-winning team is the goal. However, bridging the gap between the 7th place and 6th place, where Alpine finished with 120 points, is still a long journey for this season and a lot is yet to be revealed in the pre-season testing.
The addition of new sponsors has boosted the morale and growth mindset for the team. Komatsu is coming back this year to reignite their race-winning partnership from the 80s and 90s. This has sparked new conversation around car development and banter on Instagram from Haas asking why Williams have got their team principal's name on the car!
The partnership with Puma translated into the car launch at their flagship store in New York and the brand is also set to provide the drivers with racewear as well as sponsor the team’s official race kit. The fans will be getting their official merch collection from Puma as well.
In terms of more consistent performance requirements from the team, Sergeant’s ability to score is heavily relied upon. While there are talks around Albon leaving Williams for the seat in Mercedes in 2025, the team needs a reliable and performing driver ready this season and that means Sergeant has this season to prove himself with Williams. The driver’s performance as he had finished the 2023 season with 1 point while Albon had accumulated 27, did not inspire too much confidence in his ability. But having the off-season to work on his drawbacks and re-evaluating training might just be the key to Sergeant’s performance improvement.
Considering all the variables, it still remains to be seen if the team has indeed provided a better car to support the drivers and their quest to move up to the 6th position in the Constructor’s Championship.
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