Williams Unveils Bold 2026 F1 Season Liveries, But Misses Barcelona Test
The Williams team has unveiled a striking new livery for the 2026 Formula 1 season, but the reveal comes with a catch.
The team's new FW48 car, which will make its debut at the Bahrain test on February 11-13, features a vibrant gloss blue color scheme, a nod to the team's traditional blue, with a twist of lighter blue and white on the sidepods, thanks to a new partnership with Barclays. This bold move reflects the team's high hopes for the new era of F1 regulations, but it comes with a price.
Williams missed the first pre-season testing event in Barcelona last week due to their car not being ready, a setback that team principal James Vowles admits will have an impact. However, he remains confident that the team will make up for lost time in Bahrain, where they will run for the first time.
"I don't believe that after six days of testing (in Bahrain), we will be on the backfoot. A little bit of that is fortune because both the (Mercedes) power unit and gearbox were reliable and the VTT (Virtual Track Test) flushed out a lot of the demons that were buried in the car," Vowles said.
Despite the setback, the team's driver line-up of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon is considered strong, and both drivers are optimistic about the team's prospects in the new season.
Sainz, who secured two podiums for the team in the second half of last season, expressed his hopes for the 2026 season: "It's one of the main reasons why I moved to this team and why I chose Williams as my future project, because I trusted a lot in the trajectory that we were on in the project going into these new set of regulations. I'm hoping that we can do another good step in the right direction."
Albon, who starts his fifth season at the team, added: "I think the changes that James is making at the factory, the culture in the team and the way that it's shifting, it's all going in the right direction and it's what I believe the team needs to be like to become a championship-winning team in the future. We're still in our growing phase and there's still many years ahead of us but we're on the right path."
The Bahrain test will be a crucial opportunity for the team to make up for lost time and prove their mettle in the new era of F1. With the season opener in Australia just two weeks away, the team will be eager to show their progress and challenge the 'big four' of McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari.
