Williams 2019 F1 livery launch

Williams shows off its new 2019 livery and title sponsor

2019 F1 season

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Williams has revealed its new livery and title sponsor for the 2019 F1 season.

The Grove-based team has a new look following the arrival of Rokit as title sponsor. They replace previous title sponsor Martini and join another new Williams backer for 2019, Polish petrochemicals company PKN Orlen.

“We spent quite a lot of time on this livery,” explained Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams.

“It was all done in-house, we have a very good creative team. I wanted a livery that told story about where Williams is and the future we think it has.

“Williams’ traditional colours are navy blue and white. But I wanted to move away from that. I wanted to show the world we are a fresh, revitalised brand.”

Video: Williams reveals 2019 F1 livery and title sponsor

Pictures: Williams reveals 2019 F1 livery and title sponsor

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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97 comments on “Williams shows off its new 2019 livery and title sponsor”

  1. A quick Google of ROKiT turns up absolutely nothing…

    1. All I found was ‘vintage clothing’

    2. i’m pretty sure its Jack black’s new startup

    3. Really hard to find good info. Looks like a cell phones brand.

      I can’t understand how McLaren rakes tons of triple A sponsors and Williams has a title sponsor with only “coming soon” products.

    4. One the first page of a Google results page: https://rokitphones.com/

      Not sure what everyone else was using for search criteria?!

      1. I guess (I’d even bet, if I was a betting person) that website has hit a peak of first visits today @tonyyeb, @m-bagattini, @francorchamps17, @asanator, @hahostolze!

        Who knows, maybe the sponsorship deal has already paid for itself with that alone :-)

        Also, I am with you guys hoping that Williams did their due dilligence and got the sponsorship money up front!

        1. @bascb I’m reliably* informed that due diligence is something that F1 teams rarely do these days and just jump into bed with the biggest pot of money wafted under their noses…

          *Not reliable at all

      2. @tonyyeb in 2003 I stopped looking after the first Google results page. In 2019 I stopped looking after the first result :D

        I was referring to the difficulty in finding information about the Company, not their website or their products, more where it comes from and do they have the money to support Williams.

        1. Well, I guess since the first four (or so) results at Google are now either what Google sells directly, or companies paying them to be high up, I guess we can hardly hold it against a newer company to not appear right up @m-bagattini

      3. Which is a new brand of ROK Brands (http://www.rokbrands.com/).

        And guess what they have an energy drink, are looking for distributors, and undoubtedly also the biggest competitor of Red Bull ;)

        1. @coldfly I particularly like their Irish whiskey, made in Wolverhampton : )

        2. So many pages, so many products that can’t be bought anywhere… anyone else getting that Rich feeling about them?

    5. The parent company is ROK Global: http://www.rokglobal.com/en/index.html

  2. Lol another shady title sponsor (Rokit hasn’t released a product yet), seems like a trend this year!

    1. F1 is in a bad way if these are the title sponsors

    2. Panama and Cayman Island are going to lose more clients to F1.

      1. @ruliemaulana: The Pinnacle of Motosport Money Laundering

  3. White, electric blue and black, interesting, though I’d prefer some of PKN Orlen’s red on there too, especially as ROKiT use red in their logo

    1. Yea, Orlen logo should be red.

  4. I do like the livery – especially if, as in the video, the ‘black’ is just naked carbon fibre

    1. I agree, it’s a nice shot at a livery. Simple lines, I like showing “naked” carbon fibre too.

      1. @bascb @hahostolze
        Is it me or do those front wings look bigger than those of STR’s ?

        1. I guess that is more the lighting and angles of the pictures than what it will look like when you actually see both cars out on track @webtel

          1. @bascb
            Agreed. Cant really judge with a few pics.
            I guess we’ll know in a week’s time.

          2. By now, that might be a tad optimistic on account of Williams struggling to get their car out on track though @webtel!

          3. @bascb
            ha ha. Yeah. i just read about it.
            I don’t want to be George Russell right now. Here’s hoping they don’t miss out a lot.

    2. Oh yeah. Wasn’t sure at first (I think it was the whilte/blue transition) but didn’t take long to grow on me.

  5. https://www.rokit.co.uk? Vintage Clothing | Retro Clothing | Rokit Vintage Clothing?

      1. I’m better now, thanks. Those clothes wrrrrrrr…..

  6. https://rokitphones.com/
    Barely exists, like rich energy!

    1. But ROKiT at least seems to be more serious. They were present at CES 2019 and the founder is the same guy behind Patrón tequilla (when it became famous at least), so it is a guy that still makes business.

      Nevertheless really weird the way F1 sponsorship is going…

      1. I like the description on their website: “ROKiT is starting a revolution as the first company to pair vital life services with high-quality, affordable phones. We connect you to the people you love, and the services you need, to live a better life.”

        We connect you to the people you love, and the services you need… just like any other smartphone I suppose!

        1. Give them their dues, they are the first company to think that people will flock to a social media site that automatically dox them by mapping all it’s users publicly….

  7. Little bit of the ROK background in this report. Bigger in the US. Looks like new to the UK market which may explain a Williams sponsorship…

    https://www.pcmag.com/news/365842/rokit-has-the-wildest-phone-lineup-at-ces

  8. I like it! The more I look at it the blue reminds me of the streaks of blue/teal that Mercedes has used for a couple of seasons, but it’s still sharp looking in my opinion. It’ll look good fighting for last place next to McLaren’s papaya orange… :-)

    (All kidding aside, I hope Williams doesn’t have a repeat of their dreadful 2018 season. I want Kubica to do well in his return!)

  9. Not bad although I still prefer last season’s livery color scheme.

  10. Cool livery, lets hope the car goes like a “rockit” eh….. :)

  11. ROKiT phones are ‘launching soon’ (https://rokitphones.com) and Haas have £30m sponsorship from a drinks company that is barely off the ground yet. All sound, sensible financial footings for F1 this season!

    1. @hove9, with tobacco making a comeback (Ferrari more visible since last year, McLaren with BAT returning) and now having start-up companies that are not yet in business becoming title sponsors, it seems shaky…

  12. It needs a bold line of colour to separate the blue and white.. doesn’t look right faded in like that :/

    1. @nemo87

      Agree. Blurs really don’t work. Clean cut colour sections would have looked better. It all just looks too messy for me. Prefer their previous liveries

      1. It doesn’t look finished at all!

  13. Not bad, but looks a bit… backmarkerish… A bit 1990s Tyrrell… Hope this is not sign.

    1. agreed! looks good, but definitely more than a hint of Pacific Lotus…

      1. Yes, that vibe of backmarkerish

  14. At first glance Rokit logo looks like one of the gas lighter brand. I thought Williams going the same theme with Ferrari and McLaren… But then I found out it was a cell phone brand that no one ever seen…

  15. Looks quite dull. Maybe high res photos may help.

    1. I mean closeup

  16. Apparently they sponsor the Houston rockets in the nba.

    1. Indeed they do…
      Big sponsorship deals is a way to get your start-up noticed BUT you’re also “burning” money fast…

    2. Launched in August of 2018 as a subsidiary of ROK Brands, ROKiT is a challenger cell phone startup. Reflecting its end-user values of connectedness, well-being and security, ROKiT offers a variety of “humanity-first” IO Collection cell phone bundles: feature-laden, cutting-edge phones that include access to free telemedicine, pharmacy discounts, family legal services and other lifestyle-enhancing offerings at prices that make them affordable for everyone.

      ROKiT is a humanity first telecommunications business that offers consumers state-of-the-art mobile handsets and bundled services at an unbeatable value. As part of the ROK Group of Companies, ROKiT has been founded by business innovator John-Paul DeJoria (John Paul Mitchell Systems, Patron Tequila, John Paul Pet), and Jonathan Kendrick (British entrepreneur). ROKiT’s core innovation is the brand’s unique combination of device and service offerings brought to market at aggressive, attention-getting price points. ROKiT pledges to provide connection, health, and security for all.

      ROK Brands was founded by seasoned business innovators John Paul DeJoria and Jonathan Kendrick and includes ROK Drinks (ABK Beer, Real Irish Whiskey, and Bogart’s Spirits, among others). Headquartered in the United Kingdom and Southern California, ROK Brands offers a diverse portfolio of products that improve the lifestyle of mankind around the world.

      NBA Jersey Logo sposorship deals range from $2.5 Million US to $20 Million US annually.

      1. Announcing the deal, the team described ROKiT as a “new telco brand challenging the status quo, offering premium smartphone technology, performance and design at an affordable price and installing innovative wifi networks to make the world a better place”.

        and about Kendrick:

        ROKiT co-founder Jonathan Kendrick previously worked in F1 as a Goodyear tyre engineer, including on Alan Jones’s car at Williams in the 1978 season.

        1. ROK Brands was founded by seasoned business innovators John Paul DeJoria and Jonathan Kendrick and includes ROK Drinks (ABK Beer, Real Irish Whiskey, and Bogart’s Spirits, among others). Headquartered in the United Kingdom and Southern California, ROK Brands offers a diverse portfolio of products that improve the lifestyle of mankind around the world.

          ABK beer logo is also seen on the middle side of the FW42. :)
          ABK in Martini out. ;-)

  17. Looks like one of those default liveries you have in iRacing. Not a pretty design, IMO. The colours are good tho! reminds me of the williams cars from the late 2000s.

  18. Really ugly. One of the worst I remember. I hope the car is not as scary as his painting. Wlliams is a team respected by all the fans of formula 1.

    1. Speak for yourself.

      1. You too…

  19. so far im not overly inthused with these launches a wildly waste of money imo there are last years cars with dev front wings and a new paint job either as less paint aspossible (williams ) blatently copying an iconic brand (hass) and same old same old with red bull 2 sorry (torro rosso), what is the point might as well wait untill testing safe bucket load of money and unvail the whole thing at the track.

  20. This is getting bad for f1, so far we have rich supporting haas, rokit supporting Williams, mission wiinow supporting ferrari and British American tabacco supporting mclaren… Sounds like money laundering and just plain dirty money deals. F1 needs to ban dirty corporate sponsorship.

    1. Torro rosso just showed their car with red bull all over it, looking like a red bull car and nothing likes it’s company nMe torro rosso. another disgusting corporation that hurts people with their harmful product

    2. ROKiT is a challenger cell phone startup.
      Why is this so terrible for F1? And so terrible for the NBA?

      1. Their last financial report shows them 500 million in the hole, with profit coming solely from past contracts from a wound up business. They claim in the report that their new app will be their focus for 2018…

        Having a keen startup company is fine, this one seems to be a money losing outfit. Money losing outfits that seem to keep going year after year have a strong association with money fraud.

  21. Benetton light – less colours, fat and soul for your enjoyment!

    1. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
      11th February 2019, 15:54

      You’re just describing the late benetton models themselves. The B200 and B201 look like all soul has been sucked out of the livery already and the latter is a very bulky car as well….

  22. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
    11th February 2019, 15:54

    could be worse….

    could be a lot better though. Looks like they took some clues from NIO’s FE colour scheme

  23. As a lifelong Williams fan, I am very glad that the team have been able to land a title partner and I am not too offended by the livery, though I don’t think it quite works when viewed head on.

    The thing that does bother me however is the fact that the team can no longer attract the sort of blue chip/household name partners which it used to in the not too distant past (other than Unilever/Rexona).

  24. Wow, really is the year of the dodgy title sponsors, eh?

    Gonna be a lot of bad press coming out over the testing period in relation to these deals, I feel it in mah loins!

  25. “We spent quite a lot of time on this livery,” explained Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams.

    Looks like they spent half a day coming up with that…

    1. Haha, I hope that’s not relative to the time they spent working on the car :D

    2. Yeah that line made me double-take too. I bet you could knock up something pretty close on MS Word in about 20 minutes. I don’t know whether I’m angry at the terrible effort or disappointed by what Williams has become.

  26. This livery is sadly a thumbs down for me. Firstly, I’m no fan of basically not painting the lower half of the car. I get that they are camouflaging important aero parts that way, but it just looks boring. But worse, the fade between blue and white looks too much like a school project in digital design where someone finally understood how to use the paint brush and then used that for everything. It’s precisely the wrong size fade that makes it look very cheap. It would have looked better with either a larger smoother fade, or just a sharp edge. At least to me. On the positive side, the choice of color is great. I hope they do better this year.

  27. I have no idea what Rokit is but I really quite like the colours.

  28. not worried about the car but a bit unsure about Kubica…not sure if it was right for him to come back to F1..

    1. And i am worried about George Russell if he is ready for F1 or is he another Vandoorne

  29. Neato. Finally, a livery that looks adequately tacky for a backmarker.

    Also, Ro…what?

  30. Looks like a XL size toothpaste tube…hahahaha! Awful!

  31. Stephen Higgins
    11th February 2019, 17:44

    Shafts of Manor but without the red.

    Doesn’t scream ‘Williams’ to me at all …

  32. Shame the blue of the Rexona part seems to have some Rokit dandruff. Awkward!

    Not a strong livery, shame.

  33. Could be better… but could be worse too…
    Reminded me something at first glance: Ligier JS17 (1981)…

  34. Rothmans Royals?

    1. Rothmans had a navy blue colour associated with it IIRC. This colour scheme doesn’t match it.

  35. petebaldwin (@)
    11th February 2019, 18:25

    I actually really like that. Not sure why but I think it’ll look good on track and with Kubica behind the wheel, I’m rooting for Williams this year!

  36. Suffering Williams Fan
    11th February 2019, 19:06

    Don’t like the livery, but maybe it will grow on me. The thing that bothers me a little more as a Williams fan is this…

    https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06253633/filing-history

    4th October accounts filing… I have no business/accounting expertise whatsoever, but how is a company with £32,225 of assets and £39.1 million of liabilities the title sponsor of an F1 team?

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      11th February 2019, 20:39

      That’s just one of many many similarly named companies. On that link, if you click on “people” you find James Lee Kendrick who is director of 75 companies – most of which are called ROK___…….

  37. Don’t like it at all. They spent a lot of money on this livery? I could have done better for free. No wonder Williams are looking for GT Sport livery makers for their E Sports team.

    All the best to them though.

  38. I like it, but it does remind me of some kind of mid-field ‘90s team.

  39. I quite like the livery, or rather, I don’t dislike it. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing spectacular either. Would’ve been nice to see something else than just black at the lower part of the car (maybe simple white and blue?).

  40. Need to see it in the sun before I have a real like/dislike opinion.

    That said, it doesn’t look like it took time to design. Maybe this is why it takes so long for Williams in-season development cycles.

  41. “I wanted to show the world we are a fresh, revitalised brand.”

    Brand? I remember when they were a racing team. Now Williams is a racing ‘brand’?

    The last independent team on the grid, now the last semi-independent branding exercise.

  42. I’m very surprised that F1 teams have a sponsorship problem. It caters to a global audience and as far as I know is an elitist sport in the sense that the people who follow F1 are on average much wealthier than the average person.

    Any international luxury brand should be delighted to be able to advertise in Formula 1. Billions of folks now know about Haas, Kimoa, Dekra, Petronas, and even Oris since this is article is about Williams.

    If anything, companies should be fighting over sponsorship to get the attention of the folks who follow F1. It’s hard to believe what’s going on with Ferrari, Haas, McLaren and now Williams.

  43. Love it. I might even considering getting the team gear this year which hasn’t happened in a while if they’ll offer the black/blue combo.

  44. Lenny (@leonardodicappucino)
    12th February 2019, 1:26

    Wow. That is the ugliest livery I’ve seen in quite a while.

  45. The Martini livery was never really that good either but the brand is iconic so it worked. Some of the dark blue and white liveries also weren’t that good but it passed as Williams colours, so pretty good. Now they have lost both Martini and the dark blue there’s nothing iconic about it. I think it’s Claire who would have selected this livery from a bunch of them put in front of her, it does look quite girly.

  46. Tough crowd, here.

    It’s fine. I want to see it out in the sun, but it looks to me as though they will be easy to pick out in a crowd. (Which is kind of the idea, no?)

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