In the round-up: Williams’ new livery includes a subtle tribute to founder Sir Frank Williams.
In brief
New Williams carries tribute to team founder
Williams team principal James Vowles says the livery of the team’s new FW46 has a tribute to the team’s founder Sir Frank Williams.
Unveiled yesterday, the revised livery for the 2024 Williams includes an arrow motif echoing that of the logo of Frank Williams Racing Cars – the precursor to Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Vowles said he has no intention of separating from Williams’ heritage.
“I think it’s one of the biggest brands – certainly in motorsport and certainly in the UK,” Vowles told media including RaceFans. “I also have no desire whatsoever to change it – nor does Dorilton, for that matter – because it means a tremendous amount to me.
“Frank and his legacy remain in us. You’ll see in the livery now as well, if you look at the back you’ll see his arrow, subtly embedded in there. You’ll see a bit of Silverstone as well. I really wanted his mark on the car. I wanted to reflect that I’m not here to replace him, I’m here to carry on the legacy that is Williams.”
Singapore to review grand prix deal
The Singaporean government will review the details of its deal to host the Singapore Grand Prix following a corruption investigation into a former minister.Transport minister S. Isawaran resigned after corruption charges were brought against him, which he denies. He allegedly received gifts worth over £100,000 over years from businessman Ong Beng Seng. The Singapore government will review the terms of its contract with Formula 1 following the charges.
Dunne steps up to F3
Alex Dunne will step up to the Formula 3 championship this year with MP Motorsport, completing the team’s line-up.
Dunne won the 2022 British F4 championship before taking second place in last year’s GB3 series. He also competed in the Macau Grand Prix, but retired on the opening lap. The 18-year-old will join Tim Tramnitz and Kacper Sztuka
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Bahraini owners pump in £30m to keep McLaren on the road (The Times - subscription required)
'Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, invested fresh capital last week — just two months after pumping £80 million into the group. The new funds take the total injected by shareholders to nearly £500 million over the past year.'
Business is booming on and off the field (Daily Trojan)
'Take McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris for example. Apart from being the best driver on the grid (this isn’t me being biased, obviously), he also has a deep interest in gaming, apparel and content. These interests were the foundation for his gaming and lifestyle brand, Quadrant. Norris describes this as his ''passion project,'' one with a simple mission: ''to craft more entertaining and uplifting moments than anyone else.'''
How Antonelli is getting to grips with F2 in the racing world’s spotlight (Formula Scout)
''Of course, the mentality is to try to win, but at the same time, I am aware of the difficulties that I might face during the season. For sure, I’ll try to do my best. I’ll try to learn as much as possible in testing, in order to make as much experience as possible and then we’ll see during the season where we will be, but I think we can do a good season. I just need to keep working hard and try to do the best job as possible together with the team.''
'For 2024, Caelen is signed up to start the Daniel Ricciardo Series in the DRS100 Kart Championship. An exciting year of learning ahead, in these much more powerful karts, with many new race circuits to focus on.'
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
Is there anywhere better to unveil a livery? 😮💨📸 pic.twitter.com/tdcSR3ixx9
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) February 5, 2024
After a full year of work and dedication, CS55 Racing is a reality! I am so happy to present to you this project I've done together with OTK Kart Group, whom I raced with when I was a kid! Looking forward to seeing it on track!
👉🏼https://t.co/SFUzMvS2JY pic.twitter.com/8MhLJkk8Xr
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) February 5, 2024
Another solid weekend for Kean Nakamura Berta🏆🏆
Bringing home two podiums, helping add to his impressive tally in F4 UAE Championship💪 pic.twitter.com/2prvnw8kv2
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) February 5, 2024
Introducing @L_Lundqvist76’s No. 8 @AmericanLegion Honda 😮💨#BeTheOne pic.twitter.com/Sj8qCHi0Aw
— Chip Ganassi Racing (@CGRTeams) February 5, 2024
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
After Sauber unveiled a black and neon-green livery for the 2024 season, Bullfrog makes an observation…
Flow-vis won’t be much use on it…
Bullfrog
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Chris Gordon-Smith, Charlieshan, Motor_Mad and Alec!
Canderous (@yoshif8tures)
6th February 2024, 3:11
I know technicallyit is Williams, but since the Williams family is no longer involved in any role, can it still be the same Williams team of old if no member of the family has a stake in the original team?
I just feel emotionally that it’s not the same Williams team and that it’s Williams in name only.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
6th February 2024, 3:22
No different to Mclaren really. They both have their HQ’s in the same place and a pretty rich history so I’m OK with them retaining the name.
GeeMac (@geemac)
6th February 2024, 5:14
@dbradock The McLaren comparison is a good one, and if you do compare Williams and McLaren, you’ll actually find that Williams has closer links to the original entity in that it IS still the same company (“Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited”).
The original “McLaren” entity was “Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited” which merged with Project Four Racing to form “McLaren International”, which morphed into the entity we know today.
So, if you were being cynical like @yoshif8tures, you could argue that McLaren hasn’t been McLaren since 1981…
Tristan
6th February 2024, 3:30
Irrelevant I think, companies can change for the worse even if they maintain owners. Williams was never just Frank Williams, or the Williams family, even if they earnt the right to call the team that. Williams is as much Williams as Red Bull is Horner or Mercedes is Wolff. Williams is also as much Grove as the others are Milton-Keyes and Brackley (as in the collective of people working there, rather than actual location.).
Fandom is too muddy when any business is concerned, better not to get attached to any of them. I guess some identity could be related to ideals or what something “stands for” and that is reasonable to want to align ones self with. But again, any of that can change even if the personnel and the words on the wall are the same at any business.
AlanD
6th February 2024, 17:04
In some ways, I would like to see teams identified more by heritage. Ferrari, Williams and McLaren can all be clearly followed though their history. The Alpine team is one I think of as “the Enstone team”, because whether it has been called Alpine, Renault, Benneton, there has always been continuity of the location in north Oxfordshire, and the staff.
Tristan
6th February 2024, 3:20
Considering the Singapore government already investigated the F1 deal and found that the corruption hadn’t affected it there’d have to be something new to publicise reinvestigating.
Even though I know it’s just marketing spin, I like Vowles at Williams, he’s always very re-assuring, seems to always know the right things to say.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
7th February 2024, 15:06
I wonder if this is aimed more at making sure there’s no corruption on the next deal?
Jere (@jerejj)
6th February 2024, 5:52
I wonder how many different reviews the Singapore GP deal gets & COTD makes a valid point.
Coventry Climax
6th February 2024, 8:52
Nope, COTD is not a valid point, it’s likely meant as a joke, but if serious, it’s shortsighted BS:
Flow-Vis comes in any color you like. The fluo-green used in recent years stood out nicely against most team’s liveries, but fluo-orange for example, will stand out perfectly on a fluo-green livery.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th February 2024, 6:59
As bribes go, 100k sounds tame, specially in F1!
Jungle
6th February 2024, 9:46
While your at it James put the little Senna logo back on too!
Mr A
6th February 2024, 12:30
McLaren carries it now