Williams will change its livery for the next two races as part of a promotion with one of its sponsors.
The FW46s will sport bright yellow engine covers at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix next week.Williams described the change as “a nod to the team’s championship-winning heritage.” Williams cars featured the yellow colours of various other sponsors between 1983 and 1993, during which time its won three constructors’ titles. Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet also won world championships with the team during that time.
Mercado Libre became a Williams sponsor in August after Franco Colapinto was promoted to their race driver line-up in place of Logan Sargeant. Colapinto and team mate Alexander Albon will also wear new race suits designed to complement the revised colour scheme.
“Yellow livery designs hold a special place in Williams’ storied history and it is great to see the colour return to our cars with one of Latin America’s leading technology companies,” said commercial director James Bower.
Colapinto will also wear a special helmet design this weekend based on that of Carlos Reutemann, the last Argentinian driver to win a round of the world championship, who drove for Williams from 1980 to 1982. Williams has already announced Carlos Sainz Jnr will take the seat occupied by Colapinto next year, but he is seeking a chance to take the final vacant spot on the grid at Sauber.
Eight of Formula 1’s 10 teams have produced different variations of their liveries for at least one round of this year’s world championship. Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine, RB, Haas and Williams have all done so.
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2024 Mexican Grand Prix
- McLaren have no regrets over pitting Norris shortly before red flag came out
- Leclerc fined, avoids same penalty as Verstappen after apologising for swearing
- Leclerc not in the clear over swearing as Verstappen claims he went unpunished
- Majority of drivers wanted racing rules to change “straight away” – Russell
- Verstappen was “over the limit” with Norris but others would do same – Leclerc
rprp
24th October 2024, 15:36
Squint hard and it passes for Geoff Crammond’s Formula One Grand Prix from 1991
José Lopes da Silva
24th October 2024, 21:49
Love it!!! Superb comment
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
24th October 2024, 15:51
I think it’s clear to see they wanted to put Mercado Libre at a prominent place with their colours and didn’t have the time to make something really special. It’s just a yellow triangle pasted over the engine cover, nothing “heritage” or anything about that.
Alonslow
24th October 2024, 15:52
Looks pretty ugly, it’s missing the white to look like the old winning Williams
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
24th October 2024, 19:39
But does it look pretty too? ;)
Dusty
24th October 2024, 16:34
Ugly colors and logos put on top of each other featuring brands not very well known worldwide, very nostalgic.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
24th October 2024, 16:49
ML might not be known to you, but it’s used extensively across the whole of Latin America. That’s a huge number of people using it.
mantresx (@mantresx)
24th October 2024, 20:28
No kidding, I use it pretty much every week (business and personal)
I’m guessing that’s how Amazon is like in the US and western Europe.
Amazon it’s available here too but I only really use it for high value things like when buying a laptop or a TV, for every day supplies it’s Meli all the way.
Dale
25th October 2024, 19:18
What a whiner you are … how old are you?
Either very young or very old. Same effect.
Asd
24th October 2024, 16:57
It looks OK, and it may nicely stick out in the extremely dull F1 field.
It obviously has nothing in common with the blue-white-yellow Williamses of the 80’s and 90’s.
What it actually may remind of is Alexander Rossi’s IndyCar from a few years ago:
https://7b1de02a7bcf9c1df487-6849f9022b05f72b83236695aa4e9a0a.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/uploads/articles/2018/659960/alexander-rossi-4-14_p3.jpg
But even that only on the merit of combining yellow with blue and not much else.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
24th October 2024, 17:03
Honestly, why bother if you’re not going to use white?
Martin (@f1hornet)
24th October 2024, 17:11
Reminds me more of the Sauber circa 2015.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
25th October 2024, 8:02
My thoughts exactly, Felipe Nasr scored a point in this car in Brasil.
An Sionnach
24th October 2024, 17:32
Maybe drop the Miami GP next year and replace it with the Argentinian one. Of course, Franco has to be on the grid!
Greg
24th October 2024, 19:40
The problem with that Is that Liberty Media loves the Miami GP
Jarv F150 (@jarvf150)
24th October 2024, 21:07
I like this!
Needed something to seperate it from the other blue cars that I sometimes mistake them for
Tomas Temichele
25th October 2024, 0:10
Just to clear things up the sponsor is a tax evasor well known in Argentina called markos garquerin
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
25th October 2024, 8:03
F1 doing what F1 does
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
25th October 2024, 13:42
Cry it kuka