Williams will be officially known as Atlassian Williams Racing this year after agreeing a new title sponsorship deal with the software firm.
The team presented their new sponsor’s logo on the race suits of drivers Carlos Sainz Jnr and Alexander Albon. Williams said the new logo “has been uniquely crafted to unite the identities of Atlassian and Williams Racing, seamlessly combining two distinct marks and incorporating signature blues from each brand’s colour palette.”The new, long-term deal is Williams’ first title sponsorship since it was branded by Rokit in 2019. That deal was due to continue into the 2020 season but ended in acrimony after Rokit withdrew their backing, leading to a court case.
Williams say their new backing from the Australian company is a “long-term” deal. Under the new arrangement Williams will also use Atlassian’s collaboration software.
“Attracting a title partnership of this size and significance is a momentous day in our team’s illustrious history and a major milestone in our comeback transformation,” said team principal James Vowles.
“We are putting in place all the right ingredients to get this team back to the front of the grid, and in Atlassian we have a partner that through its technology and tools will help unleash our full potential by improving teamwork and collaboration right across the organisation.”
The nine-times constructors’ champions, who last won the title in 1997, will present their new car for the upcoming season at Silverstone on Friday in a “special one-off livery”. The team’s definitive livery will be uncovered at Formula 1’s new pre-season launch event F1 75 Live next week.
Another new sponsor which features on the Williams drivers’ overalls this year is former Ferrari sponsor Santander. The Spanish bank has continued its association with Sainz by switching teams.
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Scotty (@rockonscotty)
11th February 2025, 12:43
I would be great to see Williams back at the sharp end of the grid!
Scotty (@rockonscotty)
11th February 2025, 12:43
*It
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
11th February 2025, 14:05
I was praying that Newey would join them, but it looks like he went for the money :(
Dex
11th February 2025, 19:21
There’s no way of knowing what made him choose one team over the other. But hey, I’d go for the money. It was a choice between corporations owning F1 teams, nothing else. Even I as an ordinary fan of the sport can’t feel any emotional attachment to any team, as there is no meaningful difference between them. They are all owned by rich owners and purely professional organizations now. And offering much longer term challenge, which Williams would be, can’t really appeal to a man of his age either. I doubt he plans on being in F1 in ten years, and who knows if Williams’ owners will be, for that matter.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th February 2025, 19:59
Think about it: newey already worked for williams and was already successful with them back in the 90s.
When it comes to the money, red bull had plenty, but you have a point, as they allegedly didn’t pay him as much as he deserved, and aston, given lawrence stroll’s ambitions, are capable of giving him more than red bull were ok with, williams are probably not.
El Pollo Loco
12th February 2025, 2:18
Looks like he went for the facilities above all and he also said he had always wanted to work with Alonso and/or Hamilton. Those two things and a factory engine. He’s not a spring chicken anymore. Williams is a very long term project. He could be well into his 70s before Williams has finally upgraded their facilities enough to be able to build his designs, especially w/the spending cap. So, I highly doubt $ was the top factor.
XM (@xmf1)
13th February 2025, 2:38
I felt this is the case too. RB’s facilities are lacking as we all know, so are Williams. Ferrari has the language barrier. Merc and Alpine has a lot of internal politics that he didn’t want to contend with. He’s been at MCL. AMR presents a fresh new challenge with very new facilities that he can explore his abilities further.
And they all have money to offer him, it’s not like he needs that much because he’s already filthy rich and at such an advanced age too, what’s he gonna do with all his money anyway, so it was a non-factor.
MacLeod (@macleod)
12th February 2025, 8:02
And it seems he owns a piece of the team also but as the others said there are or could be other factors he joined AM.
Edvaldo
12th February 2025, 15:01
Newey wanted stakes in the team and has been asking for that for 30 years. Aston agreed, so there he went.
The guy is 67, i don’t blame him, he’s already successful enough.
Ruben
11th February 2025, 12:45
Sainz already has a what-am-I-doing-here..? look on his face.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th February 2025, 20:07
That’s not what I see on his expression at all, but it ofc makes sense that he shouldn’t be there, but rather in red bull.
El Pollo Loco
12th February 2025, 2:22
Poor Carlos. When I think of the suffering he’s going through it breaks my heart. Beyond the millions of dollars he’s getting paid, his super model girlfriend, driving an F1 car for a living, etc. what does he have to live for?!
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
11th February 2025, 13:36
I feel sorry for the poor soul who wrote this. I used to do it. To put meaninglessness next to meaninglessness and make it ‘mean something’ but not say anything.
I almost wish tobacco was back, cowboy hat and a pack of twenty. I’d look ridiculous with a mustache, and refuelling would be a no go as I flicked and coughed through the paddock. It might be more interesting though.
SteveR (@stever)
11th February 2025, 14:40
Yeah, corporate drivel indeed; it sure gets old fast.
bull mello (@bullmello)
11th February 2025, 16:34
No kidding @bernasaurus
Even on their website, drivel spouts!
“Unleash the power of teamwork
Introducing Atlassian Williams Racing. Two teamwork powerhouses join forces to usher in a new era of Formula 1 racing.”
and more…
“Atlassian’s System of Work, driving organizations forward
These are challenges that Atlassian thrives in solving. In working with some of the best teams in the world for more than 20 years, Atlassian has developed a System of Work for technology-driven companies: a deliberate teamwork approach that emphasizes connecting all teams, and leveraging AI to maximize impact and accelerate innovation.
As Williams’ Official Technology partner, Atlassian will be helping them implement that System of Work through our portfolio and cloud platform to unleash a new winning era. ”
Well, ok…
Never heard of them, until now.
I do wish Williams to have a good season.
Drivel, or not.
synapse
11th February 2025, 18:35
Been using their software for over 2 decades across 3 different companies – they are ubiquitous in the tech industry, so I’d say its a pretty good match. Especially since Williams has been using prehistoric methods to manage their data.
bull mello (@bullmello)
11th February 2025, 20:56
Good points.
I do tech, but mostly web design, consulting. Usually independent.
Williams surely needs modern data management!
SteveP
11th February 2025, 18:46
They were doing a fine line in replicating the usual meaningless ‘fluff’ until they started sliding down the slope of “leveraging” spun from a source of G.S. and hit the bottom with A.I.
David (@nvherman)
12th February 2025, 8:10
@bullmello
You’ve never heard of Jira or Confluence?
I might be biased because I use both of these daily, but still, Atlassian are much more recognisable globally than some of the other sponsors on the grid.
bull mello (@bullmello)
12th February 2025, 16:48
Have heard of those @nvherman
Just not Atlassian.
Haven’t used Jira or Confluence though.
My web work is for smaller businesses, organizations, writers, photographers, even a few lawyers. Design, search, consulting. Small scale size wise. Building, searching, social media…
El Pollo Loco
12th February 2025, 2:24
I used to be a copywriter too for multinationals. It really is soul draining. Not to mention boring as hell. The low of the low was being forced to work on the copy for Saudi Arabia’s application to work on the UN Human Right’s council.
El Pollo Loco
12th February 2025, 20:31
to chair the UNHRC* (lol@“work”)
John Beak (@johnbeak)
11th February 2025, 13:39
Finally a technological partner that can provide version control tools for Williams’ Excel car component database.
Coventry Climax
11th February 2025, 13:54
Project management and collaboration is their main business, with products like Trello and their flagship Jira.
That rubs off on version control obviously , but that’s about it.
LosD (@losd)
12th February 2025, 5:57
Erhm, Bitbucket is kinda big. Not Github big, but big.
David (@nvherman)
12th February 2025, 8:12
@losd
You say that, but the company I work for uses Jira and Confluence (and my Support team uses Trello as well) from Atlassian, and the Engineering team use Github. Never heard of Bitbucket.
LosD (@losd)
17th February 2025, 7:37
Around 15 million users (according to Atlassian themselves) is quite big, even though you never heard of it. Still nothing compared to GitHub’s more than 100 million, of course
Deerhunter
11th February 2025, 15:17
Yeah, Jira and Confluence are big names in the corporate SaaS space, and I definitely see Atlassian as a major step up from the very questionable Rokit.
As much as I abhor the VC types, Dorilton at least seems to be doing things right with regards to Williams after Capito left. Bringing in someone like Vowles, who in turn brought Sainz and Atlassian on board and took a gamble with Colapinto that eventually paid off, won’t immediately push Williams forward, but it’s a start.
Hopefully, Dorilton can give Vowles some room to breath now instead of asking for immediate results. The dream is to see Vasseur’s Ferrari racing with a resurging Williams for victories
Coventry Climax
11th February 2025, 15:39
Your last sentence sounds like: “Est. 1753”, like the people that started it are still there, ignoring the shop changed hands over 50 times already.
Namewise, Williams, Ferrari, McLaren are maybe the same, but inside they’re totally different already from what they once were. That’s OK, change happens.
And not that I don’t wish them well, mind you.
But my dream is just to see teams -whatever their name- really competing though, void of any fake stuff.
David (@nvherman)
12th February 2025, 8:15
@Coventry Climax No, I have to agree with @Deerhunter: I want to see the legacy teams who have been around for a long time getting back to glory days. Nothing fake about it, it shouldn’t be done any other way than hard work and innovation
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
11th February 2025, 16:29
Lets hope the cars not a dog
I luv chicken
11th February 2025, 23:35
Truth! How many teams have given up the ghost by the time the European leg starts? I remember years ago, McLaren built a whole new car, half way through the season, refusing to acknowledge it, calling it a B version. The first version carried so many bugs, there were not enough flea collars to get rid of them.
Leo B
11th February 2025, 16:56
There were always two things that William’s needed very badly:
One, was Sainz, and now they have him.
The other, a loop hole in the regs, which they have yet to find.
Ideals (@ideals)
11th February 2025, 17:12
I mean, it would be quite funny If Albon has to raise a JIRA ticket after he crashes the car so the engineers can get to work on fixing it before the race.
David (@nvherman)
12th February 2025, 8:17
@ideals In my company’s workflow, that would be a P0 Critical Support Request with an SLA of 30 minutes response time and resolution in less than 4 hours.
SteveP
12th February 2025, 18:10
Self-inflicted injury and, unless you’re an exec, you must log a ticket and wait in a queue according to the priority.
Exec – JFDI (same the world over)
SteveP
11th February 2025, 18:43
AWR – Hmmm. Good group
Anderson – vocals
Wakeman – keyboards
Rabin – Guitar
Struggling on the connection to F1 though.
David (@nvherman)
12th February 2025, 8:18
@SteveP They’re still missing the B (for Bruford)
An Sionnach
11th February 2025, 18:51
Albon looking afraid; Sainz looking assured…
El Pollo Loco
12th February 2025, 2:28
Indeed. I love Alex, but I’ll be very surprised if Sainz hasn’t lowered his stock significantly by the end of this season.
Michael
11th February 2025, 23:11
The new sponsor should help them achieve their goals in sprints.
Mooa42
12th February 2025, 1:30
:)
Coventry Climax
12th February 2025, 18:20
Nice!
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
12th February 2025, 9:27
Remember the Martini-striped Williams that briefly challenged for podiums? That was a nice car.
SteveP
12th February 2025, 18:11
It was the go-faster-stripes wot dun it. :)