Williams F1 team recently unveiled the colors of its 2024 challenger, the FW46, with lead driver Alex Albon in love with the iconic blue livery associated with the James Vowles-led team.
Williams unveiled its 2024 challenger for the upcoming season in the special launch event in PUMA’s store on Fifth Avenue, New York. Vowles was joined by Albon and Logan Sargeant as they revealed the colors of the FW46.
The new livery is a subtle evolution over its previous year's design as Williams adopts an evolved version of the deep blue color, which connects the team to the championship-winning years.
Alex Albon joked that the iteration of the blue scheme was expected and anything else would have shocked him.
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"Looks great, I love it. Subtly evolved over last year. Quite a few more sponsors on, which is always good. It looks clean, blue, blue was to be expected I have to say. If it was anything other than blue I would have been worried!" he saidtat the launch event.
Albon's teammate Logan Sargeant added on similar lines that the clean livery suited the car, expressing hope that it would translate to speed on the track.
"I agree, I think it looks really good. Clean and normally clean means fast so hopefully we will make that happen," Sargeant stated.
Williams also announced a new multi-year partnership with Komatsu, a leading manufacturer of construction, mining, forestry, and industrial-heavy equipment. The Japanese company has a rich history with Williams, partnering with the team in its heydays in the 1980s and 90s.
The partnership resulted in multiple race wins and championship victories, with the global manufacturer also supplying gearbox components for the title-winning 1996 and 1997 cars.
The FW46 will be off the covers during its promotional filming day in Bahrain on February 20, ahead of pre-season testing the following day.
Alex Albon hoping to build on Williams' 2023 progress
Following their disastrous start in F1's ground effect regulations in 2022, Williams showed stunning progress last season. Alex Albon racked up all but one of the 28 points scored by the team last season, as the team finished seventh in the standings.
Albon hopes Williams continues its upward trajectory in the upcoming season. The Thai-British driver said at the team launch event:
"We're hoping to build on our progress. We've asked a lot of the team and we've slightly changed the philosophy of the car." he was quoted by BBC news.
With the changes in philosophy aimed at improving the performance of the car, Albon also anticipates that it will impact his driving style.
"We've been working hard to make some good steps forward in performance. I'm interested to see if we can improve some of the characteristics it has historically had. It will require an adjustment in driving style but I'm confident it will be a change for the better," he elaborated.
The pre-season test is scheduled for February 21-23, with the Bahrain GP kicking off the 2024 season on March 2.
