Williams has unveiled a reworked livery for the 2026 F1 season.
Tuesday’s announcement came after the team was unable to get its cars ready for the first pre-season test event of 2026 in Barcelona last week.
The FW48 itself will be driven for the first time at the first Bahrain test on February 11-13.
The livery is primarily the team’s traditional blue (officially described as a “bright gloss blue”), but for 2026 there is a twist with the sidepods featuring bright blue and white as part of a new tie-up with Barclays.
Williams said the color scheme reflected their “bold intentions” for the start of F1’s new rules era, of which they have high hopes.
Finishing fifth in last year’s constructors’ championship was Williams’ best result since 2017 and suggested the team was finally back on a clear upward trajectory under James Vowles’ leadership.
The introduction of new chassis and power unit regulations for 2026 gives the team a chance for further progress, but the team is at a disadvantage after missing Barcelona.
And although Baules is confident his team can make up for lost ground with six days of preliminary driving in Bahrain ahead of the season opener in Australia on March 8, he said the “pain” of missing Barcelona will ultimately lead to further long-term changes.
“After six days of testing[in Bahrain]I don’t believe we will be at a disadvantage. It was fortunate that both the[Mercedes’]power unit and gearbox were reliable and a lot of issues were flushed out in the VTT (virtual track test).”
“These are demons buried in cars,” he said.
“So we can mitigate missing Barcelona. But we’re going to dig into this problem properly and make sure we learn from all the problems, so something like this won’t happen again. When you start digging, there won’t be one problem, but quite a few.”
“That’s the process. You have to deal with failure, and you have to let the pain of failure spur change.”
Sainz and Albon hope Williams is ready to take the next step
Williams’ driver line-up of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon is widely considered to be the strongest outside of the ‘big four’ of McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, raising expectations for a new era in F1.
Sainz, who achieved two podiums with the team in the second half of last season, spoke about his hopes for 2026: “This is one of the main reasons why I moved to this team and why I chose Williams as my future project, because I had great faith in the trajectory we are on with the project towards the new regulations.
“I hope we can take another good step in the right direction.”
Teammate Albon, who is in his fifth season with the team, said: “I think the belief I have comes more from what I saw during my time at the Globes.
“The changes that James is making at the factory, the culture of the team and the way it’s changing, I think everything is going in the right direction and I believe that’s what the team needs to be to be a championship-winning team in the future.”
“We are still in the growth phase and have many years to go, but we are on the right path.”
When will F1 Bahrain pre-season testing take place?
With the introduction of new regulations, a strong schedule of three separate test events is planned before the start of the 2026 season.
With the private Barcelona shakedown complete, F1 will next head to Bahrain for two ‘official’ pre-season tests, with media in attendance and live timing from the circuit available.
Bahrain will conduct two three-day tests on February 11-13 and 18-20.
When was your first F1 race?
The team will then have two weeks to prepare for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne from March 6th to 8th.
The first practice session of the season will take place on Friday, March 6th, followed by qualifying on Saturday, March 7th and the opening race on Sunday, March 8th.
Watch every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, including the Australian Grand Prix from March 6-8. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
