Williams unveils 800-race anniversary livery for British GP F1

As part of the commemorative livery, the engine cover of the Williams' FW45 driven by Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant has been draped in the Union Jack and it also references the Grove-based team’s 800-race landmark on the sidepods.

Its sponsor Gulf has received more prominent branding on the car's rear wing endplates as well.

The Silverstone weekend was set to be Williams' 800th grand prix, but due to the cancellation of Imola's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix that landmark had inconveniently shifted to Hungary.

Instead, Williams decided to keep the livery on the car for both race weekends so it could still celebrate its anniversary in front of its British fans in Silverstone.

In its accompanying explanation Williams said the livery "pays homage to the team's British heritage and to its beloved founder, the late Sir Frank Williams."

Williams, who died in November 2021, was at the helm of the team for most of its 800 races, overseeing nine constructors' championships and seven drivers' championships between 1977 and 2020.

Williams' anniversary livery is not to be confused with its fan-voted Gulf livery that will appear on the car for the Singapore, Japan and Qatar rounds later this season.

Fans were allowed to vote on four different concept designs for the Asian flyaway events, with its 'Bolder than bold' and 'Heritage' liveries making it into the final of the contest. Voting has since closed, but the team is yet to reveal which of the two designs has been chosen by its fans.

Williams heads to its Silverstone home race ninth in the constructors' standings after only scoring points on two occasions this season. Team leader Albon took a point with 10th place in the curtain-raising Bahrain Grand Prix.

Albon then claimed a morale-boosting seventh place in last month's Canadian Grand Prix, taking the team's tally to seven units. Team-mate Sargeant has yet to score points, although the rookie achieved his best performance of the campaign last weekend in Austria, finishing 13th at the Red Bull Ring.

Williams has also planned further festivities around the Silverstone weekend, including a dedicated fanzone in London and a demo of Nigel Mansell's world championship-winning FW14B across the race weekend by its brand ambassador and former driver Jenson Button.

Williams British GP livery

Photo by: Williams