07/02/2019
NEWS STORY
On a day that Haas caught everyone off guard by revealing its 2019 livery, as previously announced, but simultaneously released images of its 2019 car, Williams has announced the it will unveil its new livery on Monday 11 February.
Interestingly, Williams announced its livery launch just a few hours after Haas had revealed its new look driven by new title sponsor Rich Energy, the Grove outfit having made a concerted to win the energy drink manufacturer's backing at last year's United States Grand Prix, only to be passed over in favour of its American rival.
Fans will be hoping to see some decent sponsor logos on the FW42 after the team lost a couple of sponsors at the end of last year, most notably title sponsor Martini.
Featuring an all-new driver line-up of Robert Kubica and Mercedes protege George Russell, the multi-time constructor and driver championship winning team is seeking to put the nightmare of 2018 well and truly behind it, having finished last in the standings for the first time in living memory.
In November, having confirmed Kubica as part of its line-up, Williams announced a partnership with PKN ORLEN, a leading player in the fuels and energy market, while today the Grove outfit announced James Harvest Sportswear as an "official supplier", however there is talk that Monday will see confirmation of a new title sponsor.
It is expected that the actual FW42 will not appear until testing gets underway on February 18, then again, like Haas, the Grove outfit could surprise us.
Either way, F1's powers-that-be need to take a serious look at how launches are being handled, for while one can understand the need to cut costs and therefore shirk the grandiose sort of events witnessed in the past, these days, at what is supposed to be one of the most exciting times of the season as fans anticipate the new cars and new season, the reveals are positively unimaginative and underwhelming.