12/02/2019
NEWS STORY
While the new livery and title sponsor at Williams left many somewhat underwhelmed, and rushing to Google to discover more about ROKiT, Claire Williams was keen to defend the look, insisting that her father, team founder Frank Williams, loves it.
"Frank loved it," she responded when asked what her father, a man known for his traditional, conservative and wholly British approach to such matters, thought of the livery, "you might be surprised to hear that, but he did.
"I was a little nervous going and presenting it to him as Frank is very traditional and protective of that navy blue," she admitted. "But he was understanding of the arguments behind it, that this is telling the world a very clear story and delivering a very clear message in my mind as to where we are.
"He is fully behind it, and I'm still here," she joked, "if he hadn't liked it, he probably would have fired me!
"There's a bit of a story behind this livery," she subsequently revealed. "We were made well aware in advance that Martini were going to be ending their relationship with us, and it gave us a great opportunity to think very hard about how we wanted to position Williams moving forward, certainly as this year is such an important year for us, and the years ahead.
"We spent a lot of time on this livery. It's all done in-house. We have a very good creative team at Williams," she added. "From my perspective, I wanted a livery that told a story and told a story about where Williams is and the future that we believe it has.
"A lot of people are aware that Williams' traditional colours are navy blue and white, but I wanted to move away from that and show the world that we're a fresh, revitalised brand. Just sticking and reverting to our traditional navy and white didn't really tell that story. A Formula One car at the end of the day is your shop window to the world and I wanted to tell a great story and come out with a really vibrant livery. I feel that does that."
All that aside, liveries, even the best looking of them, don't win championships, and while some still have their doubts about the look that appears to have received Sir Frank's seal of approval, all F1 fans will be hoping that the Grove outfit can put the misery of 2018 behind it and start challenging for points and even podiums again this year.