Williams has unveiled the updated livery their FW48 will carry into the 2026 Formula 1 season, as the team prepares to respond to the disappointment of missing last week’s opening pre-season running in Barcelona.
The British outfit revealed the new look on Tuesday, confirming that while the car was not ready in time for the Barcelona shakedown, the FW48 will make its first public appearance at the Bahrain test from February 11-13.
Williams has presented a bold, glossy blue design for the FW48, continuing a colour closely associated with the team’s F1 history. The livery is officially described as a “vibrant gloss blue”, but there is a notable evolution for 2026. The sidepods now feature a lighter blue alongside white accents, reflecting a new partnership with Barclays and giving the car a fresher, more modern feel.
According to Williams, the revised colour scheme is intended to signal the team’s “bold intent” as Formula 1 enters a new era under the 2026 technical regulations — changes that the Grove-based squad believes could offer a genuine opportunity to accelerate their recovery.
The unveiling comes after a frustrating start to the year, with Williams unable to field their car for the first pre-season test of 2026, held in Barcelona last week. As a result, the FW48 will not turn a wheel in public until testing resumes in Bahrain later this month.
Despite that early setback, the team enters the new season with renewed confidence following a strong 2025 campaign. By finishing fifth in last year’s Constructors’ Championship, Williams secured their best result since 2017, reinforcing the sense that the squad is moving in the right direction under team principal James Vowles.
The wholesale introduction of new chassis and power unit regulations for 2026 offers another chance to build on that momentum. However, missing the Barcelona running has inevitably put Williams slightly behind schedule compared to some rivals.
Even so, Vowles believes the team can claw back lost time across the six days of Bahrain testing before the season-opening race in Australia on March 8. While confident that Williams will not be compromised in the short term, he has also acknowledged that the frustration of missing Barcelona should serve as a catalyst for longer-term improvements behind the scenes.
“I don’t believe that after six days of testing (in Bahrain), we will be on the backfoot. A little bit of that is fortune because both the (Mercedes) power unit and gearbox were reliable, and the VTT (Virtual Track Test) flushed out a lot of the demons that were buried in the car,” he said.
Williams will hope that the combination of improved preparation, lessons learned from the Barcelona miss, and a fresh start under new regulations will help ensure the FW48 marks another step forward when the 2026 Formula 1 season begins.
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