Williams confirm Martini sponsorship and reveal livery

2014 F1 seson

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Williams have confirmed a new sponsorship deal with Martini and revealed their car’s colour scheme for 2014.

“Williams and Martini share a rich history in the world of motorsport, and the values of our two brands and our shared passion for racing make this partnership a natural fit,” said team founder Frank Williams.

“It will be great to see the distinctive stripes of Martini Racing return to Formula One once again in unison with Williams.”

The Martini history has a long history in motor racing, having appeared on Porsche sports cars, Lancia rally and sports cars, and Brabham, Lotus and Ferrari F1 cars as well as many others.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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143 comments on “Williams confirm Martini sponsorship and reveal livery”

  1. Fantastic, I know which team I will support this year!

    1. This is so good! those colours are amazing and if the car is quick this year they will have them for many years to come.

      Need some British drivers in the team though

      1. hope it’s as fast as it is great to look at!

        1. The Blade Runner (@)
          6th March 2014, 12:08

          Similar-ish to BMW-Sauber

          1. yep simple but so effective

      2. Great, but slightly plain. Needs more stripes or one large logo on the sidepod

        1. I agree, the stripes should be a bit bigger and cover a larger portion of the car. Most of the fan made mock ups were better than the actual livery.

        2. Yes, the sidepods are far too plain and boring.

          Otherwise, this is a true favourite.

        3. Martini musn’t be paying too much – barely branded car at this point. At speed this is simply a white car, as per the Braun. Shame that some of the great Martini liveries of the past haven’t been followed better, as the stripes could easily be placed in a more dynamic design to achieve greater visual impact.

    2. You can pick up and drop teams you support on a yearly basis?

      1. Absolutely.

      2. I have always had a soft spot for Williams, but the last few years they have not really done much to be enthusiastic about.
        This year they seem to be on the right track, they have a nice driver pairing, encouraging test results, and this livery is a classic.
        They have rekindled my enthusiasm, just hope it is not another false dawn.

        1. Some amazing liveries on the grid this year (mclaren, force india, williams, marussia), its a shame the cars dont look better. It could be one of the best looking grids of all time.

          1. McLaren you know nothing of yet.

          2. I would argue against the Mclaren livery being good. It’s really… boring, no stripes, no other colors, just a bunch of Mp4-29s everywhere.

      3. antonyob (@)
        6th March 2014, 17:29

        It’s not football dude. Usually people follow someone from their own country but you can do what you want. It’s about great racing.

      4. Yeah..been reading a lot of similar comments here..haha

        Who picks a team based on livery?….hehe..maybe I’ll start supporting Arsenal next year on the basis that their kit looks good?

        What a joke. Anyways, Williams is the only team I’ve ever supported (Im more of a driver supporter). I was wearing my Williams BMW T-shirt from 2003 when I read this news yesterday :)..maybe its time to get some new merch…the age of my old shirt is starting to show…haha

        Great livery!…as always, I wish the best to Williams.

    3. You pick a team each year?

      1. I pick a team every session.

      2. No, I do not.
        I have never really rooted for a specific team or driver. In fact I strongly dislike blind fanboyism in any form or shape.
        However I always root for the underdog, the newcomers, the unexpected comebacks, or just an amazing performance, regardless of who the driver is or what team they drive for.
        Hopefully Williams be that team this year.
        And did I mention the livery is awesome?

        1. I have never really rooted for a specific team or driver. In fact I strongly dislike blind fanboyism in any form or shape.

          You can be a fan and not be a fanboy – in fact most fans are about as far from fanboyish as you can get ;)

        2. I usually root for drivers and by consequence the team…

    4. On one hand I love the car’s paint, but flip, they really did not need to photoshop the colors in the photo so much.

    5. Looks good but lets see how it drives

  2. Looks amazing. I’m not a Williams fan but that is by far the best livery on the grid.

    1. The Blade Runner (@)
      6th March 2014, 12:04

      I agree, it’s EPIC!

      Williams are my second favourite team but have hardly registered in my thoughts for years, other than Catalunya in 2012.

  3. Awesome livery. Bonus points for black wings and customized driver fonts.

    1. @andae23 Spot on. Looks quick and sleek too, with two very good drivers. I’m so glad they got the livery right!

    2. Bonus points for livery? That’s not another of Bernie’s suggestions is it?

      1. @eurobrun Oh dear, I hope Bernie doesn’t read this and gets any ideas from it :P

    3. FlyingLobster27
      6th March 2014, 21:21

      The fact that no other team uses different fonts for different drivers shows why, IMO, the career number thing was a bad idea. It was sold on a false basis (Todt claimed NASCAR drivers had career numbers, which they do not, the teams own the numbers), and if the numbers are going to be printed in a team font, then the numbers can’t be marketed in the same way as in MotoGP. If it’s a yellow 46, it’s Rossi, but if it’s a 14 with a Tricolore struck through it, it’s not Alonso, it’s Alonso at Ferrari.
      Career numbers won’t change the racing (at least non-superstitious minds won’t think so), it’s purely cosmetic, but I think it’s been done wrong. In top notch car racing, it has always been the teams that have had the numbers. I think that if someone had to choose numbers, it should have been the teams.

      Great livery for Williams, however. I hope they’ll finally get back to at least respectability.

      1. but I think it’s been done wrong

        Well, I think you are right, but just because it has been done wrong doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. Quite the opposite. I really like how Williams Martini Racing have given the freedom for their drivers to put the numbers’ font as they wished.

  4. Love it but it needs more Martini before it hits those kerbs!!

  5. Looks great, my next F1 shirt is going to have to be a Martini one now.

  6. Michael Brown (@)
    6th March 2014, 11:42

    Great livery.

    I wonder what McLaren are planning on doing with their livery. I would love the classic orange.

    1. I cant see them changing it now, unless they announce a new title sponsor. Team merch has been released already, i think the big change will be next year with Honda.

      1. They WILL announce a new title sponsor in awhile

        1. Not unless maldonado comes, mclaren has it tuff for a few yrs, if rumors are tru Honda will go redbull too !

          1. McLaren have said they will announce a sponsor a few rounds in to the season- see the home page.

  7. Side on, it looks like a beautiful car.

  8. Much white, maybe they will have more sponsers coming now that it looks like they have a good package, good drivers and good backing. But I would have loved more Martini in that mix, to sweeten it up a little. It’s a bit flat.

    1. They’ve announced a load of new sponsorship deals this off season in addition to Martini (Banco du Brasil, Petrobras, Genworth and it looks like an Esquire logo has slid onto the car unnoticed too). They seem to be in a much better place financially (and sporting-ly) than they have in ages.

      Long may it continue!

  9. I like that. I like that a lot.

    Although, I already knew I was going to.

  10. Magic.
    Would have been easy to overdo it (see all the recent photoshop jobs, and Ferrari) but this is really well done job, and will stand out from all the grey and over-familiar cars around it.

  11. too much white, need to use the martini colours more. otherwise looks great!

    1. Exactly my thoughts. As much as I like the fact that Martini is their new sponsor I think they cold have made a better livery out of it. Maybe a bit like this.
      Or to a certain amount even like this

      1. That first one is deadly!!!!! Love it! They should have slid it to the guy designing the williams livery

      2. Wow that first one looks epic !

      3. petebaldwin (@)
        6th March 2014, 14:45

        I agree – it’s good but it would have been very difficult to have made it look bad.

        The problem is that it’s just that – “good.” It could have easilly been amazing. The first link is great as is :

      4. that first link is awesome

      5. Although I think the lines could have been a little more prominent, I think their real design is actually better than those mock ups, because like all the classic Martini liveries, the lines perfectly follow those of the car in a continuous sweep, which is nicer than just plastering the Martini colours on. I’m sure the understated look also benefits Williams by giving them the opportunity to fit more sponsors on the car if, and when, they can get them.

  12. The first 2014 car to be desktop wallpaper worthy.

    Now all Williams needs to do is make some desktop wallpapers :)

  13. Very nice. Very nice indeed.
    I like the amount of white they’ve used. The Martini colours aren’t too overbearing.

  14. Hell yes! I was already avidly supporting Williams this season, and this has just made it better.

  15. Where were these taken? Thats a very pretty skyline. Portimao?

    1. Could be Mugello. I wonder if they’ve really taken the car there.

      1. Yeah, I’m beginning to wonder that too. Wouldn’t take much to stitch in a background. Or even the livery onto a plain white car.

      2. Doesn’t Mugello have red and yellow kerbing? Yeah, it wouldn’t be too difficult to ‘shop in a background.

    2. Ascari Resort perhaps?

    3. The pictures are made in the photoshop world! The color differances between the background and the car are so big. This was done by an expert photoshopper. If you look at the high speed photo from the front, the front of the car seams to be floating above the tarmac.
      But the livery is amazing! so retro these stripes.

      1. The color differances between the background and the car are so big. This was done by an expert photoshopper.

        Or by setting the camera up correctly and using a filter.

        Sometimes a piece of coloured plastic is all you need.

  16. I’m a bit worried that the nose will look worse (more obvious and protruding) in bright white than it did in dark blue. Personally, although I like the Martini livery generally, I don’t like vast expanses of white on race liveries- I would have perhaps liked an additional stripe low on the sidepods, or a larger Martini logo.

    I do like it though. It makes a nice change from the bland and indistinct livery they’ve had since BMW left them. It also matches up nicely to Force India using much less white, so at least the grid as a whole isn’t too similar. Nice to lose Williams as one of 3 teams who were using blue as a base colour in that respect too.

    1. In the time it took me to write that, more pictures have turned up. I do think the nose looks a bit worse, but I suppose that’s hard to avoid with the colour scheme.

    2. I thought they might have used stripes down the middle of the nose to hide the tip personally. You can tell everything’s been arranged and the photos are from the angles they are to attract more sponsors.

      1. I too would like to see more of the Martini stripes than white. But, the white base is very “old school” and plays well to Williams as an old school f1 race team. White also makes it easier to spot leaks . Overall, I think Williams has done the best job this year. Great buzz, great marketing of new sponsors released slowly to keep them in the headlines, solid testing results, and awesome signing to cut out the Maldonado cancer and bring in someone as well liked and quick as Massa. I will always be a Tifosi fan first, but Williams is my next favorite. I sure hope Massa can get a win/ podiums this year. :)

    3. I feel they’ve missed the opportunity to cover the proboscis with a bottle of Martini. From the front it could look like the neck of a bottle.

  17. In countries where alcohol logos are banned, will they use the London Transport one?
    It’s the same shape, and their buses use Williams hybrid power…

  18. wheres the classic blue? i was used to the mainly blue liveries in williams…

  19. awesome! that’s all there is to say!

  20. Gosh thought Carlos Reutemann had made a comeback

  21. Looks superb! Normally, I’d say a white livery is possibly to most boring way to go, but this is one I definitely approve of. Nice camera work too on those photos.

  22. Quite stunning! Possibly the best looking car on the grid?

  23. That’s pretty tidy actually, well played Williams, it would have been easy to mess that up. If I’m being critical I’d say the sidepods are a bit bare, but it looks really good.

    Where did the Esquire sponsorship come from? That hasn’t been announced has it?

  24. I really like this livery, a modern look but still a classic feel to it

  25. Everyone take off the retro goggles….
    I think it’s just okay. Pretty dull and boring if you ask me. Something that may look nice and clean up close, but pretty bland on television. Either way, I’m far more excited about the potential performance of the Williams this year rather than its appearance.

  26. This livery can make and an eyesore of a car seem rather eye catching.

  27. Ok, I’m supporting Williams this year.

  28. B.E.A.U.tiful.

  29. I’m just wondering how Codemasters are going to censor this? They may take the Martini logos away, but they are a title sponsor. I’m not sure whether they could exclude the title sponsor from the team name or not.

    1. I can’t say I’ve noticed but they don’t censor Force India or the Johnnie Walker logos on the McLaren at the moment do they?

      1. Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
        6th March 2014, 12:56

        You can’t be sponsored by alcohol anymore in games?????

      2. Yeah they do because if you look Force India use Fly Kingfisher instead of Kingfisher and they also remove the other alcohol brands, that’s why they always look more plain on F1 games. And Johnnie Walker doesn’t appear on the McLaren either.

        I think they’ve been censoring alcohol since the around late 90s as I remember “Foster’s” in F1 98 being “Faster”.

  30. No sign of Mercedes power anywhere. At least last year they had some Renault logos.

    1. The overalls have the three-pointed star on them, which actually surprised me as they’ve never had any logos on Force India. Maybe the cars will have some small branding from Mercedes as well, especially if Williams are front-runners.

  31. Jan (@yancheelaa)
    6th March 2014, 12:53

    WOOOW…this is quite something. Everybody in F1 is talking about optimization, team restructuring etc…but what Williams has done is doing this properly. Great restart I must say and they have ALL of my support to win races in 2014, from what I read I just see a team that is trying to DO things instead of just talking about it. Yes of course some might say everybody is trying this, but they had some miserable seasons, but what this is, is just something at what a heart of every hardcore F1 fan must jump of happyness… Mine is and I wish Williams GREAT 2014 SEASON…go frank :)

  32. I Think the livery is refreshing, it looks the current.

  33. Outstanding!

  34. Any time any place anywhere, it looks cool and i hope they get back on top this year.

  35. Too much white for my liking when I first saw the pictures , I really liked that dark blue they were running in testing. But its growing on me as I type. Hope this car brings them success.
    Can’t wait to see all the finished cars wearing their badges and tags In Melbourne !

  36. Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
    6th March 2014, 13:02

    Okay, let’s say this car is the 2nd fastest at Melbourne and they can take the fight to Merc this year, will they be able to keep up in the development race?

    1. I assume they have good facilities thanks to their history and competitive BMW links only 10 years ago. If the technical team is as good and in order as people seem to think and the finance is there (as the array of new upcoming sponsors suggests), then the only limiting factor is manpower. I don’t know how they compare to other teams in that regard.

    2. I think in the past couple of years Williams have had the wrong drivers to push it forward. when Maldonado took the win in spain a couple of years ago, the team didn’t capitilise on that, and went backwards after that, they lost the development race, while teams like r=Redbull with Vettel and Ferrari with Alonso delevoped their car as the year went on. Mercedes have had the same problem since 2009 as the Brawn team – they can not develop as the year goes on, and I believe it is their drivers a lot at fault for that (reading into a recent autosport magazine article – last years tyre issues for Mercedes were more sorted by Robert Kubica testing in the Mercedes simulator, then contracted drivers Rosberg and Hamilton). Lotus will have the same problem this year, previous they had Alonso, then Kubica pushing them forward when they were Renault, and then Raikkonen… while now they have Maldonado and Grosjean = inferior drivers to those 3, and we are likely to see dull years for Lotus like the past few years at Williams. I see Massa as an intelligent top level driver that will help keep Williams up there this year as the year goes on. they are up there now as a top 3 team based on testing. (of course having a Mercedes power unit helps too!)

  37. Sky have got the right idea – they’ve chopped the nose off in both their photos so far!
    https://twitter.com/SkySportsF1/status/441546841323085825
    https://twitter.com/SkySportsF1/status/441549610259984386

  38. kowalsky jose
    6th March 2014, 13:08

    One question keith. I thought the alcohol ads, were prohibited with the tobacco ban. I must be wrong.

    1. Force India have run with Kingfisher, Whyte and Mackay, McLaren have run with Johnny Walker. All since the tobacco ban. Some countries in the EU, such as France, ban the advertising of alcohol in sports though.

    2. Johnnie Walker and Whyte & Mackay have been sponsors for several years to McLaren and Force India.

      1. And Red Bull have had Singha for several years too.

  39. Good to see things looking up for Williams, hope to see them maintain their progress and mount a challenge at the business end of the grid this season. Surely the closest thing to a good looking car this season!

  40. Have to add to the overwhelming consensus that this is every bit as beautiful as the artists’ renderings from recent weeks had projected it might be. And what a bonus that it appears for now like they may be fighting for podia. I’ll be surprised if they can do much against the works Mercedes team, but as long as they’re near the sharp end of the stick that will be fantastic and too long coming.

  41. I would like to see some more of the Martini logos….

  42. wow… this car could be on top of the podium in Melbourne! I was hoping it would be a bit more colourful, more red and blue, but it looks so white…

  43. What a beauty.

  44. All white with a pastel blue and red stripe?

    Looks dreadful. At least it brings them money.

    1. You are on your own there boss…

      1. I get the feeling I usually am, but I think my general desire for colorful cars is one that others share.

  45. This is how it should be done: Lancia Delta Group A
    Alfa 155 DTM
    Porsche GT3
    Among other examples.
    But not like that: it’s like they were afraid to put the Martini colours on the car. Very dissapointed indeed.

    1. I’m not a fan of the Alfa’s particularly broad red stripe with such narrow blue stripes at the front.

  46. Kimi would be jealous….

  47. That car looks fantastic! (nose aside) I really hope they do well this year! I know pre-season testing is not a clear picture of the state of all cars, but man, Maldonado must me regreting how he did things looking at how Lotus did!

  48. So the livery really is as good as we’d hoped, how rare is that? And come to think of it, Marussia, Sauber, Mercedes, Red Bull and possibly McLaren (if they do change it) all have great-looking cars as well this year, I can’t remember when we had this many good-looking cars on the grid!

  49. Mark McDonald
    6th March 2014, 15:13

    Outstanding! Williams’ best livery in nearly 30 years.

    1. I like it, but I think I prefer the Cannon/Camel and Rothmans ones.

  50. I love this livery.
    It´s fresh, it´s not disturbing at all, the white color and the martini blue and red are in a perfect symbiose.

    Really nice looking at this car and I have to say, I really like all that Williams has done so far in 2014 and it would be great to see them have success this year.

  51. Well … That looks like a winner …

  52. Beautiful.

  53. That livery reminds me of the Williams-BMW days back when I started following F1. I hope they do well this year, the car looks amazing!

  54. Beautiful!

  55. Oh, beautiful!

  56. That is some classy work! Like condensation on a beer glass cool.

  57. antonyob (@)
    6th March 2014, 17:31

    Stunning. Love it. Pity they can’t have 4 halogen lights out front. Need more classic liveries, lotus nearly nailed it but it’s fake, like the team.

  58. Although the car look amazing I think the sidepods are a little to white… Hish they had put the Martini logo there oral least I hope they put some more sponsers in that area! I really hope this is Massa’s year!

    1. They should talk to Canon about the sidepods – that would be the icing on the cake.
      Remember their one-race deal with Brawn in Singapore? That had a hint of Williams about it.

  59. Really diggin it!!! And those suits look awesome!!! I really hope they do good this season… too bad i don´t like any of their drivers… I gues one can´t have it all. :/

  60. My worst fears have been realized. This is basically a white car with a stripe on it. White is the most boring color in the known universe. Anything is better even grey. It doesn’t look bad on the overalls because the percentage of the stripe area is higher. But on the car, oh dear oh dear. And it makes the condomme nose look even worse.

    In summary:the testing classic deep blue was so much better. But as much as I hate the livery, if it makes Williams competitive again I’ll still love the car

  61. I may be among the few who thinks that while it’s still a better livery than most if not all of the 2014 field, those stripes could have been drawn to show a lot more dynamism and flow.

    I think the likes of Ford Focus WRC, Porsche 935 (936?) are way better.

    Still, I’ll certainly tip one of these FW36s to win in Melbourne and it will be great to see these cars deliver. (I mean I’ll tip Williams based on careful assessment of performance, reliability especially, rather than on paint scheme.)

    1. *think (1st row)

  62. A real retro look, I dare say Martini may have only invested a small amount otherwise their logo and stripes may have been more prominent as the side pods are screaming for some stickers

  63. Love it, I like how straight foward it is. It leaves space for morre sponsors which is more important but I hope they don’t add many more.

  64. Paul (@frankjaeger)
    6th March 2014, 21:21

    That’s a beauty

  65. Zain Siddiqui (@powerslidepowerslide)
    6th March 2014, 21:59

    Awesome-looking car, great driver lineup.

  66. Incredible, I love it. So pleased things are looking up at Williams, I’m a massive fan!

  67. Even the nose looks good. I really like this car!

  68. Unrelated. I am a bit late on my reading. Where is yesterday’s (march 5) round-up?

    1. @keithcollantine
      It does not appear on the front page. I googled it, but what more am I missing? This blog should have a “previous/next” in each article.

      1. Sorry, it is a browser related problem (chrome). When loading the next page on infinite scrolling, some articles are missing. Sorry for the bad english. But I maintain my suggestion.

  69. Simple, good looking, classy. Thanks Williams!

  70. STUNNING

    just a shame the front looks like a penis

  71. STUNNING

    just a shame the front looks like a gentlemans sausage

  72. Wait, it says “F1 seson” on the subtitle.. I thought that those were categories and not typed in every article..

  73. Finnaly Massa has a decent helmet for his car.

  74. Love it!

  75. Great – Nice to famous racing colours on a formula one car

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