Williams have unveiled their FW44 car which will contest the 2022 F1 season with Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi at the wheel.
The FW44 has a change of livery from the predominantly white FW43 of 2021 season which has been changed to a navy blue colour livery with a contrasting diamond shape complete with flashes of sky blue and red lines across the front nose, wing and sidepods.
Team Principal, Jost Capito explained that the livery change is designed to reflect the fact that Williams area “proud British team”
Latifi meanwhile described the new livery as “great” with emphasis on importance of retaining the blue, which is a colour “synonymous” with Williams over the last 44 years, especially following the death of team founder – Sir Frank Williams in November 2021.
Albon added that he believed that the livery looks “smart” as he prepares to return to F1 after a one-season hiatus.
Further changes include a wider front wing with three individual plate components compare to two last season, a roll-tipped rear wing, alongside with changes to underfloor tunnels in order to create downforce through ground aero effects.
Speaking at the live launch about the car, Capito said: “The whole aerodynamic concept of the car is very very different and it should allow the cars to drive closer to each other because so called dirty air behind the car should be much less and we will see if that does really happen.”
Williams will participate in the private first pre-season test in Barcelona, Spain from 23-25 February 2022, with Latifi hoping for “a lot of mileage” in order to evaluate the reliability rather than “outright performance” which will come in the second test in Bahrain next month.
Albon meanwhile iterated that this will be a new learning experience as he added: “I feel like it is so different because we’re driving a completely different car to those of previous years”, although he acknowledged that for him reliability is just as important as adjusting to the car in Barcelona.
This season will also see Albon and Latifi back together as teammates for the first time since 2018, when the pair drove for DAMS in F2.
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