Yes, the blue is much lighter, they announced it as “new royal blue” today.

Well they might call it “Royal”, but it isn’t as nice as the old. I like your explanation though, a “brighter future”.

I even go so far and think this is the worst livery after Renault

Not sure I’d go that far, but I do see where you’re coming from. They both rank pretty low for me as well.

I think the shape is the most beautiful after the McLaren

It was the photo of the interim Williams at Kemble Airfield (the first image that showed how an ‘09 car will look*) that made me say something like, “Ah, okay. Maybe the new regs won’t make the cars look quite as bad as I thought they would.”

I’m sort of somewhere in between at the moment. The cars don’t look as bad as I thought they would, but the wings still look… not fast. Big, clunky, slow.

*Aside from the BMW, which I hoped was a mistake at the time.

Yes, the blue is much lighter, they announced it as “new royal blue” today. Maybe they want to show up a brighter future than the last “dark” years (that fits their success in the past so well ) but I surely liked the “blue close to black” hell a lot better.

I even go so far and think this is the worst livery after Renault that year… very dissapointing after I think the shape is the most beautiful after the McLaren :/.

New livery got released today.

Arghh, I knew there was something I was meant to post today. Thanks for the reminder empii, and the links.

Am I right in thinking the blue is much lighter than previous? It certainly looks it. And I must say, I think of all the recent Williams liveries (‘06 onwards), this is the worst. In my opinion, 2007 was the best. I liked the light blue touches.

Funny, the nose on those shots in the post seem totally wrong

I see it too. It looks very different, and again, I think I preferred the old one – it made the front wing look less wide! But, if it is better for the performance of the car, then they have to do it. C’mon Team Willy, it’s time to return to good form!

You can also see more offical (and still very small) images on the offical williams-website:
http://williams.latphoto.co.uk/

I’m sorry the pics have such bad quality, but I found no better ones yet:

http://www.motorsport-total.com/bilder/2009/090227/z1235743071.jpg
http://www.motorsport-total.com/bilder/2009/090227/z1235743062.jpg

Funny, the nose on those shots in the post seem totally wrong, as they had the high, wide nose on the testsessions and also on the livery-promotional-shoots from today. Interesting for sure are the extra-wings beside the airbox, reminding of the viking-horns McLaren introduced (and BMW-Sauber copied) once (I think 2005) to Formula 1.

In this week’s Autosport Frank Williams said there would be a new sponsor on the car who would be revealed soon.

Thanks Steven. I don’t bother buying the print edition anymore, but clearly I missed out on that information.

no as nice as the all dark blue but still a great looking livery

I think this year’s blue (on the regular livery) is maybe a touch lighter as well. It’s a shame, because the dark blue just looks gorgeous.

I have serious dubts on it… I’ve already explained it here: F1Wolf.

I replied on Milos’s site, basically saying that I agree the photos are old – Nakajima’s car has a 2008 front wing attached and as you spotted, gills on the rear of the bodywork.

http://www.f1wolf.com/2009/02/williams-fw31-final-livery-photos.html

do you know anything about a new sponsor, Saudi Airlines or something like that?

Not sure about Saudi Airlines. Williams are sponsored by Air Asia, but they are not a new sponsor as they were on the car last year. It seems a bit silly to promote two airlines, so I’m not buying into that rumour. Although Sidepodcast (and Maverick and co., who I just found out spotted the photos before me this afternoon) are under the impression the team will announce a new sponsor with their official launch of the new livery. So who knows!?

One thing is for sure, if true it wouldn’t be the first time a Saudi airline company has sponsored the team…

Williams FW08 from 1980.

Three in a row for Williams then!

I reckon they do it on purpose.

Well spotted, Ollie.

I didn’t get what I wanted though, Allianz have taken down their rather excellent archive of images from the past three years. (Which means you’re all gonna have to wait a bit longer for the real Williams Livery post!)

Well spotted, Ollie.