ATLASSIAN WILLIAMS F1 TEAM REVEAL 2026 F1

Atlassian Williams F1 Team today officially unveiled the racing livery for its 2026 challenger, the FW48 – revealing a new look for the team in Formula 1’s all-new regulations era. Drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz joined Team Principal James Vowles to present the striking design to the 1,200-strong workforce at Grove who have poured tens of thousands of hours into preparing for the season ahead.

• Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz and James Vowles unveil striking livery design for the FW48 to dedicated team at Grove HQ

• New look for the new era of F1 regulations features vibrant gloss blue complemented by black and white, with heritage-inspired red and white keyline

• Alex Albon: “The FW48 looks incredible…I can’t wait for the fans to see it on track and cheer us on”

The 2026 livery has been designed to match the team’s bold intent as it transitions to a new era as Atlassian Williams F1 Team – a name reflecting the team’s sole purpose to race and win at the pinnacle of motorsport.

The FW48 is flooded with a vibrant gloss blue, a colour that is unmistakably Williams and reflects the strength of our title partnership with Atlassian. This is contrasted with a flowing section of black, sweeping from the chassis side through to the rear of the car, which is framed by an iconic red and white keyline – a feature of championship-winning Williams cars like Nigel Mansell’s FW14B and Damon Hill’s FW18 which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

The most striking evolution of the livery comes from the introduction of white across the sidepod, front wing and rear wing – injecting energy and movement into the design and amplifying the presence of our partners across the car.

Atlassian Williams F1 Team’s new look was revealed hours after the announcement of a major new global partnership with Barclays, the latest vote of confidence in Williams’ determination to return to the front of the grid. Over the past fortnight the team has also welcomed Anthropic, BNY, Wilkinson Sword and Nuveen to the team, who all join our growing roster of world-class brands who are helping the team transform in pursuit of Championship success.

The livery has been custom designed around the new shape of F1 cars in 2026. New regulations mean the cars are shorter and narrower with significant changes to the front and rear wings – along with other aerodynamic surfaces – designed for even closer racing. The entire team at Grove has been determined to push the boundaries of performance with the FW48, targeting the new regulations as an opportunity to take the next step on Williams’ journey back towards the front.

In 2026 Atlassian Williams F1 Team is looking to build on its most successful season for nine years. Last year the team finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with 137 points, secured podium finishes in Baku and Qatar, and took home its first-ever Sprint podium in Austin.

James Vowles, Team Principal, Atlassian Williams F1 Team: “2026 is the next step on the path back towards the top for Atlassian Williams F1 Team as we enter a new era for the sport, and we are excited about the season ahead. We have a great driver line up, some fantastic new partners, an ever-growing fanbase and want to build on the success we tasted last year, but we are not naïve about the challenge ahead of us. Nobody quite knows what will happen at the first race but we are looking forward to finding out, and hope our fans will love cheering us on with this great new livery.”

Alex Albon, Atlassian Williams F1 Team: “It’s always special to see a new livery for the first time, and the FW48 looks incredible. The design really stands out – it’s bold, modern and unmistakably Atlassian Williams F1 Team. I can’t wait for the fans to see it on track and cheer us on in 2026.

Carlos Sainz, Atlassian Williams F1 Team: “The FW48 livery is a real statement of our intent for 2026. The design celebrates Atlassian Williams F1 Team’s heritage while embracing a fresh, dynamic look for the new era. I’m excited to race in this livery and to share the thrill with fans around the world - their support makes all the difference as we continue on our journey  together!”

- Williams Racing

BRITISH FORMULA 1 CHAMPIONS

 

'HAPOY TO BE ALIVE' - MCLAREN DRIVER SUFFER INJURY AFTER HE KILLED DEER IN 17OMPH CRASH AT AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

Formula 1 in the 1980s was terrifyingly dangerous - but getting killed by an animal would have taken things to a whole new level.

Thankfully for McLaren’s Stefan Johansson, he avoided that fate, but only by a couple of feet.

Johansson was a huge character in F1, but almost met his maker in the form of a dee

His car and the deer were destroyed in an Austrian cloisonCredit: Reddit

The Swede was staging his best season in F1 in 1987 against some of the very best to ever do it - Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell to name just three.

Yet his biggest adversary turned out to be a deer in the Austrian hills.

With teammate and title leader Nelson Piquet coming off two straight wins, Johansson needed to get back in the groove at the Spielberg track, but faced an almighty early setback.

During Friday practice, a deer ran out on him and the amount of damage was staggering.

Johansson’s McLaren’s front end was ripped off, and he was lucky to come away with just a broken rib.

Speaking later with his car strewn to bits in the pitlane, he explained: “I came over the brow and didn’t even see it until it was like three metres away from me and I hit it head on.

“It wiped the whole front of the car off, and then I went on and off the road and destroyed the car completely.”

The commentator said he was happy to be alive - unlike the deer - and Johansson confirmed as much when he later reflected on the incident.

“It was very small, thank God,” he said. “Even so, another couple of feet to the left...

“I had no time to react. None. The signal from my brain to brake didn’t even reach my foot it happened that quickly. I was doing 170mph over a brow and the deer’s just sat in the middle of the road.

“It tore off the left-front suspension – there were four gaping holes where the pick-up points had been – and that corner carried back and sliced off the sidepod and rear suspension. The whole left side was pretty much gone.

“It was morning and the grass was moist. In those conditions you accelerate when you leave the track.

"But there was quite a long run-off and so I had plenty of time to think about it. I prefer accidents when you spin and – boof! – you’re in the wall.”

Giving a brief thought to the other party, he added: “Apparently it had been walking around for a while. So it was a mystery why the session hadn’t been stopped.”

Deer are nothing new at the now called Red Bull Ring, but what happened after certainly was.

Johansson got straight back out in McLaren’s third car explaining: “Being strapped in the car was almost like being in a cast and that helped a bit, too.”

However, two more crashes followed on Friday retiring ten more cars, and Johansson was one of them, much to the fury of team boss Ron Dennis.

Yet his team managed to source some spare parts and get him back out the next day where he was even fastest at one point in the wet during qualifying.

Sunday saw a botched start and then a mechanic fail to tighten up his wheel, sending Johansson to the back of the grid, and as he put it: “The whole weekend was a disaster.”

Yet he would go on to stage one of his best F1 drives, climbing up to seventh with the fastest lap despite having a broken rib and car.

Even with a very impressive 12 podiums and 88 career points to his name, his Austria heroics showed a driver who certainly wasn’t out of place on a grid full of Hall of Fame talents.

Yet in the ‘80s such a feat was nothing new, as the Swede finished: “That’s just what you do: get back in it and get back on it. If you start thinking about it, doubting, it’s probably time to stop.”

- Connor Andrews

SENNA & MANSELL'S EXLOSIVE BATTLE| 1992 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

 

MANSELL HUNTS DOWN SENNA | 1992 MONACO GRAND PRIX

 

RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX | NIGEL MANSELL VS. NELSON PIQUET

 

NIGEL MANSELL VS. NELSON PIQUET

Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet shared one of the most intense and hostile rivalries in Formula 1 history during their time as teammates at Williams in the mid-1980s. 

Both drivers were fierce competitors—Mansell, the passionate British driver known for his aggressive style, and Piquet, the cool and calculating Brazilian already a double World Champion. 

Their partnership quickly turned sour, with Piquet publicly mocking Mansell’s intelligence and even making personal jabs about his family. Despite their animosity, the rivalry produced thrilling battles on track and pushed both drivers to their limits. 

The tension reached its peak in 1986, a season in which both had a shot at the world title but ultimately lost to Alain Prost. Their feud became legendary not just for its venom but for the high level of performance it generated. 

To this day, Mansell vs Piquet remains a textbook example of how fierce competition within a team can spark both greatness and controversy.

#MansellVsPiquet #F1Feud #Williams #F1rivalry #RacingDrama #F1Legends

TOP GEAR DRIVER LAP TIMES | RICCIARDO IS THE FASTEST 🔥

 

ADRIAN NEWEY - F1'S GREATEST DESIGNER AND HIS CARS

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

 Adrian Newey has made headlines in Formula One in recent days following the announcement that he will leave Red Bull after almost 20 years in 2025.

The decision opens the door to the possibility of joining a new team ahead of F1's regulation shake-up in 2026. It's widely thought the 65-year-old could join Ferrari or Aston Martin after he revealed last year the missing pieces in his career are working with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The pair returned the sentiment, saying it would be a privilege to work with him.

Ferrari have previously tried to coax him to Italy without success, which Newey said was due to the impact on his family, but with Hamilton bound for Ferrari in 2025, and Alonso committing to Aston Martin until 2026, the ideal opportunity may have presented itself.

Newey, who has been in F1 for over 40 years, is widely regarded as the greatest designer in the sport. His career stats boast cars which have won 13 drivers' championships, and 12 constructors' championships across three teams. His salary is rumoured to be around £15 million and his unique role at Red Bull has become more hands-off in recent years, dedicating around 50% of his time to F1. As teams begin falling over each other for offers many would agree he's worth it.

Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll labelled him a "unicorn" for the breadth of his skillset. "I think Adrian is a unicorn ... he's very special, maybe exists once," he said.

His enthusiasm for cars started at an early age. In an interview with Beyond the Grid podcast last year, he said at the age of 11, having learned how to weld, he would use some metal working equipment from his father's garage -- who had an interest in modifying cars -- and make 12 scale models. Before long, he became bored with making other people's designs, so he began sketching his own.

"While, of course, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, the practice of sketching and turning that into a 3D object was great practice from a very young age," he said.

Adrian Newey (L) and Patrick Head with the 1994 Williams FW16. Steve Etherington/EMPICS via Getty Images

Newey went on to study a degree in aeronautics and astronautics, and in his early career around 1983, joined March/Leyton House, where he drew sports cars chassis, before he joined Williams in the early 1990s, which was spearheaded by Patrick Head. Together the duo became integral to the team's success in the era, with the 1992 Williams-Renault FW14B Newey's first championship winning car.

Nigel Mansell won the drivers' championship in dominant fashion with 10 out of 16 race wins on the car which had active suspension -- meaning hydraulically-operated actuators could adjust the height of the corners on the car, allowing for improved aerodynamics and drag reduction.

Over the next few years the car evolved around the now fully electric active suspension with further additions including power steering, anti-lock braking system, and more downforce. The improvements would see Williams' Alain Prost win the drivers' championship in 93', and Williams claimed five constructors titles between 1992-1997.

Later that decade, he moved to McLaren as technical director. Mika Hakkinen claimed his first of two drivers' championships with the McLaren MP4/13 as the car to beat with its narrow, longer profile for enhanced aero, and grooved tyres which supposedly encouraged stability.

By the time Newey joined Red Bull in 2006, his role had evolved from race engineer, to aerodynamicist, to designer and his present role, chief technical officer and he carved his route to becoming statistically the most successful car designer in the modern era.

The 2013 Red Bull-Renault RB9, the last iteration of the Sebastian Vettel era, was the most efficient of the team's first period of dominance with a huge amount of downforce and a Coandă effect exhaust that encouraged flow to the brakes and sides of the diffuser.

However, the 2023 RBPT RB19 is arguably Red Bull's greatest car, which delivered Max Verstappen to his third world title. The car boasts an improved floor, capable of being efficient on the straights and producing additional downforce, and won 21 out of 23 three races across the season.

Adrian Newey (L) and Mika Hakkinen in their McLaren days in the late 1990s. Uta TOCHTERMANN / AFP/ Getty Images

Although F1's technology has moved on in the last 40 years, Newey prefers his traditional method of sketching, rather than computer-aided design (CAD).

"I use a drawing board because to me it's the language I'm most comfortable, most fluid in," he says. "If I tried to use a CAD I feel I wouldn't be as fluent in it. I will spend too much time thinking about how to operate it and not just drawing naturally, subconsciously. Drawing has to be subconscious - or for me it does." He goes on to explain that the technology doesn't come naturally for him, and the practice from his youth in the garage sketching and then creating the object was beneficial. "I seem to have a good ability to visualise something in 3D and put it down on paper in 2D, whereas the CAD system does that for you."

The pleasure of sketching stood him in good stead for his passion projects outside of F1 -- the well-known Aston Martin Valkyrie which, in partnership with Red Bull, is a performance car with F1 technology that is road legal. Production has been limited to 150 with a cost of £2.5-3 million. Excitedly, Fernando Alonso said recently, his "little gift" to himself arrives soon -- "having Adrian Newey's car!"

Newey's Valkyrie will race in Le Mans in 2025. Outside of that, he created the RB17, a 'no rules' performance car that isn't road legal which was a lockdown project. The sole purpose was speed, with no constraints of regulations -- surely every designer's dream -- but the downside is the £5m price tag.

Aston Martin will enter at least one Valkyrie in the hypercar category at FIA World Endurance Championship and U.S.-based IMSA sportscar championship. Martyn Lucy/Getty Images

Newey's stellar career has covered a huge area of progress and development in and out F1, and paved the way for other aerodynamicists and the wider technical teams to continue to push boundaries. On Friday, he told Sky Sports' Martin Brundle he wants a break, and is exhausted by F1's all-consuming nature.

"It's been 18 years, an amazing ride, starting at Red Bull from the ashes of Jaguar and being involved with Christian [Horner] and building it up and honestly, when I joined I didn't know where I would end up, it was quite a big career risk for me, and it's just been an amazing ride since then. It's been a tremendous honour working with all the guys and girls at the factory, and the race team, it's just been fabulous.

"F1 is all consuming, I've been at it for a long time now ... there comes a point where, as Forest Gump said 'I'm feeling a little bit tired'," he said.

However, as someone with an eye for detail, he adds that he enjoys the challenge of regulation changes, which bodes well for what's to come in 2026.

- Niamh Lewis

NIGEL MANSELL | WILLIAMS FW14B | RENAULT RS3C/RS4 3.5 V10. GP SILVERSTONE 1992.

 

AP

SENNA VS. MANSELL | MONACO 1992 | BEST F1 BATTLE EVER

F1: MEXICO GP TO MAKE A COMEBACK SINCE 1992

Nigel Mansell (center) in 1992
Left: Riccardo Patrese. Right: Michael Schumacher

Mexico Grand Prix back again in 2015 after a long absence.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed and added it would benefit both sides. 

It has been 23 years from the last race at  Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

The track was used from 1963-1970 and 1986-1992.

The last driver to win the Mexican GP was Nigel Mansell from UK with  team Williams-Renault...

Mexican Grand Prix winners
Year	Driver	Team
1992	Nigel Mansell (GB)	Williams-Renault
1991	Riccardo Patrese (Ita)	Williams-Renault
1990	Alain Prost (Fra)	Ferrari
1989	Ayrton Senna (Bra)	McLaren-Honda
1988	Alain Prost (Fra)	McLaren-Honda
1987	Nigel Mansell (GB)	Williams-Honda
1986	Gerhard Berger (Aust)	Benetton-BMW

Ecclestone alsondaid they are talkin with Azerbaijan for the preparation of a F1 event. 

Azerbaijan is a rich oil nation and they want a street race in Baku.

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