A Landmark Year for Williams

Today, to inaugurate the start of Williams’ thirtieth year of Formula One racing, the team will unveil the first of six winter test liveries designed to celebrate a sequence of landmarks that will take place when the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship gets underway in March later this year.

As the two FW29B interim cars roll out at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit to start the team’s preparation and testing for 2008, the car livery will include references to the company’s 30th year of racing1 and its 500th entry in a Formula One Grand Prix, a milestone that will be recorded at the Turkish Grand Prix this season. In addition, the team will record its 50,000 racing lap during the forthcoming year, potentially during the Spanish Grand Prix in
Barcelona assuming both FW30s demonstrate a complete finishing record to this point in the season.

In addition to these company milestones, the Monaco Grand Prix will be Frank Williams’ 600th Formula One Grand Prix as an entrant, and with a personal record that will span 39 years (and only 23 races missed in almost four
decades), he will become the sport’s longest enduring entrant, surpassing the record of the legendary Enzo Ferrari.

The team will release its second winter livery at the Valencia test next week, which is also scheduled to be the first run for the team’s 2008 race car, the FW30, which will make its track debut on Tuesday, January 22, 2008.

In total, six themed liveries will be run across the two month winter testing campaign in Spain prior to the team’s full racing colours being released prior to the season’s inaugural race in Melbourne, Australia on March 16, 2008.