Williams unveils FW07C-inspired livery for Formula 1’s Madrid return
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 9, 2026
Williams tribute
Williams unveiled a special-edition retro livery for the Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring in Madrid, a design built around the look of the championship-winning 1981 FW07C. The team framed the paint scheme as more than a throwback. It linked the current effort to a classic Williams car and gave the squad a visual bridge between one of its most successful eras and its push back toward the front of Formula 1. Williams called the tribute car the FW48, and the project was developed with Atlassian. The reveal came at a Fan Zone event in Madrid’s Plaza de Callao, where Williams rolled out the design as part of the buildup to the home race. The livery is set to be carried by Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, giving the team a fresh look for one of the most closely watched weekends on the calendar. The retro styling also fit the mood around Madrid’s return to Formula 1, where Williams used the new color scheme to put its history in plain view. The FW07C link gives the car its core identity, but the FW48 name shows how Williams wants the tribute to speak to the present as well. It is a nod to what the team has won before and to what it wants to build now.
Madrid return
Williams said the livery honors the last time Formula 1 raced in Madrid, when the series stopped at Jarama with Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann. That link matters because the team did more than borrow a visual cue from the past. It tied the new project to a specific chapter of Williams history and to Madrid’s previous place on the Formula 1 map. Jarama hosted the Spanish Grand Prix 11 times between 1967 and 1981, which gives the city a deeper race heritage than a simple one-off return. Williams also pointed to Reutemann’s fourth-place finish in the 1981 race won by Gilles Villeneuve, a result that places the team’s new tribute in a real competitive context rather than a ceremonial one. The old race, the old circuit and the old livery all feed into the same message. Madrid is back on the Formula 1 schedule, and Williams chose to answer that return with a car that reaches into its archive. The effect is direct. The team is not treating this as a generic special edition. It is treating the Madrid weekend as a chance to connect one era to another, with Jarama serving as the reference point and the FW07C serving as the visual anchor. That is why the tribute lands as a history piece first and a marketing move second. The car carries memory, and Williams wants that memory to be part of the story again.
Sainz homecoming
Carlos Sainz said he was proud to race his first Madrid Grand Prix in his hometown, where he was born and raised, and the statement gave the tribute another layer of meaning. The special livery will go out on track with a local connection and a competitive one. James Vowles said the design links Williams’ past with its drive to return to the front of the grid, which fits the team’s position going into the weekend. Williams entered ninth in the constructors’ standings on 11 points and was trying to end an eight-race points drought. Its target was a first score since Albon finished eighth in Monaco eight grands prix weekends earlier. That context makes the weekend more than a celebration of history. Williams needs the old name, the new venue and the fresh livery to sit beside a current result. Atlassian co-founder and chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes said the idea behind the collaboration was to use a team’s accumulated knowledge to improve future work, a thought that matches the way Williams presented the FW48. The tribute reaches back to a championship-winning car, references Jarama and lands in Madrid for Sainz, but it still points forward. Williams wants the past to do more than decorate the car. It wants the past to help define the next step.
