Formula 1 team Williams announces new name and logo for 2026 season, "inspired by our past, confident about our future"

Williams Racing, a historic Formula 1 team founded in 1977 by Frank Williams, will debut a new brand image next season, as part of an attempt to reanimate the team that last won a Formula 1 championship in 1997, with Jacques Villeneuve. Williams Racing will become... Williams F1 Team. Not a huge change, but one that better "connects the team's glorious legacy to its bold and ambitious future", according to the company, that will maintain the Atlassian sponsor (officially, it will be Atlassian Williams F1 Team).

A new logo will also debut from January 2026, changing the existing "W" with a "21st century reimagining of Frank Williams' famous 'Forward W'".

"I am proud that from next year we will be known as Atlassian Williams F1 Team and carry a logo on our car inspired by our founder Sir Frank Williams and deeply connected with our decades of success", said Team Principal James Vowless, honouring Fran Williams, who passed in 2021.

There won't be changes in the driver line-up, with Carlos Sainz (8th) and Alex Albon (11th). The team is set to finish fifth in the team's standings, best result since 2017, with 111 points so far, 39 points clear of Racing Bulls, which is already more than all previous seven seasons combined.