Formula One Colours

Right, potentially busy day today, so let’s get cracking first of all with this. Is it the 2008 Williams livery?

I’m going stick my neck out and say that yes, I think it probably is. Those pictures look like PR photos for sponsorship/marketing purposes, and it was pictures from exactly the same kind of shoot that leaked the ‘07 livery so early last year. It doesn’t look like any kind of photoshop job, either – nor does it look like one of the special commemorative liveries the team are supposed to be running in testing (sadly, we’ve yet to see pics of any more of those).

First impressions, then… well, it’s an interesting mix of the last two cars, basically. I prefer it to ‘07, but don’t like it as much as ‘06 – a return to the turqoise-ish trim would have been nice, I think, rather than the grey that’s used. Still, kudos to the team for toning down the white, which seems to suggest they’re actually paying attention to the rest of the grid. Just as usual with Williams, it’s simple, smart and effective. Thumbs up from me.

UPDATE 05.02.08 : According to F1 Fanatic, Williams have denied that this is the “final” livery. If this is the case, that’s a shame, because the more I see it (see the new picture below), the more I like it. On the other hand… they said exactly the same thing about the leaked livery last year, those not-so-wily cats, so I’m still saying you can lay pretty safe money on this being “the one”.