Inexplicably, they’ve made a couple of changes to their livery already, replacing the white rear wing and silvery sidepods with a bright orange-red. Not only does this clash horrifically with the gold already on the car, but it makes it look almost indistinguishable from a McLaren. I know the Maccas are silvery, but in certain light they look  almost white – and the shades of red are just about identical. Note how the similarity even extends to the strip along the top of the airbox. Seriously, Force India, what is the point? Idiots.

It turns out, meanwhile, that Super Aguri have made a minor change to their livery, adjusting the red along the nose and throwing in a block of black. It’s not bad, as it happens… but their new uniforms, meanwhile, look great.

And the final point to note from the first day of track action is that Ferrari have stuck an ugly barcode motif on the engine cover, presumably to make up for Marlboro’s logo being shunted off the rear wing. Not impressed, frankly. Also, hard to tell from the light, but have they gone back to that lighter shade of red? Hope not.

Super Aguri, meanwhile, having been bought out by the Magma group, don’t look like giving their cars a quick dash of paint ahead of the first race; but rumours abound that a new colour scheme, and perhaps even a new name, will be forthcoming in time for Monaco. We’ll keep ’em peeled.

Ferrari, meanwhile, have inked a deal with UAE airline Etihad – formerly of Spyker, but dropped in favour of Vijay Mallya’s own Kingfisher – that will see the brand on the red cars’ rear wings.

Interestingly, though, Mappin & Webb – the jewellery company whose logo appeared so prominently on that test livery – are nowhere to be seen. Instead, toy shop Hamley’s have increased their presence, taking over the sidepod, a result of parent company Baugur increasing their investment in the team.

As for the livery itself… well, as I commented when we saw the “test” livery, I like the design generally – the increased amount of blue is good, as is the fact that it’s a bit darker. It makes the car a bit more distinctive (standing out from the other white and blue cars on the grid), and it almost looks black-and-white in certain light. The use of silver in places is a bit nondescript, though – it might look better if that were gold, or a lighter blue. But I do also like the retro-ish race numbers, and all-in-all it’s a very Williams-ish design. Keep an eye on this car – it could well be this year’s “best of the rest”, if testing is anything to go by…

Meanwhile, here on F1 Colours, expect a bit more content again as we build up to the season. The first “Livery History” article – featuring the Jordan team – will be posted at some point over the next month, and I’ll also be featuring some general F1 commentary in both the build-up to, and aftermath of, the Australian GP. Only one week to go, folks!

So I ask you… what the hell is this all about?

Not only is it white… it’s bloody ugly, as well. The gold looks ridiculously ’70sish, and clashes with the red of the Kingfisher logo. Quite frankly, I feel completely justified in hoping that the newest owners of F1’s Cursed Team go the way of Midland and Spyker before them. At least those two had distinctive liveries.

Not. Impressed.

Some people claimed this livery grew on them as 2007 wore on. I’m not one of them. I still think it’s an utterly demented piece of design work. The fact that Renault used to have one of the all-time great colour schemes (the yellow/black/white of the early ’80s) that they could easily call on just makes it more insulting. And those uniforms really do make the drivers look like pillocks. Ah well.

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”.

But did you have to make it look quite so much like the BMW? Didn’t you get the memo? There are too many white cars on the grid. Never mind…

Still, it’s probably just about the best ’08 livery so far. Even if the uniforms are a bit crap.

A quick word about the uniforms, though – they’re not as nice as last year’s, but… putting the drivers’ race numbers on there? I heartily approve. In fact, it’s something I’ve thought for years would be cool. Here’s hoping more teams – in an era where they’re less reliant on lots of smaller sponsorship deals filling up the uniforms – follow their lead…

The liveries are to celebrate various milestones that WilliamsF1 will encounter during the 2008 season – including their thirtieth year in the sport, their 500th Grand Prix, and their 50,000th racing lap. Sir Frank himself, meanwhile, will become the longest-serving entrant in the history of the sport with a career – as driver and team owner – spanning some 39 years.

The first livery can be seen above (picture by Sutton, via gpupdate.net), and is reminiscent of the all-blue livery the team ran in winter testing last year; it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the forthcoming design will simply be different combinations of blue and white, or if they’ll refer to classic Williams designs. Expect to see the second design hit the track at Valencia (and this site shortly afterwards!) next week.

Pics from gpupdate.net.