Williams Racing removed logos from their cars paying tribute to the late Brazilian great Ayrton Senna, breaking a tradition started by Sir Frank Williams’ team after the 1994 tragedy at Imola.
The triple F1 world champion, hailed and mourned as one of the greatest talents the sport has ever seen, was killed while racing for the Grove-based team at that year’s San Marino Grand Prix, only his third race as a Williams driver.
The team cars have carried various iterations of the Senna logo, from the trademark Senna ‘S’ to special edition stickers, every year starting 1995.
“The decision was that we want to move on in the future,” team principal Jost Capito told reporters shortly after the outfit unveiled their new livery for the 2022 season.
“We have a new era, we have a new car and we refurbished also our museum where we have a special area to celebrate Ayrton. We had to look now in the future and not show the drivers the ‘S’ all the time they get in the car and being reminded of what happened,” explained Capito
He also revealed that Williams, who also fielded the Brazilian’s nephew Bruno Senna for a season in 2012, had not discussed the move with the Senna family.
Capito: It’s time for the Williams team to move on
But he said the team were looking to work more closely with the Senna Foundation, a philanthropic organisation set up by Senna’s sister Viviane in 1994.
“More people benefit from this and if we can help people especially through the foundation, I think that’s a very good programme but it has to be still finely defined,” said Capito.
Williams, who unveiled a blue diamond-patterned livery with splashes of red, used the launch which coincides with the most radical Formula One rules overhaul in decades to emphasise a departure from the past and signal the dawn of a new era.
The team were sold by the Williams family to U.S.-based Dorilton Capital in the second half of 2020.
Team founder Sir Frank Williams, under whose leadership the outfit won nine constructors’ championships, seven drivers’ titles and 114 races, died last November at the age of 79.
“I think now it’s time for the team to move on and be very honourable to Senna and having a very dedicated space in the museum and honour him there,” said Capito. (Reporting by Abhishek Takle)