Williams will name its 2027 Formula 1 car the FW50, skipping the FW49 designation entirely, as part of a year-long programme marking the team’s 50th anniversary.
The Grove-based outfit will become only the third team in the sport’s history to reach the milestone, after Ferrari and McLaren. It made a similar jump on its 40th anniversary, moving straight from the FW38 to the FW40.
Fans will also be given the chance to choose the livery the FW50 will race at Silverstone, which will run for the British Grand Prix only.
The team has won eight times at its home circuit, including its first victory, with Clay Regazzoni in 1979, and its 100th, with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. Williams has not yet said how the vote will work.
The centrepiece of the celebrations is W50 Live, a ticketed exhibition at 26 Leake Street in Waterloo, London, running from 11 to 28 February 2027. The location is a nod to the team’s origins, with Frank Williams finding co-founder Patrick Head working in a garage under a London railway arch.
The actor-led exhibition will move visitors through six themed spaces. Cars on display will include the FW06, the first car built by Williams Grand Prix Engineering, alongside Nelson Piquet’s 1987 title-winning FW11B, Nigel Mansell’s dominant FW14B from 1992, Villeneuve’s 1997 FW19, and the FW38, in which Valtteri Bottas recorded 378kph. A show car of the FW50 will also be displayed. Tickets go on pre-sale to W Club members on 26 October, with general sale from 29 October.
The FW50 will be driven by Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. Albon this year became the driver with the most starts in Williams history, passing Mansell’s record of 95 at the Spanish Grand Prix. Sainz joins Mansell and Alain Prost as one of three drivers to have raced for all three teams to reach 50 years in F1.
“We know what Williams has been capable of in the past, and now it’s our turn to keep building this team back into a winning team,” Sainz said.
Team principal James Vowles pointed to the team’s independent origins. “It is incredible to think that over 100 F1 teams have come and gone since Frank Williams built this team from next to nothing,” he said.
Williams has won nine constructors’ championships, seven drivers’ titles and 114 grands prix. Its last constructors’ title came in 1997.
Other plans include limited-edition merchandise, a W50 Monopoly set due before Christmas, and a teNeues coffee table book. Williams said more anniversary events will be announced in the coming months.
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