Williams unveils special livery for the 2023 F1 British GP

Ahead of the British GP, Williams Racing unveiled a special livery to celebrate its 800th F1 Grand Prix entry. The FW45 will adorn the commemorative one-off livery which features a tribute to its British heritage and founder Frank Williams.

The Silverstone weekend will see the Williams FW45 draping the Union Jack on the engine cover in their iconic blue and white colors. The side pods will also feature a reference to the 800-race landmark, with sponsors Gulf occupying a prominent part of the rear wing endplates.

"The one-off Silverstone design, running on both FW45s of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant this weekend, pays homage to the team’s British heritage and to our beloved founder, the late Sir Frank Williams," a statement from the team read.

Williams was founded by the late Sir Frank Williams in 1977 and has a storied history in F1. The Grove-based outfit was once a dominant force in the sport winning nine constructors championships and seven drivers' championships. Sir Frank Williams was at the helm of the team for the majority of its 800 GP starts, until he passed away in November 2021.

Before the cancelation of the Imola GP, Williams was set to celebrate its 800th race anniversary at Silverstone. However, the landmark race moved one race ahead to Hungary. Hence the team has decided to run the livery for its home race as well as the Hungarian GP.

Apart from the commemorative livery, the FW45 will also sport the fan-voted Gulf livery later this year in Singapore, Japan, and Qatar.

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Lewis Hamilton "welcomes" protestors during the British GP but not the track

British GP home hero Lewis Hamilton

The 2022 British GP witnessed one of the most chaotic starts in F1 history with Zhou Guanyu's horrific crash in Turn 1 and environmental activists walking on the track simultaneously. Another mishap was avoided on the track as the race was red-flagged after the Turn 1 incident and the protestors were dragged away from the track.

Ahead of the 2023 British GP, Lewis Hamilton asked the activists not to put themselves in harm's way. Hamilton revealed he supports peaceful protests but doesn't want to see a repeat of last year.

"I welcome protesters or activists," said Hamilton. "I think always they are pushing for positive change. We never want to see people standing on the track and putting themselves in harm's way."

"It's moving at such a fast pace, the industry, that sometimes some of those things fall off and they need to be sparked up again by conversation. So I hope we don't have the same scenario that we had last [year]. But as I said, I'm always supportive of peaceful protesters," he added ahead of the British GP.

Silverstone has worked alongside Northamptonshire Police, increasing security as it is expected to host a record 480,000 people over the weekend.