Williams will bring one of the most recognisable colour schemes from its Formula 1 history back to the grid for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. The special livery recalls the white, green and blue design associated with the championship-winning FW07C era, but the timing of the tribute also brings an unusual and controversial historical detail back into focus: Williams’ links with Saudi investors connected to the Bin Laden family.
During some of the most successful years in Williams’ Formula 1 history, financial backing from the family of Osama bin Laden played an important role in the team’s rise. For the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix, the livery of the successful FW07C will be remembered through a clear reference to the designs raced by Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni. However, the coincidence with the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center adds a sensitive historical dimension to the tribute.
Williams returns to Madrid with a vintage 1981-inspired livery
Ahead of the inaugural 2026 Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring street circuit, Williams Racing has unveiled a special tribute livery. The colour scheme recreates the iconic combination of white, green and blue associated with the 1981 FW07C, the last Williams car to compete in the Spanish capital at the Jarama circuit and the machine with which the Grove team won that season’s Constructors’ Championship.
The original liveries that inspired the modern design, used between 1978 and 1981, prominently displayed the names of companies belonging to a consortium of Saudi investors promoted by the Bin Laden family. Although the 2026 version retains only the historical colour palette, the resemblance inevitably recalls a period when Formula 1’s commercial and political relationships began intersecting with major investment from the Middle East.
Beyond the sporting celebration, particular attention is drawn to where the event falls on the calendar. The Madrid race weekend takes place from September 11 to 13, 2026. Williams will therefore run the colours during the same weekend as the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, creating an unusual historical coincidence.
How Saudi investment helped transform Williams in Formula 1
The presence of the Bin Laden name on Williams cars originated from an initiative by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977. Facing severe financial difficulties, the team’s leadership travelled to the Middle East in search of urgently needed investment that could prevent the operation from collapsing.
Through several business intermediaries, Williams managed to establish a commercial agreement led by patriarch Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, founder of the Saudi Binladin Group construction empire.
The arrangement led to sponsorship from brands including Albilad, which became the team’s title sponsor, Saudi Arabia’s national airline Saudia and TAG. Between 1978 and 1981, the FW06, FW07, FW07B and FW07C all carried the family name prominently on their noses and sidepods.
That financial support helped Williams evolve from a struggling private team into one of Formula 1’s dominant forces. Combined with the technical work led by Patrick Head, the influx of Saudi investment gave the Grove operation the resources it needed to become a championship-winning team and leave an enormous mark on the sport’s history.
Osama bin Laden had no involvement in Williams’ Formula 1 activities
An important distinction is that Osama bin Laden himself had no involvement in Williams or its Formula 1 programme during this period. At the time, he was simply one of approximately 50 children of the family’s founder and was a 22-year-old who had no connection either with the team’s activities or with global diplomacy.
He would later be disowned by his own family in the early 1990s, long after Williams’ Saudi-backed period had ended.
The historical context therefore separates Williams’ commercial relationship with Saudi investors from the later actions that made Osama bin Laden notorious around the world. Nevertheless, the decision to revive these particular colours on the weekend marking 25 years since the September 11 attacks inevitably creates a striking and potentially controversial coincidence around what was intended primarily as a celebration of one of Williams’ most successful Formula 1 eras.
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