Williams has signed New Era as its new apparel partner from 2026, drawing a line under its Puma deal at the end of this season and giving the team a fresh look just as F1’s next rules cycle arrives.
The agreement is billed as a multi-year partnership that will see the US brand kit out the whole operation “from head to sock” starting next year. That means Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon will front a very different wardrobe on the grid in 2026, a small but telling part of Williams’ larger reboot.
It’s another off-track move that fits the mood at Grove. Since rebranding as Atlassian Williams Racing, the team has sharpened its commercial profile while quietly edging up the order on Sundays. As things stand, Williams is sitting fifth in the Constructors’ standings, holding off Aston Martin with Racing Bulls lurking just behind — on course for its best finish since 2017 if it can see it through.
Williams’ merchandise and licensing director Luke Timmins called the New Era tie-up “first-of-its-kind,” and the ambition is clear. In his words, Williams is “building a team to win again” and intends to “show up in style” while pulling in new audiences along the way. Translation: it’s not just performance parts getting upgraded.
New Era, for its part, is leaning into the team’s resurgence narrative. Paul Gils, the company’s VP for EMEA and India, described Williams as “one of the most iconic names in motorsport” and spoke of creating products that nod to tradition while pushing a “bold future” both on and off the track. With 2026 bringing new chassis and power unit regs, the timing is neat — a clean-sheet era paired with a clean-sheet look.
Before we get there, there’s one more lap to run with Puma. Williams made a point of thanking its outgoing partner, which has dressed the team since 2024, and promised to “fight for every point” together through the remainder of the 2025 campaign, with more fan collections still to drop this year.
The apparel story might sound cosmetic, but it matters in modern F1. The most switched-on teams have turned the paddock tunnel into a runway of sorts, a way to project identity, energize fanbases, and add zeros to the bottom line. For Williams — now with a headline driver in Sainz alongside the established Albon — there’s real value in owning that space.
The competitive picture makes the timing even sweeter. Fifth in the table with an 18-point buffer to Aston Martin and Racing Bulls a couple further back isn’t a position Williams has stumbled into. It’s the product of a car that’s far less temperamental than the versions of old and a driver pairing that keeps bringing it home. Locking in a lifestyle partner now suggests confidence that the on-track story will keep justifying the off-track push.
Come 2026, expect the blue to look a little sharper under the lights and the caps to be a little more coveted in the grandstands. If Williams’ upward curve continues, the new threads won’t just be for show. They’ll be part of a team that’s finally starting to look — and feel — like itself again.
