Williams unveils major rebrand; Brundle rules out Horner team boss return – round-up

Henry Valantine 03 Nov 2025 10:00 PM

Williams will head into 2026 with a familiar logo, as it updates its branding.

Your Monday edition of F1 news has landed, as we get set to build up to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend at Interlagos.

We begin the week with some big news for Williams, and for fans of retro Formula 1 logos, you’re in luck.

F1 news: Williams launches big rebrand for 2026 season

Williams has launched a new logo and team name for the 2026 season, slightly rebranding from Williams Racing to Atlassian Williams F1 Team in the process.

If the team’s new logo looks familiar, it should.

The new look goes back to the famous ‘Forward W’ motif as used from the team’s initial entry in Formula 1 in its current guise back in 1977, and this rebrand will come into full force from January 2026.

Brundle: ‘New type of team principal’ as Horner eyes other route to F1

Christian Horner is understood to be seeking an eventual return to the Formula 1 paddock not just as a team principal, but with a potential stake in a team in future, or through other avenues.

Martin Brundle has also noticed a shift in the team principals currently in charge, with an engineering background becoming prominent rather than business or team management.

Brundle theorised: “We’re seeing a new type of team principal these days, aren’t we? That’s why Christian wouldn’t want to come back as a team principal.

“I think with more of an engineering background, seems to be the way to tie together these vast quantities of highly specialised people in a team and [Laurent Mekies has] got help with the politics, with Helmut Marko and others.”

More ‘games’ predicted after ‘tapegate’ incident

After Red Bull received a €50,000 fine (€25,000 suspended) after seeking to interfere with tape on the grid in Austin, which was put up for Lando Norris, Johnny Herbert predicts that may not be the last of the gamesmanship between the title protagonists.

He told the Stay on Track podcast: “[Look at] Austin and that little kerfuffle with the Red Bull mechanic or whatever he was going back onto the track itself.

“Then there was talk about the tape that Lando had put on the wall and he was going to go there and peel it off.

“There’s going to be games like that as well [between now and the end of the season].

“Red Bull are very much on the high side of playing those games.”

Rumour: Ferrari making ‘final choices’ for 2026 car

A report from Italy has claimed that Ferrari may be seeking to make ‘fewer changes’ to its 2026 challenger than originally planned.

A report by Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport has claimed that the last two races have ‘eliminated many doubts about some final choices that still had to be made for 2026.’

As a result, fewer changes than originally planned will be made to the suspension of Project 678.

Have your say: Should F1 mandate two-stoppers?

PlanetF1.com understands one potential measure being tabled at the F1 Commission is the idea of having mandatory two-stop races, potentially as early as 2026.

The idea has split opinion so far, with those in favour arguing that it will force the teams into more stops, introducing added jeopardy into the race, while detractors make the point that it reduces strategic variability.

We’re now asking you for your say, so let us know via our poll what you think of this potential proposal.

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