Williams’ Madrid tribute revives 1981 livery with an awkward Bin Laden family association – Williams has brought back the colours of its championship-winning 1981 FW07C for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, but the historic tribute has created an uncomfortable association because the original car raced under sponsorship connected to the Bin Laden family.
With September 11 marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States, the timing has prompted questions over whether Williams should have chosen this particular chapter of its history to celebrate.
The special livery was unveiled by Williams ahead of Formula 1’s return to Madrid, where the championship is racing at the new Madring circuit. The design uses the white, green and navy-blue colours of the FW07C that competed at Jarama in 1981, the last time F1 raced in the Spanish capital.
However, the historical background of that Williams is more complicated than the current livery suggests.
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The Williams car being celebrated
Williams says its Madrid livery is intended to celebrate the team’s history and connect its past achievements with its current push back towards the front of the grid.
The FW07C was driven by Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann during the 1981 season, with Williams ultimately winning the Constructors’ Championship. The car also competed at Jarama during that year’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The modern Williams cars of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon do not carry the historic sponsors themselves. Instead, the team has recreated the period colour scheme while retaining its current commercial partners.
That distinction is important because the controversial association comes from the sponsorship history of the original cars rather than from Williams deliberately placing the Bin Laden name on its 2026 machinery.
Where the Bin Laden connection comes from
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams attracted significant backing from Saudi Arabian companies. The team raced under the Albilad Williams name, while sponsors including Saudia, Dallah Avco and TAG appeared on its cars. Historical records list the 1981 entrant as the Albilad Williams Racing Team.
Albilad was associated with Mohamed bin Awad bin Laden, the Saudi businessman and patriarch of the Bin Laden family. Osama bin Laden, who founded al-Qaeda and was responsible for the organisation behind the September 11 attacks, was one of his sons.
That creates the uncomfortable historical link being discussed this weekend. It would, however, be misleading to suggest that Albilad itself was connected to al-Qaeda or that Williams’ sponsorship had any relationship to the 9/11 attacks.
Indeed, the sponsorship and the Williams cars in question existed roughly two decades before the September 11 attacks.
Why the timing has raised eyebrows
The issue has nevertheless attracted attention because September 11, 2026 marks exactly 25 years since the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The anniversary has prompted extensive reflection on the history and consequences of the attacks, with al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden once again at the centre of public discussion.
Will Buxton addressed the issue on the Up to Speed podcast, arguing that the historical connection could inevitably become part of the conversation.
“People are going to make that link and association. It is a conversation they shouldn’t be having this weekend,” says Buxton.
That does not mean Williams intended any connection to 9/11. The team’s stated reason for the livery is straightforward: Formula 1 is returning to Madrid and Williams wanted to celebrate the last time it raced in the city.
But the decision illustrates the potential complications involved in revisiting historic liveries without their original sponsorship context.
A historic tribute with an unfortunate coincidence
Williams has clearly chosen the 1981 design for sporting and historical reasons rather than because of the sponsorship associated with the original car. The current livery does not reproduce the old Albilad branding.
Nevertheless, the timing makes the decision unusually sensitive. With the 25th anniversary of 9/11 falling on the same weekend, anyone familiar with Williams’ sponsorship history can draw a connection between the colours being celebrated and the Bin Laden family name.
The question is therefore less about whether Williams has done anything deliberately offensive and more about whether the team should have anticipated the historical association when selecting this particular livery for this particular weekend.
What do you think: is the criticism excessive, or should Williams have chosen a different historic livery for the 25th anniversary weekend of 9/11?
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