Questions have been asked over the timing of Williams’ retro livery amid 9/11 anniversary

In a video shared online, the Formula 1 broadcaster Will Buxton discussed the Williams design during a weekend that coincides with the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Buxton suggested that viewers could make a connection between the name shown on the car and the family of Osama bin Laden.

The point has generated debate among Formula 1 fans, although the association is indirect. The family members connected to the name were not responsible for the attacks, and there is no indication that Williams intended the livery to reference Osama bin Laden or the events of September 11.

Instead, the design is understood by fans to be a celebration of Williams’ history. Nevertheless, Buxton argued that the timing could lead viewers to question whether the team had considered how the livery might be perceived.

Buxton said on a podcast: "I love a throwback livery. I'm not convinced the timing of it is wise. In 1979, Williams was sponsored by the Bin Laden family, the father of of Osama. It was a huge family and and I think Osama had sort of been kicked out of the family at at the time, but but still Osama bin Laden's father and [the car] carried Bin Laden name on the side.

"And so that colour scheme has an association with the family that was ultimately - through Osama bin Laden - responsible for 9/11. And this weekend marks 25 years since 9/11. It is a very delicate moment of of world history and an incredibly impactful. And I'm not convinced that running that livery, no matter how how well-intentioned and how beautiful and how how magical that historic livery is.

"Any other weekend, you'd be like, 'Oh, that's pretty cool.' This weekend, I think, you know, there's a focus group that's failed to focus really on that. People will make that link and they will make that association."

The reaction online has been sharply divided. Some fans supported Buxton’s observation, saying that the anniversary made the timing unfortunate and that teams should be sensitive to historical context when choosing special liveries.

Most dismissed the connection as an excessive reach. They argued that the race is not taking place in the United States, that most fans would not make the association without it being pointed out, and that the livery has no direct relationship with the 9/11 attacks.

Several commenters also questioned why the focus had fallen on Williams’ throwback design when Formula 1 has faced wider debates about sponsorship, politics and the countries in which it races. For those fans, the controversy represents an attempt to create an issue around a livery intended as a visual tribute to the team’s past.

Williams has not publicly responded to Buxton’s comments, and there is no suggestion that the team plans to change the livery before the weekend. The team chose this livery because it is inspired by the championship-winning FW07C that raced at the Circuito de Jarama in 1981. That was the last time F1 raced in Madrid.

It is purely a coincidence that the 2026 car with this livery will run on September 11. The sponsors from the past are not on the current car, of course, as that would indeed have created a connection with the Bin Laden family. It is not the past, but the current partners that are featured on the car for this weekend and thus only the colour scheme that has been changed, which features the same design as the last time Williams raced in Madrid.

For now, the debate remains largely confined to social media, with fans split between those who believe Williams should have considered the timing more carefully and those who see the criticism as an unnecessary controversy.