Williams have now signed the ‘biggest-paying’ sponsor in the team’s history

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While Formula 1 is ultimately about how fast you are on track, bringing in money is arguably just as important and Williams have reportedly secured the biggest-paying sponsor in their history.

All 10 teams took to the track on Wednesday at the start of the pre-season testing in Bahrain and fans got to see all the new liveries on their screens for the first time.

Williams may have driven the least laps of any team, but as journalist Lawrence Barretto said live on Sky Sports, they were also showing off a small part of team history in Sakhir.

Williams secure biggest-paying sponsor in the team’s history

In an ideal world, Formula 1 teams would be able to concentrate solely on their on-track performance throughout the year.

They put huge resources into shaving off hundredths of a second per lap and ultimately, that costs time and money.

As Formula 1 has gone on, the teams have used their cars as a marketing opportunity more and more frequently.

McLaren have done a particularly good job of selling the sport to potential sponsors and Zak Brown has been praised for his work in that field.

Williams are a team in transition and team principal James Vowles isn’t too worried about short-term success given their long-term goals.

It appears as though he’s doing a good job in that regard, with Williams now securing the biggest-paying sponsor in their long and storied Formula 1 history.

That allows them to complete more work off the track and improve their facilities within the cost cap.

It’s something the Grove-based team have been desperate to do with some parts of their factory very out of date.

Things finally looking up at Williams

Speaking about Williams towards the end of the first day of testing, Barretto said: “I would have said before today [Wednesday], Williams were feeling very optimistic.

“We’re getting quite a good view now of the new sponsors that the team have brought in this year.

“Once, it was just Dorilton sponsors, the owners of the team, just a number of the companies they own.

“This year, they’ve got Komatsu, who I’m told is the biggest-paying sponsor the team have ever had across the board.

“So, for the team to be attracting that kind of quality of sponsor is very, very impressive.”

Williams’s biggest-paying sponsor – Komatsu – has no connection to Haas’s new team principal, Ayao Komatsu.

Instead, they’re a Japanese construction and mining company based out of Tokyo.

The team’s most famous liveries have previously displayed iconic sponsors such as Rothmans, Canon, Winfield and HP.

They will hope that performances on the track can improve to such a level that the Komatsu brand is remembered in a similar way.