Juan Pablo Montoya believes Williams missed a major opportunity at the start of Formula 1’s new 2026 regulatory era and says the new chassis expected in Baku could become a defining test for the team’s future. After Williams impressed by finishing fifth in the 2025 Constructors’ Championship, its former driver admits he has been disappointed by the dramatic downturn at Grove this season.
The British team had been expected to build on last year’s progress and potentially benefit from the strength of the Mercedes power unit under the new regulations. Instead, Williams has struggled to deliver the competitiveness it anticipated, making its extensive development programme for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix particularly important.
Juan Pablo Montoya disappointed by Williams’ 2026 struggles
Williams has undoubtedly been one of the disappointments of the 2026 Formula 1 season so far. After surprising many by finishing fifth last year, immediately behind the leading teams, the Grove operation failed to capitalise on the major regulatory reset in the way many expected.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who enjoyed some of the most successful years of his Formula 1 career with Williams, admits it is difficult to see his former team struggling.
“I really feel sorry for Williams,” Juan Pablo Montoya told Betpack. “They are really trying to put everything right and James Vowles is doing a great job, putting in maximum effort to make sure the situation changes. He learned a lot from Toto during his ten years at Mercedes and he is trying to put what he learned into practice. But sometimes that is easier said than done.”
Williams’ difficulties have already forced the team to place significant importance on its next development step. The squad has acknowledged that its major Baku upgrade will not immediately solve every weakness of its 2026 car, but the Azerbaijan weekend should nevertheless provide an important indication of whether its technical direction is improving.
Williams’ new Baku chassis could define the next few years
For Juan Pablo Montoya, the significance of the new chassis extends far beyond a single Grand Prix. He believes its competitiveness could offer an important indication of whether Williams has identified the correct path out of its current difficulties.
“It will be really interesting to see how competitive that new chassis is in Baku. That will determine the next few years for Williams. It is an enormously important challenge.”
The warning reflects the particular danger of falling behind at the beginning of a major regulatory cycle. When technical rules change significantly, the strongest teams can establish concepts and development directions that provide a foundation for several seasons. A team that starts from the wrong position may instead spend years trying to close the gap.
Montoya warns Williams could spend years catching up
Expectations surrounding Williams were particularly high because of its encouraging 2025 season. The team appeared to have built momentum at precisely the right time, only for the new regulations to expose weaknesses that have prevented it from maintaining that trajectory.
“After last year, everyone expected them to be competitive this season, but they missed the opportunity,” Juan Pablo Montoya explained. “And the problem is that when you miss the opportunity when dealing with new regulations, you end up spending the next five years trying to catch up.”
That makes Baku one of the most important weekends remaining in Williams’ season. The new chassis does not need to transform the team into an immediate frontrunner, but it must provide convincing evidence that the underlying problems have been understood and that Grove has a development platform capable of moving forward.
For James Vowles and Williams, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will therefore represent much more than another upgrade weekend. Juan Pablo Montoya sees it as a potentially decisive indication of whether the team can recover from its difficult start to the new Formula 1 era or faces a much longer process of rebuilding the ground it has already lost.
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