Montoya tips Williams for 'huge step' in Baku as B-spec upgrade arrives

Juan Pablo Montoya has predicted Williams will take a “huge step” forward at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, where the Grove-based outfit is set to introduce a major B-spec upgrade package after a bruising start to the 2026 Formula 1 season.

The prediction follows another difficult weekend for Williams at the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring circuit, where Carlos Sainz retired from his home race and team-mate Alex Albon could only manage 15th place. The results leave Williams ninth in the constructors’ championship with 11 points, ahead of only Aston Martin and Cadillac.

“I want to see what Williams brings,” Montoya said in F1 TV’s post-race broadcast. “I want to see how much of a step Williams really brings. They even told Carlos today, ‘Sorry for all this pain. Next year, we want to make you proud.’ Their first big step in the right direction is the next race. So, we’ll see how much of a step in the right direction it is. I think it’s going to be a huge step, and they deserve it. It’s been a rough year for them.”

Team principal James Vowles had previously set expectations for the Baku package in July, framing it as more than a conventional upgrade. “The best way to describe it to you is it’s a B-spec car,” he said. “It’s a new chassis, and other bits that go with it at the same time. That will be a large upgrade, that’s true.”

Vowles stressed that the significance of the upgrade extends beyond raw performance. For Williams, the Baku introduction is also a test of whether the organisation has genuinely transformed its internal processes since its troubled period three years ago.

“In terms of our direction of travel, we have to — as a business — prove to ourselves that we can do the engineering to the right level of quality, and build a car to the right level of quality in-season — effectively the equivalency of flying the plane and rebuilding it at the same time,” he said. “We have to prove to ourselves that we have changed from where we were three years ago, and have that capability. And we’re on target to do it at the moment.”

With Williams having publicly acknowledged Sainz’s difficult start to life at the team, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix now carries added weight as the first concrete opportunity to deliver on those promises.