“Hiring People out of Desperation”- Montoya Slams Williams F1 for Its Recent Failures

Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes a big part of Williams’s recent failures is their mismanagement within the team. The Colombian cited Paddy Lowe as an example of Williams not using the team’s talent correctly. Lowe formerly led Williams as Chief Technical officer for a brief stint, before leaving last year.

Williams started hiring people out of desperation: Montoya

Montoya knows a thing or two about the Grove outfit, considering he was the team’s star driver during their relatively less painful participation period in F1.

Montoya joins a long list of F1 paddock members who’ve shared their thoughts on the struggling British team. Some attribute Williams struggles due to its upper management, while others say the team doesn’t function correctly. Fact, Williams is in a vicious cycle of seemingly never-ending debt and mediocre results.

Montoya gave his 2 cents on the team and he believes Williams didn’t utilize their talent correctly.  The Colombian criticized Williams for not hiring big names and not using their qualities.

Paddy Lowe moved from Williams to Mercedes after 3 very successful seasons at the Brackley outfit. While Paddy was part of a dominant force that won 3 titles on the trot, he couldn’t quite repeat his success with the Grove outfit.

Lowe joined the British team as Chief technical offer in 2017 but he couldn’t turn the team around. Matter of fact, Williams simply got worse and suffered their most humiliating campaign last year.

Lowe ultimately left the team in mid-2019 after an unsuccessful tenure as a technical director.

“If you make a person who’s good at certain things do things they’re not good at, it doesn’t help. And I think that was one of the big problems at Williams, that out of desperation they started hiring people and not using their qualities”,

Montoya concluded with a jab at the team for its recent tradition of hiring “pay drivers”.

“I hope they survive. Someone will probably put money in it and eventually put his child in [the car], as is often the case. 

It’s easy to critique the iconic British team for relying on money rather than talent. However, the British team simply needs crucial sponsorship money for proper funding.

Williams needs a strong result this season as they stare into the unknown beyond 2020.