Juan Pablo Montoya believes Fernando Alonso faces a huge risk if he chooses to leave Aston Martin, warning that the two-time Formula 1 champion could live to regret walking away just as the team's massive investments begin to come through in performance.
During an appearance on the F1 TV Weekend Warm-up show ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Montoya weighed in on Alonso's future following a torrid start to the 2026 season with the Silverstone outfit.
The Spanish driver has been open about considering retirement in the not-too-distant future, although he has not confirmed anything at this stage. In addition to a possible retirement, there have also been rumours linking the 44-year-old to a return to Alpine.
"The hard thing for Fernando is, what do you do? It's impossible to know the best situation for the future, but we all thought this year was going to be the delivery, and it wasn't," Montoya explained.
"So what do you do? You have one, two more years left in F1, do you stick with them? You're in a comfortable place. They like you. They know you, and they have the tools to build a really winning car. So if you have everything to do that, would you risk going somewhere else and go, 'Oh, I should have stayed'?
"And that's the hard reality for a driver: when you make a decision of going somewhere else, there is never a guarantee about where you're going."
He added: "You have Adrian Newey designing the car, who is one of the best designers, if not the best here. You have Honda, which has won championships. You have everything. You have the new factory. You have all the tools to deliver.
"But then you can go, OK, let's say he goes, and you put him back with [Flavio] Briatore here and it's the beautiful reunion, and they're going to run decent because they're running really decent, and then you leave that place [Aston Martin] and they get it right and they're winning every week and you look back at it and you go, 'Oh my god, I had that in my hands.'"
After the first seven rounds of the 2026 season, Alonso sits 18th in the drivers' championship with one point.
Photos from Austrian GP - Saturday
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