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Sergey Sirotkin says that he feels very sorry for Williams after its difficult start to the 2019 season.
The Grove squad missed out on the first two days of pre-season testing, and only flew its new car to Barcelona on the morning of the third day of running.
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Despite getting the car out on track on day three and four, its drivers Robert Kubica and George Russell said they only had a handful of laps to get up to speed with the FW42.
Sirotkin, who spent the 2018 season at Williams, admits that he is feeling sorry for it as it tries to recover from a dreadful 2018 campaign that saw it finish bottom of the constructors' standings.
"We all know that the team is in a very difficult position, but at the same time I have so many great friends there, so many people," said Sirotkin.
"I know that we spent only a season together, but because it is a very long year and we spent so many days together at the factory, together at race tracks, working in such a difficult situation, it really feels I've been there forever.
"I know how much work we all together put in development and I feel very sorry that because of certain difficulties we don't see a result in terms of performance.
"I prefer not to comment too much. Just, as I know the people there, I know what they deserve. I just want to wish them all the best, and hope that they will get what they deserve."
Sirotkin secured a new F1 role for the upcoming year, as Renault confirmed the Russian would be its development driver, working alongside full-time racers Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.
"We were always kind of looking [at] what we can do to remain in the F1 paddock and kind of keep being in the system, in the business here," said Sirotkin.
"Then we got the deal with Renault, which is great for a few reasons. It's a great team, I know many people and I've been here in 2017 and '16.
"It's kind of a perfect situation that played out after the race drive wasn't possible anymore."
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