Williams boss apologises to Mick Schumacher

Williams team boss James Vowles found himself at the centre of a scandal when he said there was “nothing special” about Mick Schumacher.

At Monza, when asked by reporters why Williams signed Franco Colapinto instead of Mick Schumacher, who has more experience, Vowles said: “I think we have to be honest about it. There is nothing special about Mick, he is just a good driver.”

Such comments from Vowles did not please Mercedes head Toto Wolff, who is involved in the career of Mick Schumacher, among others.

“Sometimes James speaks too bluntly. He could have kept such statements to himself,” Wolff responded to Vowles’ words.

Following Wolff’s comment, James Vowles clarified his words to Mick and apologised to the German racer.

“When I saw the headlines, the word ‘special’ about Mick really stood out to me,” James Vowles told F1 TV. – And I want to explain exactly what I meant.

I am not here to put Mick down. Mick is the reserve driver for the championship team and Mercedes had reasons to invite him for this role. They did this because Mick is a very strong candidate.

What does the word ‘special’ mean? I use it in relation to several world champions like Ayrton Senna or Lewis Hamilton. Of course this was stupid, because it was a comparison.

Mick’s situation is that he has been through some tough times but has made excellent progress and is now in a strong team. Our decision was based on the fact that we wanted to put a driver from our youth program behind the wheel.

“I apologized to Mick. He didn’t ask for it, but it was important to me because he’s incredibly close to me and my words were misinterpreted. That’s why I wanted to make it very clear. I don’t doubt his abilities, but we at Williams have to give our Academy members a chance. It makes sense and we did that.”