Michael Schumacher’s wife Corinna reportedly “laid into” family friend and Williams boss James Vowles in front of reporters at the Monza circuit on the weekend, over his comments regarding son Mick’s talent.
Vowles has been in the firing line since he labelled the younger Schumacher “not special” when he shut down talk of Mick taking the available seat at Williams in 2025.
Mick Schumacher’s F1 career has stalled since he was replaced at Haas and was forced to take a reserve driver position with Mercedes.
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But Vowles, a family friend of the Schumachers, created a frenzy among reporters when he was asked about the 25-year-old’s chances of driving for Williams on Friday.
“The decision is do we put Mick in the car? I think Mick would have done a good job,” Vowles said.
“Or, do we invest in an individual that’s a part of our academy, that’s done hundreds to thousands of laps in our simulator, that’s driven the car, and on the data that we can see from how he’s performing, who’s making significant steps?
“I think both would fall into a category of good and not special. I think we have to be straightforward about this.
“Mick isn’t special, he would just be good.
“Mick has improved a lot from where he was in Haas, there is no doubt about it.
“He’s a competent driver … (and) he has done incredible work with Alpine, with Mercedes and with McLaren in the meantime.”
Those comments raised eyebrows on the track and among F1 media, and sparked an explanation from Vowles, who apologised to Schumacher and clarified he was “not here to put Mick down”.
“Mick is in a world championship team who have chosen him as reserve driver. And there’s good reason behind it. That is because he’s an incredibly strong candidate,” he said.
“And the word special — I use it in the context of multiple world champions like Ayrton Senna fundamentally, Lewis (Hamilton) as well. Clearly that’s a foolish thing to do, because that’s the comparison.
“I’ve apologised to Mick as well. He didn’t request anything, but it’s important to me, because he’s incredibly close to me, and it just came across entirely the wrong way.
“So more than anything else, I wanted that to be abundantly clear. Don’t doubt his abilities, but we as Williams have to go with our Academy. It makes sense what we’re doing.”
Vowles’ contrition was not enough to save him from Corinna Schumacher’s wrath, according to reports.
The relationship between the family and Williams team boss Vowles has previously been described as “incredibly close”, but it’s fair to say things may be strained now, according to Motorsport Magazine’s Chris Medland.
“The comments did not go down well, though, and Vowles said he apologised to Mick himself as he felt he had not made clear that by “special” he meant an Ayrton Senna-type talent,” he wrote as an angered Schumacher camp “laid into” Vowles in front of reporters behind the scenes at Monza.
“That didn’t stop Corinna Schumacher making her feelings to Vowles known as the Williams team principal left the track on Friday, in a quite public setting outside the paddock as well.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also criticised Vowles’ comments, saying Schumacher’s record speaks for itself.
“Sometimes he says things too straightforwardly. That was a statement he could have done without,” Wolff said of Vowles.
“Mick has won everything there is to win, from F4, F3 and F2, and then of course operated in an environment with Gunther (Steiner, former Haas team principal), who is brutally tough and that was perhaps not what he needed to develop as a driver.
“That’s why he deserved the chance. If you don’t give it to him, you shouldn’t comment on it, you should let everyone live. That’s my opinion.”