Mercedes chief Toto Wolff took exception with James Vowles remarks about Mick Schumacher, insisting the Williams team prinicpal “could have done without” his blunt characterization of the German driver.
On Friday at Monza, Vowles explained his rationale behind his decision to replace Logan Sargeant with Williams junior Franco Colapinto, revealing that Liam Lawson and Schumacher were also potential options that Vowles had investigated.
While Lawson was discarded on the basis of a complicated contract situation with Red Bull, Vowles justified Williams’ preference for Colapinto over Schumacher by its desire to privilege its own pipeline of talent over a driver – Schumacher – that “isn’t special”.
"He's a competent driver, that I know. He had his time but he has done incredible work with Alpine, with Mercedes and with McLaren in the meantime,” Vowles told the media.
"I think both [Colapinto and Schumacher] 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."
Vowles’ candid assessment of Schumacher did not go down well with Wolff, who was openly supportive of the Mercedes junior’s candidacy at Williams as a replacement for Sargeant for the remainder of the season.
"I've obviously known James for many years, he's a strategist," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
"Sometimes he says things too straightforwardly. That was a statement he could have done without.
"Mick has won everything there is to win, from F4, F3 and F2, and then of course operated in an environment with Gunther [Steiner], 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."
In light of the controversy, speaking to F1 TV’s Laura Winter after Friday’s final practice, Vowles clarified his remarks regarding his use of the word ‘special’, revealing that he had also personally apologized to Schumacher.
“What really came across is me using the word special in the context of Mick. And I really want to clarify that,” he said.
“I mean, first and foremost, I'm not here to put Mick down. Mick is in a world championship team that have chosen him as reserve driver. And there's good reason behind it. It's because he's an incredibly strong candidate.
“And the word special, I use it in the context of multiple world champions like Ayrton Senna, fundamentally Lewis as well. And clearly that's a foolish thing to do because that's the comparison.
“Here's where Mick is. He's had a tough run of it. He's made some exceptional progress and he's in a very strong team around him. Our decision is based on the fact that we want to go with our academy and our drivers.”
“I've apologized to Mick as well,” added the Williams boss. “He didn't request anything, but it's important to me because he's incredibly close to me and it just came off 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.”
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