F1 team principal berated by Michael Schumacher’s wife as tempers flare at Italian GP | F1 | Sport
Corinna Schumacher, wife of seven-time world champion Michael, reportedly confronted James Vowles in the Italian Grand Prix paddock. The Williams team principal found himself in hot water after describing her son, Mick Schumacher as not ‘special’.
Schumacher Jnr was one of a handful of names touted as a potential replacement for Logan Sargeant after the American racer was dismissed in the aftermath of the Dutch Grand Prix. However, Vowles overlooked the Mercedes test and reserve driver, instead opting to call up Williams academy prospect Franco Colapinto.
While the decision itself was understandable, Vowles landed himself in trouble for his comments about the former Haas driver when asked for the reasoning behind his decision to overlook him.
“[Franco is] the only driver to have driven the car this year in FP1 and on the data that we can see from what he’s doing and how he’s performing, he’s making significant steps,” Vowles explained at the time. “And so it becomes a decision
“Do we invest in the future, or do we invest in someone else as a result of it? I think both would fall into a category of not special. I think we have to be straightforward about this. Mick isn’t special, he would have just been good.”
Those comments were poorly received, and according to a report from Motor Sport, the 25-year-old’s mother got involved in Monza, approaching Vowles as he was leaving the paddock on Friday after FP2.
Corinna wasn’t the only one frustrated with Vowles’ approach. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff – who has a close relationship with the Williams boss from their time together at Brackley – took issue with the Brit’s blunt treatment of his test driver.
“Sometimes he says things too straightforwardly,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1 when asked about Vowles’ controversial comments. “That was a statement he could have done without.”
After receiving such a negative response to his comments, Vowles sought to clarify the meaning of his claims. “Where I read the headlines afterwards this morning, what really came across is using the word special in the context of Mick,” he explained.
“And I really want to clarify what I mean, first and foremost, I’m not here to put Mick down. Mick is in a World Championship team [Mercedes] who have chosen him as reserve driver. And there’s good reason behind it.
“That is 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 [Hamilton] as well. Clearly, that’s a foolish thing to do, because that’s the comparison.”
