MICK SCHUMACHER’S MOTHER AND JAMES VOWLES CLASH AT MONZA AFTER ‘NOT SPECIAL’ COMMENT – REPORT

An apologetic approach reportedly did not save James Vowles from Corinna Schumacher’s wrath following his Mick Schumacher “not special” comment.

After Williams made the call to axe Logan Sargeant mid-season, Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher cropped up as a candidate for Williams to install alongside Alex Albon for the remainder of F1 2024, but the team would go with one of their own, promoting academy star Franco Colapinto from Formula 2.

Mick Schumacher’s mother and James Vowles in ‘public’ Monza clash

And Williams team boss James Vowles would cause a stir when discussing the choice to overlook Mick, claiming he “isn’t special” and would “just be good”.

That later led to an apology from Vowles and clarification on what he truly meant by his very blunt comment. But, it would seem Vowles was unable to talk his way out of an awkward encounter with Mick’s mother Corinna Schumacher, who allegedly made her thoughts quite clear as Vowles left the Monza circuit on Friday evening.

Respected F1 correspondent Chris Medland, in reference to Vowles’ explanation, wrote for Motor Sport: “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.”

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As for what Vowles had been trying to say with his eye-catching Mick comment, his use of the world “special” was in comparison to an Ayrton Senna or Lewis Hamilton kind of F1 talent.

“What really came across is me using the word ‘special’ in context of Mick and I really want to clarify that,” the Williams team boss told F1TV. “First and foremost I’m not here to put Mick down.

“Mick is in a World Championship team [Mercedes] that has chosen him as a reserve driver and there’s good reason behind it, it’s because he’s an incredibly strong candidate.

“The word ‘special’, I used it in the context of multiple World Champions — like Ayrton Senna, and Lewis as well. 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 has 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 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 off entirely the wrong way.

“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 and it’s what we’re doing.”

Williams’ Sargeant replacement Colapinto enjoyed a smooth debut at Monza, crossing the line P12, while Albon picked up two points with a P9 finish, taking Williams’ F1 2024 tally so far to six.

2024-09-04T16:27:15Z dg43tfdfdgfd