Vowles apologises to Mick Schumacher as he clarifies ‘foolish’ comments that German driver ‘isn’t special’

James Vowles has expressed regret over comments he made about Mick Schumacher in the build-up to the Italian Grand Prix that came across in “entirely the wrong way”.

Schumacher was one of three candidates for a Williams seat from this weekend’s race at Monza after the team opted to replace Logan Sargeant amid a challenging run of form.

READ MORE: Vowles on why Colapinto got the nod over Lawson and ‘good but not special’ Schumacher for Williams seat

However, rather than Schumacher or Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson, Williams Driver Academy member and F2 racer Franco Colapinto got the nod to slot in alongside Alex Albon.

While explaining the decision, Vowles commented that former Haas driver Schumacher “isn’t special” and “he would just have been good” for Williams across the remaining nine rounds of the campaign.

With those comments picking up plenty of media coverage, Vowles made an appearance on F1 TV at Monza to clarify them, saying: “I read the headlines afterwards. What really came across is me using the word ‘special’ in the context of Mick. I really want to clarify that.

“First and foremost, I’m not here to put Mick down. Mick is in a World Championship team [Mercedes] that have chosen him as a reserve driver, and there’s good reason behind it. It’s because he’s an incredibly strong candidate.

ANALYSIS: The final straw that convinced Williams to axe Sargeant – and why they opted for Colapinto

“The word special, I used it in the context of multiple world champions like Ayrton Senna, Lewis [Hamilton] 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’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.”

Vowles then revealed that he had made a personal apology to Schumacher – who has dovetailed his Mercedes reserve duties with an endurance programme for Alpine through 2024 – over the words he used.

“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,” added Vowles. “More than anything else, I wanted that to be abundantly clear.

READ MORE: Colapinto ‘proud and extremely happy’ after his first day driving for Williams

“Don’t doubt his abilities, but we as Williams have to go with our academy – it makes sense, what we’re doing [by promoting Colapinto].”

Following that call-up, Colapinto made an encouraging start to his debut F1 weekend in Italy, finishing 17th in both of Friday’s practice sessions and declaring himself “very proud and extremely happy” when speaking to the media afterwards.