F1 News
Vowles hits back at Ralf Schumacher: 'Mick is not special'
- Corwin Kunst
The second half of the season was just one Grand Prix old, but it did not stop Williams from sending Logan Sargeant packing. The reason? A series of crashes and no real outliers upwards, let alone World Championship points. The British team eventually chose Franco Colapinto as Sargeant's replacement and in front of GPblog and others, James Vowles explains the decision.
There were more candidates to step in alongside Alexander Albon for the nine remaining Grands Prix. There were negotiations with Red Bull Racing for the temporary arrival of Liam Lawson, and Mercedes suggested giving Mick Schumacher another chance. They did not come, however, as Colapinto was eventually presented with a four-month contract.
"There were three options on the table which all of you sort of figured out," Vowles insists."One was Liam Lawson, one was Mick, and one was Franco. With Liam, the contractual position of Red Bull wouldn't have worked with me here at Williams. So that didn't become an option for us in that circumstance. And then it's a tough choice, it really is, between Mick. Mick has improved a lot from where he was in Haas. There's no doubt about it. He's a competent driver, and I know he had his time, but he has done incredible work with Alpine, with Mercedes and with McLaren in the meantime."
Schumacher vs Colapinto
The team boss faced a choice: go for the more experienced Schumacher or invest in someone from the in-house academy, who has driven hundreds to thousands of laps in the Williams simulator. "On the data that we can see from what he's doing and how he's performing, he's making significant steps. 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 the category of 'good', not 'special'. I think we have to be straightforward about this."
He continues: "Mick isn't special, he would just have been 'good'." So the choice fell on Colapinto."I believe in, what Williams believes in, and what's at the core values of Williams. Williams has always invested in new generations of drivers and youth. And what I've been speaking about all the way through is the investment in the future of Williams. And the future of Williams isn't investing in the past, it's investing in talent that allows us to move forward as individuals. It's investing in an academy that you'll see announcements over the next six weeks or so, how we are filling out that academy and the amount of finance that we're putting into it. And when you're putting that amount of finance into academy, you've got to put your actions where your words are as well at the same time."
With that, Williams team boss Ralf Schumacher countered. Mick Schumacher's uncle had hit out hard at the Grove-based team. The former Formula One driver called the choice of Colapinto - at Mick's expense - "absurd" and he claimed it "made no sense".
Colapinto thrown to the lions
Vowles explained that Colapinto is ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman in the Formula 2 championship. "He at MP Motorsport and, with all due respect to MP, it's not Prema, it's not ART." Whether Williams is aware that the 21-year-old Argentinian is being thrown in at the deep end? "Absolutely, 100%. But if you listen to Franco's own words, you'll hear that he's ready for it, that he's ready for the challenge, and he knows what's in front of him."
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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