Williams Delivers Brutal Blow To Mick Schumacher After Franco Colapinto Signing - 'Not Special'

Saajan Jogia | Aug 30, 2024

Franco Colapinto - Williams Racing / Williams Racing Press Image

Williams team principal James Vowles made a straightforward statement that Mick Schumacher was not considered "special" enough to replace Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the 2024 season. Instead, he preferred Franco Colapinto, a younger F2 driver who is part of the Williams Academy and has considerable experience with the team's simulator.

With Sargeant being ousted for failing to score even a single point in the season and for the number of times he damaged the team's FW46 through his crashes, the Grove outfit faced the challenge of finding a suitable driver for the remaining nine races of the season, particularly one who could perform better than the outgoing driver.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff strongly recommended Schumacher for the short stint, who drove for Haas in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. On the other hand, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also showed willingness to loan the team's reserve driver, Liam Lawson, but only on certain conditions.

Given Williams' preference for promising young talent over experienced drivers, Vowles opted for a call with Colapinto, who is currently placed sixth in the Drivers' Standings of the junior series. Speaking about his decision, Vowles told the media:

"If we go through what our options were available to us, there were sort of three options on the table: one was Liam Lawson, one was Mick and one was Franco.

"With Liam, the contractual sort of 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 [Franco and] Mick.

"Mick has improved a lot from where he was in Haas, there is no doubt about it. He's a competent driver that I know he had his time but he has done incredible work with , with  and with  in the meantime.

"So the decision is do we put Mick in the car, which I think Mick would have done a good job, or do we invest in an individual that's a part of our academy, that's done hundreds to thousands of laps in our simulator, that's driven the car, and on the data that we can see from how he's performing, who's making significant steps?

"I think both 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 further emphasized Williams' preference for young drivers, stating that the seat was rightly given to Colapinto due to his involvement in the Williams Academy and his impressive performance in the F2 championship, where he currently outpaces Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman. He added:

"I think [Schumacher] would come with a lot more experience than Franco does. But here's what I believe in, what Williams believes in and what's 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.

"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.

"Franco's ahead in the F2 championship of Antonelli, he's ahead of Bearman, he's at MP. With all due respect to MP, it's not Prema, it's not ART, and he's doing a good job.

"Now do I think we've put someone really in the deep end of the swimming pool? 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."