Michael Schumacher's wife 'laid into' Williams boss after comments about son Mick

Michael Schumacher’s wife Corinna reportedly “laid into” family friend and Williams boss James Vowles in front of reporters at the Monza circuit on the weekend, over his comments regarding son Mick’s talent.

Vowles has been in the firing line since he labelled the younger Schumacher “not special” when he shut down talk of Mick taking the available seat at Williams in 2025.

Mick Schumacher’s F1 career has stalled since he was replaced at Haas and was forced to take a reserve driver position with Mercedes.

But Vowles, a family friend of the Schumachers, created a frenzy among reporters when he was asked about the 25-year-old’s chances of driving for Williams on Friday.

“The decision is do we put Mick in the car? I think Mick would have done a good job,” Vowles said.

“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.

“Mick has improved a lot from where he was in Haas, there is no doubt about it.

“He’s a competent driver … (and) he has done incredible work with Alpine, with Mercedes and with McLaren in the meantime.”

Those comments raised eyebrows on the track and among F1 media, and sparked an explanation from Vowles, who apologised to Schumacher and clarified he was “not here to put Mick down”.

“Mick is in a world championship team who have chosen him as reserve driver. And there’s good reason behind it. That is because he’s an incredibly strong candidate,” he said.

“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.