Explained: Why Liam Lawson and not ‘special’ Mick Schumacher missed out on Williams seat

Liam Lawson and Mick Schumacher both missed out on the Williams seat.

James Vowles said Mick Schumacher and Liam Lawson were considerations for their seat but ultimately, Williams chose to go with a member of their own academy.

The team made the call this week to replace an out of form Logan Sargeant following another crash in Zandvoort but while the decision to let the American go was not a surprise, Williams’ choice of replacement in Franco Colapinto was. Team principal Vowles has now explained why the team opted for the Argentinian over the likes of Liam Lawson and Mick Schumacher.

James Vowles explains why not ‘special’ Mick Schumacher missed out

With rumours circulating that Sargeant’s place in the team was under threat, the consensus soon turned to either Lawson, a Red Bull academy member, or Schumacher, Mercedes’ reserve driver, being given the drive until Carlos Sainz comes in 2025.

But ultimately the Grove team opted for Colapinto who was competing in his first full F2 season when he got the call up. As to why Williams made that choice, Vowles said it came down to contracts and backing their own academy.

“So if we go through what options were available to us, there were three options on the table, which all of you sort of figured out,” he told the media in Monza. “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. Mick has improved a lot from where he was in Haas, there was no doubt about it, he’s a competent driver that I know he had his time, but he has done incredible work with Alpine, with Mercedes and with McLaren in the meantime. And all advocates, if you speak to them, will tell you where he’s adapted and where he’s changed.

“So now the decision is do we put Mick in the car? 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 or thousands of laps in our simulator, that’s driven the car, the only driver to have driven the car this year in FP1 and 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 a category of not special. I think we have to be straightforward about this. Mick isn’t special, he would have just been good.

“I think he would come with a lot more experience than Franco does. But here’s what I believe in, what Williams believes in, and what the core values of Williams [are]. 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 the academy, you’ve got to put your actions where your words are as well.”