Michael Schumacher had one banger of a career during the ’90s and ’00s, winning a grand total of 7 world titles with 91 Grand Prix victories. He accomplished these feats with both Benetton and Ferrari spread out over 11 years of racing. However, after the 2006 season, Schumacher would announce to the world that he was retiring from the sport.
This retirement didn’t last long. After 4 years of not competing, he announced that he would come back to the sport, signing with F1’s newest team, Mercedes. Unfortunately, he would not repeat the success he had during his time with Ferrari. James Vowles, who worked with Mercedes at the time, reveals one thing he was sad not to give to Michael at the team.
James Vowles opens up on his stint with Michael Schumacher at Mercedes with regret
During an episode of the High Performance podcast, James Vowles was asked about his experience of working with Michael Schumacher during the years 2010-2012. Making a comparison between Lewis Hamilton and Schumacher, Vowles opened up on how he worked with the team and made the car work:
“Michael wasn’t the most skillful in the car. I’ve already said that was Lewis [Hamilton]. But he [Schumacher] knew how to extract every millisecond out of himself and every millisecond out of the team. He was a leader that absolutely, he would say, I’m going to go this way. The team would follow him there. So much so that both sides of the garage wanted him to do well.”
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“So much so that one of my regrets of my career is we didn’t get a win for him. That still hurts me today. He deserved a win.”
Michael Schumacher competed in Formula 1 for 3 years with Mercedes, only managing a single podium finish in P3 during the 2012 European Grand Prix.
How Vowles used his experience to bring Williams back from last place
During the interview, Vowles describes how we worked with Formula 1 world champions such as Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Nico Rosberg. There may be many things that set them apart, but one thing that connects them as well. Finding a way to race in your own way and find success doing that.
For Schumacher it was his passion that drove him to get better and better, while Hamilton was so perfectionistic that he had to learn how to actually complete a lap to see just how well he was doing. That was something that Vowles learned from during his years at Mercedes.
Rosberg however, didn’t want Formula 1 to be the only thing in his life. So after the 2016 season, when he achieved everything he ever wanted by becoming World Champion, he quit the sport and joined the media side to report and share his knowledge in that way.
James Vowles Encouraged by Williams’ Performance in Australian GP
All of these lessons and experiences helped Vowles to understand what makes a team tick. He understood how to drive people to greater things and to connect with the amazing members of the team on a level that we haven’t really seen a lot of before. This really shows if you take a good look at Williams in 2025.
A team that was dead last at one point in recent years, Vowles steered the team in one clear direction. He has now brought the team up to fight in the midfield. It is only a matter of time until they take the battle to the leaders.
