Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed James Vowles apologised to him for the tactics that Williams used to his team’s detriment in Formula 1‘s Monaco Grand Prix.
The German marque exited Monte Carlo without a single point as George Russell lagged home in 11th place, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli was three laps down in 18th.
Mercedes was primed to endure a challenging outing when an Antonelli crash and a power unit issue on Russell’s car condemned both to lining up outside the top 10.
But the team’s bid to capitalise on the mandated two-stop rule introduced at this season’s race was thwarted when Racing Bulls and Williams used one car as a block.
Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz traded stints holding up the group behind to enable the other to create the essential gap required to conduct a pit stop and remain ahead.
Russell’s irritation at the situation provoked him to cut the Nouvelle chicane to get track position over Albon, but a drive-through soon put paid to his points prospects.
Wolff has divulged that Vowles, who worked under the Austrian’s tutelage across his time at Mercedes, sent him a text during the race to explain his team’s reasoning.
“He sent me a text in the race,” Wolff told media including Motorsport Week. “’I’m sorry. We had no choice given what happened ahead.’ I answered, ‘We know.’
“James is one of my guys, and I don’t want to sound patronising because he’s making a career as a Team Principal, and he’s doing really well.
“He had to do it. You know, it’s two cars in the points, and I think the way it started was these RBs that packed us back off, and that’s what we had to do.”
Why Williams resorted to slowing tactics
Albon corroborated Wolff’s suspicion that Racing Bulls utilising an identical plan with Liam Lawson in the opening stages triggered Williams into replicating the move.
“We knew it was a possibility. We knew the strategy could happen. I think we were talking about it on Thursday,” the Anglo-Thai driver explained.
“We didn’t want it to happen, and I think on our side, it wasn’t how we were going to go racing.
“Once RB started it, it basically it put us in a position where we had to do it as well.
“It bunched the field up so tightly, the only way to get out of that situation was to basically repeat what they did.
“Not pretty and and frustrating, but in the end it’s a team sport and we maximised three points for the team.”
Mercedes accepts blame for point-less Monaco return
Wolff acknowledged that Mercedes could have avoided being in a compromised scenario altogether had Russell and Antonelli qualified in line with the car’s potential.
“There were teams that were punching above their weight, like the Racing Bulls, and they had to protect their position, as well as the Williams, and we were probably one of the victims of that. But we were, because our Saturday didn’t go well,” he recognised.
“We had a fast car. Kimi touched the barrier, and that’s absolutely on for a rookie.
“And with George we just ran out of power out of nowhere. It was a car that was good for the first two rows. or better.
“And then we raced on the fun part of the track. Where we were, there was just, there was not any land.
“I think the amount of back off was catching him [Russell] and Kimi out. I think Kimi was the one who nearly crashed into one of the Williams’ on braking.
“You think about 5.5 seconds slower also then this becomes a different track, different braking points.
“With George, same situation. Difficult to stop the car, just going straight, and I think it was a moment of frustration to do something different.
“We knew that it was a stop-and-go; we were hoping it would be 10 seconds. But it didn’t change anything.”
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