Was there a loud argument between Toto Wolff and James Vowles after the Monaco Grand Prix? The Williams team boss clarifies what was really discussed…
Was there a heated argument between Toto Wolff and James Vowles after the Monaco Grand Prix? Shortly after the finish, a video caused a stir on social media: It shows the two team bosses engaged in a heated discussion, appearing to shout at each other.
The impression quickly arose that the heated conversation had something to do with Williams’ strategy. Alex Albon had held up Mercedes driver George Russell for much of the race in order to open up a gap for his teammate Carlos Sainz. It was a legal but controversial tactic that certainly did not go down well with Mercedes.
But that wasn’t what the conversation was about, as Vowles clarifies in the latest edition of The Vowles Verdict: “Toto was just shouting because it was loud in the pit lane, but what we were talking about was how we can improve these rules.”
Vowles and Wolff discuss regulations
“For example, he suggested setting a maximum time that you can drive as the slowest time,” Vowles reveals, giving an insight into the apparently heated conversation. “And I think he also spoke publicly about it recently with the media.”
Vowles responded by playing a kind of wild card: similar to George Russell, who cut the harbor chicane in the race to pass Albon, such actions could be allowed on a regular basis. “But that’s not possible, and it would give you the chance to get out of traffic,” explains the Williams team boss.
With his statement, Vowles takes the wind out of the sails of speculation about a dispute with Toto Wolff: “It wasn’t frustration with each other, but frustration with the regulations and ultimately with the course of the race we were forced to take.”
Williams had apparently planned a different strategy
Williams actually had a different strategy in mind: they were speculating on a safety car in the middle of the race so that both mandatory stops could be completed at once. “So you can change tires, come back in right away and change the second tire,” says Vowles.
“You probably lose positions, but you’ve got all your pit stops done by the end of the race. That was a plan that was on the table.” But the plan didn’t work out – partly because Racing Bull drivers Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson slowed down in the meantime to create a gap for their pit stops.
The team had an alternative strategy for Carlos Sainz: “With Carlos, the goal was to stay out for a very long time because we expected a lot of cars to try the undercut if they weren’t driving a team tactic, which would have given Carlos a clear run to drive his own race.”
Even an early pit stop after the first lap was an option for Williams, as Vowles reveals: “But we felt that would leave us too exposed to the tactics of certain teams who had split the strategy for their cars.”
