James Vowles sent mid-race text to Toto Wolff to apologise for F1 tactics

Mercedes’ race💟 was screwed by Williams, prompting James Vowles to send a text to Toto Wolff.

James Vowles and Toto Wolff
James Vowles and Toto Wolff
© XPB Images

Williams team principal James Vowles sent a text message to his former boss Toto Wolff in the middle of the Monaco Grand Prix𒉰 to apologise for his Formula 1 squad’s tactics.

Williams drivers 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Alex Albon and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Carlos Sainz purposefully drove slowly at the tight a𒅌nd twisty Circuit de Monaco to give each other e🌜nough buffer to make a pitstop and still come out in front.

This was in response to a similar strategy employed further up the road by 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Racing Bulls, which instructed 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Liam Lawson to drive slowly so 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Isack Hadjar could comple﷽te both 🔯his mandatory pitstops without losing too many positions.

Williams’ antics, while controversial and not universally approved, worked as intended, allowing the British squad to score another double finish🧸 in Mont🍬e Carlo.

However, this compromised the chances of Vowles’ former team Mercedes, with 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:George Russell and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Andrea Kimi Antonelli finishing outside the points in 11th and 18th r🔯espectively.

Russell was furious after being held back by Albon 🐟and passed him by driving straight the Nouvelle chicane, earning himself a drive-through penalty.

Incredibly, he came out ahead of Albon after servin🌃g the sanction, but slipped back behind when he final🌠ly got a chance to complete his pitstop.

Following 🧔the race, Wolff read out a text from Vowles, who previously worked as Mercedes’ chief strategist: ‘I'm sorry. We had no choice given what happened ahead’

Wolff was und🐻erstanding of Vowles’ predicament and replied with a simple: 'We know' message.

As⛎ked if he appreciated Vowles sending him a message, Wolff said:🍸 "You 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, he's [got] two car𝓀s in the points. I think what started it was these RBs that backed us back off, and that's what he had to do."

New Monaco pitstop rule in the spotlight

Teams were forced to come up with unusual strategies after F1 made it mandatory for all driver♐s to pit twice atဣ Monaco.

The move was ai☂med at spicing up the show and creating some jeopardy, but Sunday’s race showed that the new rule wasn’t free of loopholes.

Wolff believes the two-stop rule needs to be fin🌠e-tuned for next year, while adding that the organisers need to again look at tweaking the la🌠yout to create more opportunities for overtaking.

“What we can look at is to create some more specific regulations that there's only a maximum of back-of൲f that you can h♕ave,” he said.

"You know, you can't hold up a train✨, overtaking here is difficult, because you can't go slower than X seconds from the leaders. That would probably create a little bit more of a closer fiel𝓡d. Does it improve the overtaking?

"I don't think that's feasible. We need to talk also with maybe [Monaco organisers] ACM here, and say, is there anything we can change on the layout? Difficult in🅠 a city, we're limit🐷ed by a mountain and the sea. But you know, I see the positives. This is an unbelievable spectacle."

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