James Vowles has expressed regret over comments he made about Mick Schumacher in the build-up to the Italian Grand Prix that came across in “entirely the wrong way”.

Schumacher was one of three candidates for a Williams seat from this weekend’s race at Monza after the team opted to replace Logan Sargeant amid a challenging run of form.

However, rather than Schumacher or Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson, Williams Driver Academy member and F2 racer Franco Colapinto got the nod to slot in alongside Alex Albon.

While explaining the decision, Vowles commented that former Haas driver Schumacher “isn’t special” and “he would just have been good” for Williams across the remaining nine rounds of the campaign.

With those comments picking up plenty of media coverage, Vowles made an appearance on F1 TV at Monza to clarify them, saying: “I read the headlines afterwards. What really came across is me using the word ‘special’ in the context of Mick. I really want to clarify that.

“First and foremost, I’m not here to put Mick down. Mick is in a World Championship team [Mercedes] that have chosen him as a reserve driver, and there’s good reason behind it. It’s because he’s an incredibly strong candidate.

“The word special, I used it in the context of multiple world champions like Ayrton Senna, Lewis [Hamilton] as well. Clearly that’s a foolish thing to do, because that’s the comparison.

“Here’s where Mick is: he’s had a tough run of it, he’s made some exceptional progress and he’s in a very strong team around him. Our decision is based on the fact that we want to go with our academy and our drivers.”

Vowles then revealed that he had made a personal apology to Schumacher – who has dovetailed his Mercedes reserve duties with an endurance programme for Alpine through 2024 – over the words he used.

“He didn’t request anything, but it’s important to me, because he’s incredibly close to me and it just came across entirely the wrong way,” added Vowles. “More than anything else, I wanted that to be abundantly clear.

“Don’t doubt his abilities, but we as Williams have to go with our academy – it makes sense, what we’re doing [by promoting Colapinto].”

Following that call-up, Colapinto made an encouraging start to his debut F1 weekend in Italy, finishing 17th in both of Friday’s practice sessions and declaring himself “very proud and extremely happy” when speaking to the media afterwards.

Erik Jones has secured his future with Legacy Motor Club by signing a multiyear contract extension. This news came in despite his P26 spot in the standings, ensuring he will continue driving the No. 43 Toyota in 2025. Although he hasn’t secured a win yet this season, Jones has had some impressive races, including a top-5 finish at the Duel 1 at Daytona.

Jones has a special connection to the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, a race he looks forward to every year because of its significance and his past successes. So far, we know that Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain are right under the cutoff zone, and if Jones manages to win the race, he will be eliminating them from P26, such are the playoff rules. In 2019 and 2022, it was the victory at Darlington that got him a spot in the playoffs; now everyone is wondering if he could repeat history to make it into the Top 16 in 2024.

As the last race weekend of the point season fires up, Erik Jones is preparing to take on the Darlington circuit. With his last win at the circuit in 2022, he already had the taste of driving the Next-Gen cars at the track. This year, Jones led a practice session in August 2024, clocking the fastest lap at 166.461 mph. Darlington is no easy track by any means to race on, but Jones has an upper hand as he knows how to strategize around the high-tire degradation track.

So before the race began, Jones made his way to the pre-race press conference, where he was asked by a reporter if he thought he could win at Darlington. In response to that, Erik Jones replied, “Yeah, I mean, … it’s just been a long year for a lot of different reasons. But, um, I think if, you know, I could pick one—if you told me I had to pick one track other than a superspeedway—I would probably pick Darlington to try to go in.”

Judging from his previous record, the Cook Out Southern 500 is an outstanding opportunity for him to secure a spot in the playoffs, and the two-time winner believes the same. Explaining the position he is in, Jones continued, “You know, I think anytime you come to a place where you’ve had success a few times and with different groups, you have, just the notes to dive into and just that, confidence of feeling like you know how to get around the place and know what you need to do.”

Jones continued to talk about the upcoming race, saying that he’s excited about the race, but he knows it’s going to be really challenging. He feels confident because they have a solid plan for the car, how to handle the race, and what they need to do to be in a good spot to win. Everything needs to go smoothly, but he thinks they have a strong chance to pull it off. Besides the big race coming up, Jones had a bigger personal moment as he announced that he would be a father soon.

Lewis Hamilton has called having his Mercedes successor be announced “surreal”, sharing that it was “emotional” seeing Andrea Kimi Antonelli confirmed as George Russell’s new team-mate.

Lewis Hamilton has spoken to how “emotional” it was watching Andrea Kimi Antonelli be announced as his successor at Mercedes.

The 18-year-old will step into the seven-time drivers’ champion’s seat next season, alongside George Russell.

Whilst Hamilton pointed out, unsurprisingly, that he has known for a while, he did admit it was “surreal” having the news “officially” confirmed.

The 39-year-old’s Mercedes departure was announced in February, when he was unveiled as a Ferrari driver from 2025 onwards, leading to a whole season as a curtain call to his decorated time with the Brackley-based team.

Together, they have clinched six drivers’ titles and eight constructors’ championships, which is the most successful stint in F1 history.

“I’ve known for ages,” Hamilton told media including RacingNews365 when asked if it was strange to witness Antonelli’s announcement.

“I knew it’d be announced this morning, and I definitely woke up and it was very, very surreal just to have it, at least officially, confirmed my seats going.

“I’ve held on to it for so long, so it was quite emotional this morning, but [I’m] really, really happy for Kimi [Antonelli] and for this team. I know Kimi is gonna do a great job.”

Having recently turned 18 years of age, Antonelli took part in his first FP1 session at the Italian Grand Prix.

That experience lasted a mere 10 minutes, when a mistake in the final corner saw him spin Russell’s W15 into the wall.

The 105-time grand prix winner spoke in kind when it was put to him that the F2 driver has said he was not replacing Hamilton, but rather that he was just the next Mercedes F1 driver.

“Yeah, he’s a great kid, and he’s got a great family around him, good head on his shoulders and he’s very talented,” Hamilton replied.

“He’s gonna do great. I’m really excited for him.”