Toto Wolff and James Vowles’ Unexpected Collaboration in Monaco GP

During the post-race media briefing, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff pulled out his phone to read a text exchange he had with Williams counterpart James Vowles during the Monaco Grand Prix. The messages showed an apology from Vowles for his drivers backing up George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli during the race.

The Friendship Behind the Strategy

Toto Wolff and James Vowles share a unique bond, with the latter having worked under Wolff at Mercedes before taking the top job at Williams. Despite their friendly rivalry, Vowles has already started to turn around ‘ fortunes.

With cars mandated to stop twice during the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, teams found themselves on wildly different strategies. In the race, Williams duo Sainz and Albon took turns backing up the Mercedes pair behind them, allowing the other to build a gap and successfully execute their pit strategy.

The Race That Changed Everything

The strong showing in Monaco means the team can now toast four successive double-points finishes as Albon took ninth and Sainz was 10th. This unexpected collaboration between the two teams added an exciting twist to the race, leaving spectators on the edge of their seats.

The Aftermath: A Friendly Exchange

During the team principal’s press conference in Monaco on Friday, Wolff revealed the pair exchanged messages during the race. “He sent me a text in the race,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com if he would talk to Vowles about the tactic. “‘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.”

The Controversial Decision

Speaking to F1TV during the race, Vowles said the decision was not how he wanted to go racing. Mercedes’ frustrations boiled over when Russell passed Albon by skipping the Nouvelle Chicane – earning the Briton a drive-through penalty as a result.

The Challenges Faced by Mercedes

Russell had already said his weekend was “over” after an electrical issue in qualifying left him 14th, just one place ahead of Antonelli who crashed out during Q1. Wolff later admitted that the poor Saturday left Mercedes behind the 8-ball in the race.

The Future of Monaco Grand Prix

With a handful of cars pitting at the end of lap one and others being able to pit and come out into clean air, both Russell and Antonelli stayed out, seemingly in the forlorn hope that a red flag or safety car could have an impact. Wolff suggested further Monaco-specific changes may be required to truly alter how much action there is during a grand prix.

The Strategy Debate

With a handful of cars pitting at the end of lap one and others being able to pit and come out into clean air, both Russell and Antonelli stayed out, seemingly in the forlorn hope that a red flag or safety car could have an impact. Wolff later admitted that the poor Saturday left Mercedes behind the 8-ball in the race.

We had quite an interesting discussion this morning on strategy, and I said, ‘well, let’s do that. Stop early, come out, and then catch up’,” Wolff said. “We did the DTM back in the day, it was fantastic.“You stopped, you were last and you won the race. But the more intelligent people in our strategy group demonstrated to me that that’s not going to work here in Monaco. It was the best strategy, and you can see the ones that did the early stop, and it didn’t change anything.”

Despite the controversy, both teams walked away with valuable points, adding an exciting twist to the ongoing championship battle. As the season progresses, we can expect more unexpected collaborations and strategic moves from these two teams. Stay tuned for more updates!