James Vowles worked closely with Michael Schumacher at Mercedes when he was already a seven-time Formula 1 champion and got to know the German on a personal level

Michael Schumacher made an impression on Mercedes staff during his three years with the team(Image: PA)

Michael Schumacher has earned plenty of plaudits over the years for his achievements in Formula 1. But those who worked closest with him in the paddock also knew a different side to the seven-time World champion.

One of those who had the pleasure of working closely with Schumacher during his time as an F1 driver is James Vowles. These days he is team principal at Williams but, before joining, he spent many years at Mercedes including between 2010 and 2012 when the German, brought out of retirement, helped to establish the outfit on the grid.

He did not win a race over the course of those three seasons, but did manage on podium at the 2012 European Grand Prix held in Valencia. One of the biggest impressions Schumacher made on Vowles, though, was as a human.

Speaking about the legendary racer on the High Performance podcast, Vowles gave an example of how Schumacher showed he cared about his colleagues. “First and foremost, he had a genuine interest in who you were and your life,” the Williams chief said.

“I went motorbiking on track with him – as in race bikes – on track with him in Paul Ricard, and we had the time of our lives. We both still laugh about it for many years after that,” Vowles told hosts Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes.

“He knew at the time my partner’s birthday – flowers arrive at home and it embarrassed me because I didn’t do that much. He would take a genuine interest in who you are, who your family is, what drives you. Every single person in the team. And that’s hard to do.

“It’s not because he’s doing it because he wants to gain advantage. He does it because he really cares. That’s Michael. The Michael you had front-facing in front of the media is a very different Michael to what was behind the scenes. And that’s how he did it, fundamentally. So he would bring everyone on the journey and lead everyone on the journey.

“He was a leader that absolutely, he would say, ‘I’m going to go this way’. The team would follow him there, so much so that both sides of the garage wanted him to do well. So much so that one of my regrets in my career is we didn’t get a win for him. That still hurts me today. He deserved a win.”

Vowles did not specify who his partner was at that time. But he is now married to surgeon Rachel Rolph and they together confirmed last month the birth of their second child together – after their first daughter, Elodie, was born in early 2024.

Speaking about his “unbelievable” wife in a Telegraph interview days earlier, he said: “She’s one of the best surgeons in the UK, trained in plastics and breast cancer. She’s now doing a PhD on the use of mesh in the rebuild process post-mastectomy. Honestly, it’s life-changing stuff. I just work in F1 – she’s the clever one.”