Will Williams Rue The Loss Of Nicholas Latifi?

Having moved up from Formula 3 to GP2 in the space of a few years, it’s fair to say there was a lot of buzz and expectation behind Nicholas Latifi when he started his first F1 campaign back in 2020.

He actually drove his first Formula One car in 2016, when he was signed by Renault as their new test driver. Completing hundreds of laps in alternative circuits, he eventually made his Grand Prix weekend debut in his home of Canada, where he clocked the 19th fastest time with 1.17.145.

With this time in mind – and the hundreds of completed laps under his belt – it felt easy to predict Latifi’s impact in F1 before he really even started.

Nicholas Latifi 2020 Debut

But when he was signed to Williams as a race driver in the 2020 season, things didn’t really get off to the best of starts. It was the Austrian Grand Prix where things got underway for Latifi, but after a crash in FP3, nerves had been shaken and he ended up finishing in 11th place after nine other cars retired.

After this race, Latifi never truly managed to get in gear for the rest of the season. There were some definite highlights. During the British Grand Prix, Latifi qualified in 20th and ended up finishing in 15th, having performed his first legitimate overtake in Formula 1 on Kimi Raikkonen.

As well as this, during the Belgian Grand Prix, Latifi made clever decisions to work his way from 19th to 11th, pitting at exactly the right times and even managing to overtake Raikkonen on worn tires in the final few laps.

The 2021/22 Seasons

Retaining Latifi for the 2021 season, Williams still had high hopes that he would make an impact, and he did, but the impact wasn’t exactly the one that they had hoped for. Throughout the season, Latifi remained relatively quiet. He found points where he could, but finished consistently between 13th and 18th place.

It was the Belgian Grand Prix where he earned his last points of the season, with the race being run entirely behind the safety car after a crash on Sergio Perez’s reconnaissance lap. After that it was the incident in Abu Dhabi that got his name in the headlines – he crashed on lap 53, causing the safety car to be deployed, which eventually led to Verstappen overtaking Hamilton in a controversial 2021 F1 season finish.

The 2022 season was not much different, either. While Latifi showed signs of greatness, there were a number of incidents that were out of his control and left him finishing the season in 20th with only two points. Not long after this, it was announced that Latifi was leaving Williams and being replaced by Logan Sargeant, who, like Latifi, was taking a step up from Formula 2.

What Next For Williams And Latifi?

It’s likely that Williams leaving F1 was a mutual decision, having not performed to his potential in that 2022 season, but if it is, it might be one that Williams comes to regret. The 2023 season so far has not been perfect, with Albon having to retire during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and both Albon and Sargeant crashing in the Australian Grand Prix before the end of the race.

Although they have received some standout results with Albon, this could be put down to the manufacturing of the car rather than the driver – the FW45 does particularly well on low-downforce circuits.

Both Albona and Sargeant are, of course, stellar drivers. But so was Latifi, and without a car to compete against the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes, Latifi said that he lacked confidence during his Williams era, and there was no way he was going to come off lightly when incidents didn’t go his way. With Latifi now rumoured to enter into the IndyCar arena after attaining his business degree, he might have more room to shine and display his true talents. In the meantime, Williams will have to plough forward and progress under their new boss and driver. Here’s hoping for a bright future.

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