Williams and Latifi have agreed to part ways at the end of the 2022 season as the Canadian has been unable to show the continued progress of last season and has yet to trouble the scorers.
It ends Latifi’s time as a Williams racing driver after three seasons, as the Grove team consider options to link Alex Albon to the team for 2023.
Explaining Williams’ decision, the Toronto native said the team concluded against keeping him after Monza, but the verdict came after assessing recent races – rather than in response to Nyck’s lead role of Vries as Albon’s replacement at the Italian Grand Prix.
“It’s simple, really; it’s a results-based industry, and obviously the performance hasn’t been there this year for a lot of different reasons,” Latifi said.
“The team had to choose a decision that suited them best. And they had to go in a different direction. So yes, very, very simple.
“I understand the decision, obviously. And I just need to, well, I’ve already accepted it and move on to the next phase of my career.
“I’m definitely happy with what I did. In a way, it kind of made it easier for me to come to terms with the decision, because I don’t really have any regrets about how I did. gets the job done – either off the track or on the track.
“It just didn’t work out. So yeah, no regrets from me.”
Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
After making his 2020 debut, Latifi won a second season with Williams and has shown progress since his rookie year, repeatedly closing in on teammate George Russell and scoring seven points. Most notably, he overtook Russell in his race to seventh place at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
But Latifi admits he was unable to adapt to the FW44, built for the change in regulations for 2022, and felt it rarely gave him the confidence to perform at his best.
“Naturally the philosophy of these cars, not necessarily ours, but it’s kind of added to the difficulty and the handling. They’re obviously very different, they’re more twitchy, less compliant, less forgiving – partly because than the tyre, partly because aerodynamics, stiffness, etc.
“On the face of it, they’re just not as fun to drive with them. And our car in general, let’s say, had fundamental flaws in the balance. So that’s one thing I would say in terms of overall downforce you have, which we know we lack support.
“Obviously that’s a problem because you know downforce is…you always want more. And we know we miss a lot because when we hit the maximum downforce tracks we’re the least competitive. , or the least competitive compared to the other tracks.
“But yeah, for me it’s just the fundamental kind of handling of the car, the balance.
“With last year’s car I felt a bit better. But to be honest it was never a car that suited my driving style, I had to change a lot and adapt a bit. .”
“But I just find it’s easier to manage last year. And it’s just that the philosophy of this car regulation was a bit easier, whereas this year it never clicked. “
Williams and Latifi have agreed to part ways at the end of the 2022 season as the Canadian has been unable to show the continued progress of last season and has yet to trouble the scorers.
It ends Latifi’s time as a Williams racing driver after three seasons, as the Grove team consider options to link Alex Albon to the team for 2023.
Explaining Williams’ decision, the Toronto native said the team concluded against keeping him after Monza, but the verdict came after assessing recent races – rather than in response to Nyck’s lead role of Vries as Albon’s replacement at the Italian Grand Prix.
“It’s simple, really; it’s a results-based industry, and obviously the performance hasn’t been there this year for a lot of different reasons,” Latifi said.
“The team had to choose a decision that suited them best. And they had to go in a different direction. So yes, very, very simple.
“I understand the decision, obviously. And I just need to, well, I’ve already accepted it and move on to the next phase of my career.
“I’m definitely happy with what I did. In a way, it kind of made it easier for me to come to terms with the decision, because I don’t really have any regrets about how I did. gets the job done – either off the track or on the track.
“It just didn’t work out. So yeah, no regrets from me.”
Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
After making his 2020 debut, Latifi won a second season with Williams and has shown progress since his rookie year, repeatedly closing in on teammate George Russell and scoring seven points. Most notably, he overtook Russell in his race to seventh place at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
But Latifi admits he was unable to adapt to the FW44, built for the change in regulations for 2022, and felt it rarely gave him the confidence to perform at his best.
“Naturally the philosophy of these cars, not necessarily ours, but it’s kind of added to the difficulty and the handling. They’re obviously very different, they’re more twitchy, less compliant, less forgiving – partly because than the tyre, partly because aerodynamics, stiffness, etc.
“On the face of it, they’re just not as fun to drive with them. And our car in general, let’s say, had fundamental flaws in the balance. So that’s one thing I would say in terms of overall downforce you have, which we know we lack support.
“Obviously that’s a problem because you know downforce is…you always want more. And we know we miss a lot because when we hit the maximum downforce tracks we’re the least competitive. , or the least competitive compared to the other tracks.
“But yeah, for me it’s just the fundamental kind of handling of the car, the balance.
“With last year’s car I felt a bit better. But to be honest it was never a car that suited my driving style, I had to change a lot and adapt a bit. .”
“But I just find it’s easier to manage last year. And it’s just that the philosophy of this car regulation was a bit easier, whereas this year it never clicked. “