The pair collided early in the race when Latifi ran through Zhou, the contact ending the Alfa Romeo driver’s run in place.
Latifi punctured and after returning to the pits he was forced to retire with suspension damage.
The stewards reviewed the incident during the race and determined that Latifi had not left a car’s width and was primarily responsible for the collision. He received a five-place penalty for this weekend’s Japanese GP and two penalty points.
Latifi was disappointed that despite both drivers involved retiring, the stewards made a quick decision and did not summon either man to discuss the incident.
After the race, he visited them in the race control order to learn more about the decision.
“I’m obviously disappointed that I didn’t do all the laps,” he told Autosport.
“I briefly went to the stewards just because they made the decision without talking to the drivers, which I found a bit strange.
“Especially because we were both out of the race and there was no rush to make a decision, and normally when that happens they always talk to both drivers.
Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Latifi said he took his normal line, but acknowledged he didn’t leave a car’s width. However, he insisted that he couldn’t see Zhou.
“The rule is obviously to leave space for the car, which I obviously didn’t. I watched the replay, that line where I was going wide out of turn 3 and then coming back under braking, I was doing that every two laps of the race.
“And the problem was it drove perfectly into my blind spot on the way out. I looked both ways in the mirrors, you see it on my edge, I look left, I look right, and I don’t haven’t seen it.
“If I can’t see where he is, I take my normal line. So yeah, if you go by that rule, leaving the space, I understand why they gave me a penalty.
“The only thing is I think Zhou should have been more aware of that, he knows there is a blind spot with these cars. He was very inside of me, perfectly in the blind spot. Again I once didn’t pick an erratic line, that’s the line I always took.
“I’m not so frustrated by the penalty even if they get there, but by the fact that they didn’t want to talk about it. And is that the right penalty?
“Because they gave me a five-place penalty, which they gave [Valtteri] Bottas for going bowling with other cars in Hungary last year, which is far worse than a one-on-one crash.
“Every time there’s been a one-on-one crash, it’s a three-place penalty.”
Latifi said his informal visit to the stewards had not been very productive as they were still busy with the Sergio Perez safety car incident.
“I just wanted to talk to them about considering these things. Drivers always complain about consistency. Coming to the same conclusion and penalizing me is fine, but why not at least talk to both drivers like you do in 99% of the other cases?
“They were in the middle of everything that happened with Red Bull, so I didn’t have time to show them the video and so on. Again, they should have officially called us to the stewards and we talk to both of them. And obviously that wasn’t the case.”
The pair collided early in the race when Latifi ran through Zhou, the contact ending the Alfa Romeo driver’s run in place.
Latifi punctured and after returning to the pits he was forced to retire with suspension damage.
The stewards reviewed the incident during the race and determined that Latifi had not left a car’s width and was primarily responsible for the collision. He received a five-place penalty for this weekend’s Japanese GP and two penalty points.
Latifi was disappointed that despite both drivers involved retiring, the stewards made a quick decision and did not summon either man to discuss the incident.
After the race, he visited them in the race control order to learn more about the decision.
“I’m obviously disappointed that I didn’t do all the laps,” he told Autosport.
“I briefly went to the stewards just because they made the decision without talking to the drivers, which I found a bit strange.
“Especially because we were both out of the race and there was no rush to make a decision, and normally when that happens they always talk to both drivers.
Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Latifi said he took his normal line, but acknowledged he didn’t leave a car’s width. However, he insisted that he couldn’t see Zhou.
“The rule is obviously to leave space for the car, which I obviously didn’t. I watched the replay, that line where I was going wide out of turn 3 and then coming back under braking, I was doing that every two laps of the race.
“And the problem was it drove perfectly into my blind spot on the way out. I looked both ways in the mirrors, you see it on my edge, I look left, I look right, and I don’t haven’t seen it.
“If I can’t see where he is, I take my normal line. So yeah, if you go by that rule, leaving the space, I understand why they gave me a penalty.
“The only thing is I think Zhou should have been more aware of that, he knows there is a blind spot with these cars. He was very inside of me, perfectly in the blind spot. Again I once didn’t pick an erratic line, that’s the line I always took.
“I’m not so frustrated by the penalty even if they get there, but by the fact that they didn’t want to talk about it. And is that the right penalty?
“Because they gave me a five-place penalty, which they gave [Valtteri] Bottas for going bowling with other cars in Hungary last year, which is far worse than a one-on-one crash.
“Every time there’s been a one-on-one crash, it’s a three-place penalty.”
Latifi said his informal visit to the stewards had not been very productive as they were still busy with the Sergio Perez safety car incident.
“I just wanted to talk to them about considering these things. Drivers always complain about consistency. Coming to the same conclusion and penalizing me is fine, but why not at least talk to both drivers like you do in 99% of the other cases?
“They were in the middle of everything that happened with Red Bull, so I didn’t have time to show them the video and so on. Again, they should have officially called us to the stewards and we talk to both of them. And obviously that wasn’t the case.”