Formula 1 driver Nicholas Latifi to Leave Williams After 2022

The newest piece within the Method 1 jigsaw has fallen into place as Williams introduced that it’ll half methods with Canadian racer Nicholas Latifi on the finish of the 2022 season. This frees up a seat on the Grove-based squad alongside Alex Albon.

Latifi had been beneath strain to carry out at Williams all season. He began off the 12 months on the again foot and failed to complete increased than 14th within the first 9 races of 2022. In the meantime, new teammate Alex Albon appeared to rise up to hurry a lot faster and even scored factors within the third race in Australia.

This adopted two years that noticed Latifi go face to face with George Russell, who constantly unqualified the Canadian at nearly each grand prix. As such, questions have swirled round Latifi’s future with the squad for months.

Now, the British group has confirmed that it’ll not renew Latifi’s contract as soon as it expires on the finish of the 2022 season.

In an announcement shared by the group, Latifi thanked Williams “for the final three years.” He added:

“My preliminary F1 debut was postponed because of the pandemic however we ultimately obtained getting into Austria and, though now we have not achieved the outcomes collectively we hoped we’d, it’s nonetheless been a unbelievable journey.

“Getting these first factors in Hungary final 12 months was a second I’ll always remember, and I’ll transfer onto the subsequent chapter of my profession with particular recollections of my time with this devoted group. I do know none of us will cease placing in each effort till the tip of the season.”

Latifi’s time in Method 1 has been a blended bag, actually. Within the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, Latifi’s seventh place end scored him his first factors in F1 and the squad’s first high 10 end in two years.

However seventh in Hungary stays the perfect end result Latifi managed whereas at Williams. He has up to now scored factors at only one different race, that questionable Belgian Grand Prix final 12 months.

Latifi reached the third spherical of qualifying for the primary time in his profession at this 12 months’s British Grand Prix, the place he began the race in tenth however dropped again to twelfth and out of the factors through the race.

One among Latifi’s highlights got here throughout this 12 months’s Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. Within the closing follow earlier than qualifying, the Canadian topped the timing sheets in a moist session.

Regardless of ending the session 0.66 seconds forward of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, he struggled to hold his tempo into qualifying and ended up beginning the race in nineteenth.

Sadly, for Latifi, his legacy in F1 would possibly boil right down to one fateful night time in Abu Dhabi. Through the closing race of 2021, the Canadian crashed into the wall on lap 50 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The incident introduced out the protection automotive, which in the end determined the results of the race and that years championship. Within the fallout of Michael Masi’s rogue race course, Latifi spoke out in regards to the abuse he acquired following the incident.