Williams
Williams has announced that Nicholas Latifi will leave the team at the end of the 2022 season after three years with the British outfit.
He is the only full-time driver on this year’s grid not to have scored a point and was outqualified by reserve driver Nyck de Vries at Monza.
The news has been expected for some time. Last year team boss Jost Capito said that new private equity ownership meant Williams was no longer reliant on drivers like Latifi who bring large sponsorship packages with them.
“Although we have not achieved the results together we hoped we would, it’s still been a fantastic journey,” said Latifi in a Williams statement.
“I will move onto the next chapter of my career with special memories of my time with this dedicated team. I know none of us will stop putting in every effort until the end of the season.”
Debut points at the 2021 Hungarian GP were a high point of Latifi’s three years at Williams
Grand Prix Photo
Latifi picked out his seventh-place finish at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix as a highlight of his time in Formula 1, but those moments have been few and far between.
He joined for the 2020 season – after finishing runner-up in the 2019 Formula 2 championship – to partner George Russell.
It took until the 19th race of their second season together for Latifi to finally out-qualify his team-mate, with Russell consistently getting the better of him.
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This year, he has only outqualified new team-mate Alex Albon once this season, which is the most one-sided scoreline in the field.
“On behalf of the whole team, I would like to say an enormous thank you to Nicholas for his three years of hard work with Williams,” said Capito. “He is a great team player who has a great attitude towards his colleagues and work and is well liked and respected throughout the business.
“Our time together is now coming to an end, but I know he will put full effort in to maximise what we can do together for the remainder of this season. We wish him all the very best of luck for his future, both in and out of the cockpit.”
In a social media post, Latifi said that he was determined to end the year positively at the final six races and didn’t hint at his future plans.
So, I’m parting ways with @WilliamsRacing at the end of the year.
Honoured to have represented them for the last 3 years. A massive thanks to the whole team – it’s been an incredible journey and I’ve enjoyed every second of it.
Determined to end 2022 positively. 6 races left! pic.twitter.com/gN5xWsUUH2
— Nicholas Latifi (@NicholasLatifi) September 23, 2022
Williams is known to have been casting around for a replacement for some time. Junior driver Logan Sargeant is in the frame, but the American’s availability is dependent on him finishing the current F2 season in a high enough position to obtain a superlicence.
The team is also thought to be keen to see De Vries back in a Williams, although he is also linked with AlphaTauri, which is considering releasing Pierre Gasly to Alpine and replacing him with the Dutchman.
Other names mentioned in connection with Williams include Antonio Giovinazzi and Mick Schumacher. Daniel Ricciardo also remains a free agent.
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