Why unseen Hungary heroics could be the making of F1's most overlooked driver

If you’d bet on Nicholas Latifi finishing the Hungarian Grand Prix in seventh, ahead of team-mate George Russell and pre-event points leader Max Verstappen on the road, you’d have raked in the cash from a set of presumably long odds.  Those odds would be longer still, had one bet on a driver who had never previously scored points running in third for a very healthy portion of the race, in which he kept the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz Jr at bay.

Latifi rose to the occasion presented by the pre-race drizzle peppering the Hungaroring circuit and proved to be even more opportunistic following Bottas’ trip to Hollywood Bowl at the start of the race. Once he’d stuck to the inside line and slipped past the chaos in front of him, he sat in sixth place prior to the stewards waving the red flag to put a pin in proceedings.

Sure, Latifi's rapid ascent through the order was a matter of circumstance, as compatriot Lance Stroll also tried the inside line a few seconds prior to languidly spearing into Charles Leclerc, but a driver can only work with what’s in front of them.

Sixth became fourth as all bar poleman Lewis Hamilton pulled in ahead of the standing restart to switch their intermediate tyres for a set of slicks, with Latifi’s stop being rapid enough to pull him ahead of Tsunoda and Sainz in the queue.  Although team-mate Russell attempted to sneak ahead of everyone else, helped by Williams’ position in the pitlane, he was asked to give up the positions he’d gained out of the pit exit. It was worth a try – and either way, Williams had once again underlined its deftness in a high-stakes pitstop.

Hamilton conceded the lead a lap later, after it proved that the intermediate tyre was indisputably the wrong compound to be on as the circuit had swiftly dried once the sun had peeked through the evaporating clouds. That not only set up the race-long bout between Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel, but also elevated Latifi into an unexpected third place.

Given Williams’ struggles in qualifying, in which Russell failed to surpass the Q1 cut-off for the first time all year, it would have been reasonable to expect that Latifi’s grasp on third place would have been tenuous at best. Instead, the Toronto native kept the chasing Tsunoda off his six, edging out of DRS range to make use of the ever-growing gap in front of him as the Ocon-Vettel duel became further out of reach.

Latifi kept Tsunoda and Sainz comfortably at arm's length in the opening stint

Photo by: Williams

“I guess that's the only benefit of starting at the back, as you have a front row seat to it all, and at the end I was able to take advantage of [the first corner pile-up],” Latifi explained post-race. “From then, prior to the safety car, I didn't know exactly what position I was in, but I saw I was well into the points and going through my head was last year and the position the Haas [Kevin Magnussen] found himself in.

“So, I knew an opportunity was going to be there today. And then [at the] red flag, making the decision to put onto the slicks was a no brainer for me. Ultimately, you don't know what everyone's going to do until you get to the pit entry, but even if nobody pitted, I was going to be happy to pit from there.

“We were obviously running way out of position at the front, but I was just doing my own race, focusing on my tyres, not trying to stay with the cars in front.”

There was an inevitability of a slight drop through the order, however, as the pit strategies began to come into play. Tsunoda undercut Latifi following their pitstops on laps 22 and 23 respectively, as the Canadian spent a second longer in the pitlane, which then released Sainz. The Ferrari driver overruled his team’s decision to pit him in that same window, instead lighting up the timing screens with a rapid turn of pace after finally being unshackled. By the time he’d pitted, he’d jumped both cars and had begun to chase the leaders down.

"Obviously, I haven't been in a position with points or podium or win for a while now. But when you slot into that rhythm, you just focus on your job" Nicholas Latifi

Alonso and Gasly also extended their stints over Tsunoda and Latifi, although the French driver had to put a move on Latifi on-track before being waved through by his team-mate as AlphaTauri asked Tsunoda to move aside.

From there, Latifi had what he described as a “lonely” afternoon, and spent much of the race’s second half over 10s behind Tsunoda and about 10s ahead of Russell, who was having to bat away Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. Tsunoda’s lap 62 spin, which went unnoticed by the F1 broadcast feed, then offered a chance for Latifi to make up a further spot; the Japanese rookie lost about 10 seconds by overcooking it at Turn 2, which brought Latifi within the ballpark of the AlphaTauri.

Although Latifi attempted to whittle away at the gap, he was only able to chop it down to two seconds by the end as Tsunoda dusted himself off and gathered his concentration to make it to the end. Russell had also been picking up the pace to fend off the wounded Verstappen and crossed the line two seconds behind his team-mate in ninth.

Latifi and Russell celebrate their double points finish, before Vettel's DSQ lifted both up a place

Photo by: Williams

Latifi’s eighth place then became seventh as Vettel was found to have insufficient fuel to provide the one-litre sample required by the FIA in post-race scrutineering. Like Vettel, both Williams cars stopped on track during the formation lap too, probably leaving the team a little hot under the collar as it awaited the scrutineers’ verdict. Happily, the one-litre samples were both delivered in the epilogue to give Williams free licence to celebrate their biggest points haul since 2017.

“When I was in P3, it felt like a lonely race even though I was up at the front,” Latifi explained, “because the cars were pulling away in front. I was just managing the gap to Yuki.

"I knew there was probably a massive train behind me, but I could only really see Yuki and I think the Ferrari behind me at the time. So I was just doing my own race. Obviously, I haven't been in a position with points or podium or win for a while now. But when you slot into that rhythm, you just focus on your job.”

Of course, Latifi’s performance at the Hungaroring will surely have implications for his F1 future. With the current transfer market for 2022 looking a little static for the time being, Mercedes’ decision over what to do with Russell will most likely light the touchpaper for the annual silly season rumour mill to begin turning. If Russell does indeed depart Williams, Latifi’s experience within the team set-up will offer much-desired continuity.

It’s no secret that Latifi is well-moneyed; his father Michael owns one of Canada’s largest food production and distribution firms, and can continue to provide support to his son should Williams wish to continue with his services.

“My ambition is to stay with the team going into next year,” Latifi said. “I don't have anything secured right now, but a result like this can only help. But this is a one-off result, we took advantage of the opportunity, but ultimately we’ve still got a lot of races to go, to keep making improvements on my side and to show the team that I want to stay here and that I'm pushing forward.”

The question over Latifi has always been one of performance. Although he’s indisputably a solid hand behind the wheel, he’s still yet to beat Russell in qualifying trim across their one-and-a-half seasons as team-mates.

Latifi hopes the result will help to keep him at Williams next year

Photo by: Williams

Qualifying has, arguably, never been Latifi’s strong suit; in his four full years with DAMS across GP2 and Formula 2, he never managed to achieve a pole position, and has made it out of Q1 just twice across his F1 career so far: in Hungary last year, and at Imola this year (memorably going faster than Russell in the opening qualifying session).

What Latifi does have in spades, however, is great race sense. Perhaps more predisposed to a cautious approach, this allows him to read a race and stay out of trouble, leaving the only real Sunday blot on his copybook being his clumsy collision with Nikita Mazepin at Imola. Hungary’s performance was another showcase of his awareness; the Williams team could not hope to crack the top five and Latifi was well-versed in the FW43B’s limitations, so he focused on looking forward and posting the laptimes he needed in order to keep the tyres in the right window.

And that amounted to his big day at the Hungaroring. But to further tighten his grasp on extending his stay at Williams, it’s a performance he must build on. Finding more from himself in qualifying will be the ultimate test, and Latifi will need to start reducing the gap to Russell and booking himself into Q2 on a more regular basis.

"My ambition is to stay with the team going into next year. I don't have anything secured right now, but a result like this can only help" Nicholas Latifi

Latifi has proven himself to be more than just a “pay-driver”. Rather, he’s proving to fit into the same vein as the likes of Marcus Ericsson or Pedro Diniz; although they cut their teeth in F1 thanks to their suitcases of cash having enough sway in driver negotiations, they both proved to be very capable midfield runners who could be trusted to deliver points on their day. Although that hardly sounds like the most aspirational of roles in the F1 circus, it’s honest work – and Latifi’s the next driver who can certainly do that.

But, as one well-known foghorn opined a few days prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, he’s certainly not “poo”.

Can Latifi use Hungary as a springboard to prove his critics wrong?

Photo by: Motorsport Images