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Nicholas Latifi’s performance has been influenced by his performance in 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prixwhich led to the controversial safety car ending – claims Williams boss Jost Capito.
Latifi infamously crashed his Williams on lap 50 of the 2021 Abu Dhabi season finale and brought out the safety car, and the chain of events that followed led to Max Verstappen’s debut Formula 1 The title has been well reported.
Canadian drivers Lots of abuse and social media hate After that incident, many believed he was to blame for Lewis Hamilton’s missing out on a record-breaking eighth F1 driver’s crown.
Not that his F1 performance made the world shine, it’s that Latifi hit a new low in 2022 as he has yet to score, while Nyck de Vries – on behalf of ailing Alex Albon – overtakes him 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Williams team principal Jost Capito reflected on Latifi’s situation and form in an interview with the High Performance Podcast, claiming Abu Dhabi 2021 was a factor in his driver’s poor form.
Williams backs Latifi but gives him room to recover
“We had to keep giving him confidence. We said nothing wrong. Everything was fine, but it was very difficult until then because it was the end of the season,” Capito recalled.
“He’s not around every day and we don’t intervene too much because we know what’s going on, we know what’s going on.
“He turned off his social media, but if we interfere too much, I think we’ll make it worse,” the German insisted.
“It’s something everyone has to overcome on their own. He’s fully aware that he has our backs and we absolutely believe he did nothing wrong.”
Abu Dhabi crash shouldn’t have happened
As for accidents, Capito added: “Crashes shouldn’t happen, of course, but if you’re racing, a crash can happen. We never blame the driver for that, a crash can happen. Otherwise, if you don’t want to crash, must stay at home.
“I think that’s part of the reason why it took him so long this season to find competitiveness. I’m sure it will affect his driving after that. It will have a big impact on my driving, I’m sure of that. .
“So I can understand that and that’s why we gave him confidence and backed him all season and we know he’ll be back,” insisted the Williams boss.
Aside from Latifi not coming back and having to endure the humiliation of being beaten by a substitute driver, he had to be ready to race Williams FW44 within 24 hours, which begs a question about the future of paid drivers in the top flight of so many good talents Both are fighting for a seat in F1, and de Vries is just one obvious example.
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