Nicholas Latifi To Leave Williams At The End Of 2022

Williams F1 Team has confirmed that Nicholas Latifi will be departing the team at the end of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, after three years in the sport. The British team released a statement on Friday morning explaining the news, with CEO and Team Principal, Jost Capito, describing the Canadian as “a great team player”:

“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. 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,” said the German.

“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.”

“It’s still been a fantastic journey” Says Latifi

Latifi, who made his debut at the start of the 2020 season, was the team-mate of George Russell for two years at the Williams team, before partnering Alexander Albon for the 2022 season. The number six driver has scored seven points to date in his career, but is the only full-time driver to not score points so far in 2022.

The twenty-seven year old has thanked the Williams team for working with him over the last year, despite some of the challenges they faced.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Williams Racing – all the people back at the factory and those I work with trackside – for the last three years. My initial F1 debut was postponed due to the pandemic but we eventually got going in Austria and, although we have not achieved the results together we hoped we would, it’s still been a fantastic journey.

“Getting those first points in Hungary last year was a moment I’ll never forget, and 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.”

With the departure of Latifi, a seat has now opened up at Williams for next year. With Nick De Vries scoring points on his debut in Italy, there is certainly a chance the Dutch driver will replace Latifi, however, there are a number of other options too. Williams has said that it will announce the driver that will partner Albon for 2023 ‘in due course’.