Nicholas Latifi feels Nyck de Vries drove a very ordinary race as he finished the race exactly where he started it.
Ahead of the Italian GP, Williams announced that their driver Alex Albon won’t be able to race due to appendicitis. It was unfortunate for the former Red Bull driver but presented a golden opportunity for his replacement for the weekend.
De Vries had been part of Mercedes’ setup for years but found it impossible to land himself a full-time seat. However, his performance in Monza last weekend raised quite a few eyebrows in the F1 paddock. He was revealed as Albon’s replacement for the weekend and in spite of being given such less time to prepare, he put in a stellar drive.
De Vries started the race from P8 and managed to score two points for his team by finishing ninth. This was two points more than Latifi has managed to score all season long. The Canadian has struggled and has been comprehensively beaten by Albon this year. To make matters worse, de Vries, who didn’t even know he was going to drive in F1 that weekend, managed to outshine him.
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Nicholas Latifi not surprised with Nyck de Vries finishing P9
A lot of people feel that Latifi’s underwhelming performance in Monza is a sign he shouldn’t be in F1. With a huge pool of talented drivers coming up, Williams may be forced to let go of the 27-year-old.
In spite of the criticism, Latifi insists that his car finished exactly where it was supposed to. He blamed the car for not allowing him to gain time on corners, citing lack of downforce as a huge reason behind his P15 finish.
“It is only the car when cornering, but we were quickly on the straights,” he said. “That was because we didn’t have a downforce.”
Talking about de Vries, the Montreal-born driver insisted that he wasn’t surprised. He believes that the FW44 cannot really make many overtakes, and it was more about finishing where you started.
“The car was supposed to finish there. I think if we drove in the front we could have driven there too. But our car is not really racing, it is more, stay where you drive”
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