'The gap between Latifi and Russell is not as big as people think'

Nicholas Latifi has extended his contract at Williams and that was remarkable. Jost Capito had indicated that the so-called 'pay-drivers' were no longer needed at the team. According to the Williams team boss, the gap between George Russell and Latifi is not as big as people think.

Latifi can stay

Latifi made his debut in Formula 1 at Williams in 2020, after bivouacking for years in the step-up classes. The crazy thing was that he didn't even become champion in Formula 2, but unlike Nyck de Vries, he did get a place in F1. This was due to his father's large investment, but now he can keep the seat, even though Williams says it doesn't need the money anymore.

''You can’t say we have a huge gap between George and Nicky in quali, and in the racing as well, when you look at Hungary at the race Nicky did a fantastic job. I don’t think the gap is as big as everybody believes or it looks,'' says the Williams team boss according to F1i.com.

Hole to Russell

These are remarkable statements because the numbers don't lie. For example, Latifi never finished a qualifying session ahead of Russell, and Russell only finished ahead of Russell in the race in that Hungarian GP. The difference between the two in qualifying is less this year though. Where the Canadian lost an average of 0.645s per qualifying session last year compared to his teammate, this year it is 0.380s.

''He had a couple of issues in quali this season, Nicky, that were not caused by him and he would have been in a position to be nearly at the speed or at the speed of George,'' Capito concludes.