Nicholas Latifi: Another Canadian on the 2020 Grid

The upcoming 2020 F1 season, which kicks off next week in Melbourne, will feature two Canadian drivers in F1: Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi. Needless to say, this is a first in history. Let’s get to know this newcomer better. Latifi was born in Montreal and later moved to Toronto. He is 24 years old. Latifi will make his F1 debut with the Williams team, just as Lance Stroll did in 2017 in his first season.

Last season in Formula 2, he was crowned vice-champion of the series behind Nyck de Vries. In 22 races with the DAMS team, he collected 214 points, including 4 victories for a total of 8 podiums. Latifi made his single-seater debut in 2012 in the Italian Formula 3 Championship with the BVM team. In 24 races, he won one event with 4 podiums for a total of 117 points and finished 7th in the drivers’ standings. That same year, he raced in the Toyota Racing Series with the Giles Motorsport team, finishing 9th in the standings with 503 points. In 2013, he participated in two Formula 3 championships with the British team Carlin. He competed in the British Championship and the European Championship. In 11 races in the British Championship, he finished 5th among drivers with 97 points. In the European Championship, he completed 30 events, earning 45 points to finish 15th among drivers.

In 2014, it was a very busy year for the Canadian, with participation in three championships. He was registered in the European Formula 3 Championship with the Italian team Prema Powerteam. In 30 races with them, he achieved one podium for a total of 128 points and 10th position in the drivers’ standings. In the same year, he raced in Formula Renault 3.5 with the French team Tech 1 Racing. In 6 races, he obtained one podium and a total of 20 points. He also participated in two events in GP 2 with the German team Hilmer Motorsport.

In 2015, he continued his journey in Formula Renault 3.5 with the British team Arden International. In 17 races, he scored 55 points to finish 11th in the standings. That same season, he participated in 7 events in GP2 with MP Motorsport. In 2016, he became a test driver in Formula One for Renault. He also raced in GP2 with the French team DAMS. In 22 races, he secured one podium for a total of 23 points in the standings and 16th place among the drivers. In 2017, he raced in Formula 2, still with DAMS. In 22 events, he secured one victory and achieved 9 podiums for a cumulative 178 points and 5th position in the drivers’ standings. In 2018, he was a test driver for the Formula One team Force India, which became Racing Point Force India. All in all, a quite well-rounded career for this 24-year-old driver. It will be interesting to see how he will fare this year in F1 with Williams alongside his young English teammate, George Russell. Notably, to properly assess Latifi this season, he must be evaluated in comparison to Russell’s performances, who is a promising driver in F1.