Why rising star Russell was outshone by Williams team-mate Latifi
Why rising star Russell was outshone by Williams team-mate Latifi
Nicholas Latifi has completed a fine rookie season in Formula 1 with Williams although it was largely overshadowed by team-mate George Russell's incredible campaign.
The British driver's astronomic rise has been one of the stories of the season, with his qualifying endeavours, in particular, raising eyebrows with nine Q2 appearances in a back-of-the-pack car.
But the question is, how did Latifi's inaugural season actually go? Upon further reflection, the Canadian has himself been very strong and - perhaps - the best Williams driver.
Stay with me on this one because here's why...
Let's give some points out!
Russell may have been stellar in qualifying but you don't get points on a Saturday, it is Sunday that counts.
Unfortunately, Williams were pointless this year, so that all becomes a moot point - so to speak - unless we give out championship points for 11th to 20th.
For the sake of argument, we are pretending 11th is first through to 20th being 10th, with the usual 25 points-per-win system to help us. We are also discounting the Sakhir Grand Prix as Russell was in a Mercedes.
Despite his Saturday exploits, Russell only finished in 11th on a single occasion at Mugello, compared to Latifi's three in Austria, Monza and Imola. Seven-five points straight away for the rookie.
In fact, once all of the scores are added up across their 16 grands prix as a pairing, Latifi nets 149 points and actually out-scores Russell by 20.
Why use that system when Indycar already hands out 'sympathy' points?
Well in Indycar, if you finish a race, you will score points. It is a hugely divisive scoring system that was discussed by the F1 strategy group a few years ago.
So what if this system was already in use? Would Russell restore parity? In this instance, 11th is awarded 19 points and with only a one-point increment between each position.
Both driver's scores increase drastically, with Russell's total jumping by 44 points to 173. However, Latifi breaks the 200 mark and actually widens his gap to 31 points by claiming 204.
But do the points actually display the whole picture? Has Latifi indeed been the strongest of the pair on race day.
Bad luck hits Russell points tally
The fact of the matter is, despite the fact he scored more 'points' than Russell, Latifi actually finished behind his team-mate in eight of the 10 races the pair were both classified for Williams.
That is a bleak statistic, although the difference in position was only greater than two positions on two occasions, which means they were actually pretty equal.
It has to be said that Latifi seldom made a mistake on race day whereas Russell made a critical error in Imola that potentially cost him bonafide championship points.
The other skew in the data is the four DNF's suffered by Russell to Latifi's two. Of the four, only one was of Russell's own doing, with a fuel system issue his downfall in the season opener before being caught up in Alfa Romeo accidents in Belgium and Germany.
Clearly, Russell is the lead Williams driver, but make no bones about it, Latifi had a very good start to his F1 career.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Hamilton relationship 'ENDS' as F1 legend looks for celebrity date
- 17 minutes ago
F1 team boss lends support to Alonso amid HUGE backlash
- 1 hour ago
Mercedes driver reveals unique BENEFIT to being Verstappen’s team-mate
- 2 hours ago
Wolff WARNS Hamilton about Ferrari competitiveness
- 3 hours ago
F1 owners ‘close’ to stunning £3.5 BILLION takeover of motorsport rival
- 3 hours ago
F1 News Today: Ricciardo 'ULTIMATUM' rumours addressed by Marko as bizarre F1 curse blamed for crashes
- Today 05:57
F1 Race Calendar
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
- GP JAPAN 5 - 7 Apr
- GP CHINA 19 - 21 Apr
- GP USA 3 - 6 May
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
- GP MONACO 24 - 26 May
Related news
Bizarre F1 curse BLAMED for Russell crash
F1 team SAVED Russell from major injuries after horror crash
Russell begged for red flag in SCARY crash radio message
F1 team boss addresses ruthless driver snub at Australian GP
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860