Nicholas Latifi - "Ridiculous" to get penalty points after pit lane farce

Latifi, Williams, Azerbaijan — Photo: © LAT Images

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Latifi - "Ridiculous" to get penalty points after pit lane farce

Latifi was penalised for failing to travel through pit lane

Ewan Gale

Tuesday 8 June 2021 16:07

Nicholas Latifi has slated the addition of penalty points to his F1 super licence for his misdemeanour behind the safety car in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as "ridiculous".

After Max Verstappen's late tyre failure down the start-finish straight in Baku, the field was led by the safety car into the pit lane to allow for marshals to safely clear the accident scene.

A mix-up on team radio, however, meant Latifi was told to remain on track, resulting in the Canadian being handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty and having three penalty points added to his licence.

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Speaking before being told of the addition of the penalty points, Latifi said of the incident at the time: "I guess it is unlucky that I did as I was told.

"I just hope I don't get any penalty points for that because that would be ridiculous. I am not sure if I will, I don't think I should.

"It is unfortunate, we weren't fighting for points in the end. It was a pretty lonely race, we committed to a one-stop which was always going to be tricky with our car.

"But I thought I was driving pretty good all weekend, in the race as well but then there were too many miscommunications. We need to be sharper."

Williams still has room for improvement

Haas was able to jump ahead of Williams in the constructors' championship with 13th place from Mick Schumacher in conjunction with Latifi's penalty and George Russell's late mechanical issue.

While Latifi believes small developments will help the team, he is not expecting major gains.

"There are still little improvements we will be able to make," added Latifi. "On my side of the garage, we are understanding a bit more where I need to get a bit more confidence.

"It is two races in a row now where I felt really, really good, from FP1 on the pace, so still optimistic we can continue to make progress but I think we are still an eighth- or ninth-place team."