F1 Italian GP: Should Williams drop Nicholas Latifi mid-season?
Losers from the F1 Italian Grand Prix 2022
Nicholas Latifi
The writing is on the wall for Nicholas Latifi as he was comprehensively beaten by Nycꦺk de Vries.
Latifi has struggled considerably since the start of the year, failing to adapt to𒀰 the new ground effect cars, while Willi🌌ams’ lack of downforce has exacerbated the issue.
Given de Vries’ lack of time in the car, Latifi's failure to out-qualify him (or make Q2 at Williams’ best ♉track of the year) was unacceptable.
It’s clear that Latifi isn’t good enough for F1 andඣ de Vries would be an immediate upgrade.
Would Williams consider replacing him mid-season to bed de Vries ahead of 2023?
Due to Latifi’s financial c൩ontribution to tꦑhe team, it’s unlikely, as they were reluctant to drop him earlier in the year for Oscar Piastri.
Sergio Perez
What has happened to Sergio Perez?
It’s n♒ot long ago he was being talked about as a potential title contender (I mean, that was never a realistic🔥 possibility).
His qualifying form has been abysmal as of late, qualifying around 0.9s off Max Verstappen at Monza, while the gap in💞 the races before th💧at was over half a second.
Perez needs tဣo up his form or he’s at✨ risk of dropping to fifth in the championship.
Alpine endured a disastrous weekend at Monza, which is a surprise as many tipped the French outfit t🎶♑o go well due to the impressive speed they’ve shown this year at low downforce venues.
Fernando Alonso was forced out of ♏the race early due to a suspected water pressure issue,ꦿ while Esteban Ocon couldn’t recover from his engine penalty into the points.
Thankfully 𝔉for Alpine, McLaren weren’t abl🀅e to fully capitalise with Daniel Ricciardo retiring from the race while running inside the top 10.
Aston Martin
It was a weekend to forget for Aston Martin with both Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel retiring due to technical probl🀅ems.
Vettel stopped on track after just 12 laps due to an ERS issue, while Stroll pulled i👍nto the pits to save his engine.
Singapore will surely be better for the Sil🅘verstone-based outfit.
Winners from F1 Italian Grand Prix 2022
Max Verstappen
Mꦫax Verstappen has now won five races in a row.
It’s crazy to think that Sebastian Ve🎃ttel’s record of nine consecutive victories in 20❀13 is now under threat.
On paper, the Singapore Grand Prix is Red Bull’s biggest test out of the remaining six races with Ferrari and Mercedes typically strong on high downforce circuits.
We’re wit🅺nessing greatness this season and nothing can seem to stop Verstappen, as seen at 🐲Monza.
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly made a welcome 🐻return to the top 10 at Monza⛎ - only his second points finish in eight races.
Monza 📖is the scene of Gasly’s famous maiden F1 victory in 2020 so it was no surprise to see the Frenchman back on form at AlphaTauri’s home race.
Gasly qualified and finish🐠ed inside the top 10 - something that has been a rarity this season given AlphaTauri’s struggles.
Nyck de Vries
🍌As a last-minute replacement for Alex Albon, de Vries performed🎀 remarkably for Williams on his F1 debut.
Considering he only 𒊎had half of FP3 to get up to speed, de Vries’ achievement cannot be understatꦡed.
He progres♉sed into Q2 and finished in the points, clinging onto the DRS train by starting on the softs.
One overlooked point was💎 how he lost little time whilst being lapped by Verstappen, allowing him to break DRS to Zhou Gua🦹nyu behind.
Zhou Guanyu
Zhou has quietly enjoyed an impressive run of f꧃orm since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
He’s 5-4 up on Bottas (engine penalties due play apart) b🌠ut there’s no doubt that Zhou has made ꦓsizeable improvements since his debut in Bahrain.
He’s deserving of a second year wiꦚth Alfa Romeo and a third points finish of the year is a just reward for his recent run of forꦑm relative to Bottas.
With a shar🌱p eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
