Formula 1

Nicholas Latifi: “It is an amazing result for the team, and I am so happy for us”

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Credit: Williams Racing

Amid the chaos in the Hungarian Grand Prix, perhaps the best feel-good story of the race was the first points of the season for Williams Racing, with both Nicholas Latifi and George Russell ending up inside the top ten.

Not since the 2019 German Grand Prix had Williams scored a point in Formula 1, and it was the first time that they scored points with both cars since the Italian Grand Prix of 2018.

Latifi ran as high as third in the early stages after capitalising on the multiple incidents at the start of the race, and although he was unable to keep some obviously quicker cars behind him, he was still able to finish eighth on the road for his first points in Formula 1.  This became seventh later in the day when Sebastian Vettel was disqualified.

“It is an amazing result for the team, and I am so happy for us,” said Latifi.  “The team has been knocking on the door of points for a few races now, so to get both cars in the points and to move up to P8 in the championship is amazing.

“The race from my side was very tough to manage, obviously the start in the first corner was what sealed it for me. We struggled in qualifying yesterday, so to come away with a result like this is better than anything we could have hoped for.

“Overall, it is a really nice way to head into the summer break.”

“I’m so happy for everyone and I’m a bit lost for words” – George Russell

Team-mate Russell exited the pits in second place at the Hungaroring, but the team quickly told him to drop back to seventh after he incorrectly passed the queue waiting at the end of the pit lane. 

However, despite this, he was also able to bring the car home inside the points in ninth, with the Mercedes-Benz protégé also profiting from Vettel’s disqualification to move up to eighth.

Russell felt his final stint in Hungary was the best of his career as he was involved in a battle that also included McLaren F1 Team’s Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull Racing’s championship contender Max Verstappen.  He was able to keep both behind him for his first points for Williams and only his second top ten finish of his Formula 1 career.

“I’m so happy for everyone and I’m a bit lost for words,” said Russell.  “It was an incredible race. My final stint was probably the best of my whole career as I was fighting like crazy, fending off Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

“I’m just so pleased for everyone because it’s been a big slog over the last two-and-a-half years for me, and three-and-a-half years for the team, so these points are really deserved.

“Really well done to Nicholas too, he made an amazing start and drove a really great race. Finishing eighth and ninth, we couldn’t really have done much more today.”

George Russell took his first points as a Williams driver on Sunday – Credit: Williams Racing
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