Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia

Nicholas Latifi gets first FP1 experience in Montréal

Canadian Nicholas Latifi took part in his first real free practice session of a Grand Prix Friday morning in Montreal.

Nicholas Latifi, Force India VJM11

Nicholas Latifi, Force India VJM11

Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Nicholas Latifi, Force India VJM11
Nicholas Latifi, Force India VJM11
Nicholas Latifi, Force India VJM11
Nicholas Latifi, Force India VJM11

On Friday morning of the Canadian Grand Prix, Latifi drove the Mercedes-powered Force India normally devoted to Sergio Perez. After an installation lap, Latifi took to the track four times, completing runs of five, five, six and seven laps.

He ended the session in 19th place with a time of 1:17.145.

“I really enjoyed it. It was great to be on a short track like this and all 20 cars on the track, staying out of trouble, and run with the big names of the sport,” the Toronto resident told Motorsport.com.

“I’d be lying if I say that I wasn’t nervous going into the session. It’s my first FP1 in life. It’s also my home Grand Prix, so there was a lot more attention. Pressure may not be the right word. It’s the incentive to do a good job. On a track like this, it would have been very easy to do a silly mistake and end up in the wall. Especially as we run with less downforce than we had in Barcelona during the in-season test. The last thing I wanted to do was to put the team on their back foot going into the race weekend. Yes, of course, it’s at the back of your mind because it’s Sergio’s [Perez] car, not mine!” he added.

Latifi ran on two types of Pirelli tires, the Hypersofts and the Utrasofts.

“FP1 is a bit tricky because you only get two sets of tires. It’s a bit like in Formula 2 where you have more track time than the amount of tires you have. You have to be very strategic. That’s why I had to spend some time in the garage. Meanwhile, the teams told me what I needed to do, the improvements I had to make over the previous runs, those kinds of things,” he continued.

He also explained the work he had to do in the car.

“In general, my job was mainly aero work, things to do during the in laps,” he said. “The team did not give me very complex things to do. I was learning the track, learning about the new car, so I wanted to be as smooth as possible, which was, I think, the right decision. The team gave me the options in terms of tire usage, for example matching what Esteban [Ocon] was doing, going from hyper and then ultra, or the opposite. The team was fully open. I wasn’t here to set a quick lap, and I decided to match Esteban’s strategy.”

Latifi also noted where was something wrong with the car at one point during the session.

“At the start of my run with the ultrasofts, there was an issue with the front suspension and it was affecting quite a bit the handing of the car. I decided to have it investigated. It was something I felt straightaway and the team saw it on the data, and they checked it after the session.”

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Grosjean surprised marmot he hit wasn't removed
Next article Why Mercedes is the real favourite in Montreal

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia