Breaking news
Formula 1 Canadian GP
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.
René Fagnan
Edited: Jun 21, 2018, 12:54 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
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.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Grosjean surprised marmot he hit wasn't removed
Next article Grosjean: F1 camera glasses are painful but "awesome"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
René Fagnan
Alex Labbe returns to NASCAR Pinty’s and Xfinity Series
NASCAR O'Reilly
NASCAR O'Reilly
Alex Labbe returns to NASCAR Pinty’s and Xfinity Series
New Canadian Grand Prix pit building revealed in Montreal
Formula 1
Formula 1
Canadian GP
New Canadian Grand Prix pit building revealed in Montreal
Jacques Villeneuve: Zolder track debut will be “important to me”
NASCAR Euro
NASCAR Euro
Jacques Villeneuve: Zolder track debut will be “important to me”
More from
Nicholas Latifi
Nicholas Latifi makes first public statement since retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Nicholas Latifi makes first public statement since retirement
Latifi: IndyCar contract talk “funny”, denies concrete news
IndyCar
IndyCar
Latifi: IndyCar contract talk “funny”, denies concrete news
Latifi frustrated by quick FIA decision on Zhou clash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Latifi frustrated by quick FIA decision on Zhou clash
More from
Force India
Otmar Szafnauer reveals failed Kimi Raikkonen bid involving "Angry Birds" founders
Formula 1
Formula 1
Canadian GP
Otmar Szafnauer reveals failed Kimi Raikkonen bid involving "Angry Birds" founders
Esteban Ocon explains why he collided with Sergio Perez so often at Force India
Formula 1
Formula 1
Esteban Ocon explains why he collided with Sergio Perez so often at Force India
Former Force India F1 boss Fernley dies aged 70
Formula 1
Formula 1
Austrian GP
Former Force India F1 boss Fernley dies aged 70
Latest news
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 18 min
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
"Extremely difficult": Calendar clashes threaten Marco Wittmann's DTM future
DTM
DTM DTM 1 h
"Extremely difficult": Calendar clashes threaten Marco Wittmann's DTM future
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe