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 comprehensiv⛄ely beaten by Nyck de Vries.
Latifi ꩲhas struggled conside🌸rably since the start of the year, failing to adapt to the new ground effect cars, while Williams’ 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 enou𒆙gh for F1 and de Vries would be an immediate upgrade.
Would Williams consider replacing him mid-season to bed de Vries ahead of 2023?
Due to Latꦓifi’s financial contribution to the 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 not long ago he was being talked about as 🅷a po🦄tential title contender (I mean, that was never a realistic possibility).
His qualifying form has been abysmal as of late, qualifying around 0.ಞ9s off Max Verstappen at Monza, while the gap in the races before that was over half a second.
Perez needs to up his form or he’s at risk of dropping to 🦋fifth in the championshi🌟p.
Alpine endured a disastrous weekend at Monza, which is a surprise as many tipped the French out💧fit to 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 O🧸con couldn’t recover from his engine penalty into the points.
Thankfully for Alpine, McLaren weren’t able to fully capitalise with Daniel Ricciardo retiring from the race while running inside the t🔴op 10.
Aston Martin
It was a weekend to forget for Aston Martin wit🔯h both Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel retiring due to technical problems.
Vettel stopped on track after just 12 laps due to anꦯ ERS issue, while Stroll pulled into the pits to save his engine.
Singapore will surely be better for the Silve🍸rstone-based outfit.
Winners from F1 Italian Grand Prix 2022
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen has n🃏ow won five races in a row.
It’s crazy to think that Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive victories in 2013 is n❀ow 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 witnessing greatness this season and nothing can seem to stop Verstappen, as seen at Monz🌠a.
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly made a weꦑlcome 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 vic🎶tory in 2020 so it was no surprise to see the Frenchman back on form at AlphaTauri’s home race.
Gasly qualified and finished inside the top 10 - something that has bee🐭n♐ 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 had half of FP3 to get up to speed, d🌺e Vries’ achievement cannot be understated.
He progressed into Q2 and finished in the points, clinging onto t⛎he DRS train by s༺tarting on the softs.
One overlooked point was ho💟w he lost little time whilst being lapped by Verstappen, allowing him to break DRS to Zhou Guanyu behind.
Zhou Guanyu
Zhou h💝as quietly enjoye✅d an impressive run of form since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
He’s 5-4 up on Bo🧔ttas (engine penalties due play apart) but there’s no doubt that Zhou has made sizeable improvements since his debut in Bahrain.
He’s deserving of a second year with Alfa Rome🌱o and a third points finish of the year is a just reward for his recent run of form relativ𝓰e to Bottas.
With a sharp eye for F1’൩s controversies and storylines, Connor is the h♒eartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
