Nicholas Latifi is still causing a stir in Formula One, and not exactly for the best of reasons, as he did in Baku. At the Azerbaijan GP, the Canadian took a post-race punishment for simply ignoring 12 blue flags and getting in the way of Pierre Gasly
Nicholas Latifi came 15th in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the Canadian was marked this Sunday (12) in Baku for other reasons. For starters, the Williams driver took a stop-and-go for lining up wrong on the grid and having a mechanic adjust his position after the time limit. Then, towards the end of the race, he took another 5s on his final time and 1 point on his wallet for ignoring no less than 12 blue flags in a row.
What makes the story more incredible is that Latifi was completely last in the race. The Canadian wasn't even close to passing anyone, he was about 40s behind Mick Schumacher. Even so, he ignored the indications to give way to Pierre Gasly, who was being pushed by Lewis Hamilton. Nicholas still tried to defend himself.
"The blue flag penalty, I understood that I took longer than I should have to give way, but I talked to Pierre afterwards and he understood what I did. I wanted to give him the DRS, if I let him through, he wouldn't have it and would be caught by Hamilton. So I tried to give him DRS," he said.
The Canadian reached 4 points on his license, out of a total of 12 possible. With 12, the driver is suspended for one race. Latifi comes from a sequence of controversies. In Monaco, the Williams driver was heavily criticized by Carlos Sainz, who said that Nicholas took away his chance of victory when he was lagging behind, allowing Sergio Pérez to pass.
The next race of the 2022 Formula One season is right at home for Latifi, with the Canadian GP, the ninth round of the year. Latifi, alongside Mick Schumacher, are the only drivers with zero in the World Championship.