After three seasons in Formula One, Williams decided not to renew his partnership with him. He managed to score some points during his career, but that did not convince the Grove team or other teams in the grid to sign him for next year. Roksana Ćwik spoke to Nicholas Latifi in the United States about his Formula One adventure, what's next, the events in Abu Dhabi 2021, a supposed IndyCar contract and further familiarisation with the Polish language.
You finally scored your first points of the season in Japan. How does it feel?
It's obviously a very nice feeling and a kind of reward, especially after what has been a very tough season. We know we still have the slowest car, so when there have been point scoring positions or opportunities, most of the time it's because something has fallen our way, whether it's a lot of DNFs or good strategy calls, obviously mixed weather conditions, grid penalties. There have been quite a few races where there have been a few of those... So it was quite nice in Japan because in the end we obviously did a good strategy call as a team. And it’s not like only ten cars have finished the race, because there were 18 cars that finished. And yeah, I did a job, keeping the car on track. We were quite competitive and made a good strategy call. So to have the first points of the season was for sure a nice boost.
What do you think about the situation with the red flag, then restarting the race and then at the end drivers were awarded full points, not half of them…
To be honest, in terms of the points scenario, I'm still not 100% sure on what exactly the rule was. I think potentially what I ended up understanding is that there was a difference from Spa last year to this race, because you could possibly change the rules since Spa to make sure that could never happen. I think in Spa [half points were awarded] because the race started but didn't restart. It started, but it didn't run until the end. Here we started and red-flagged it, but because we restarted and we ran as much as we could, from what I understood I think that was the difference. So again, in terms of half points and full points, when I finished, I thought we weren't going to really get points or we're going to get maybe half a point or two. Just because I knew we obviously didn't do much of a race. I wasn't exactly sure exactly how many points there were. So again, if there's still some grey area or interpretation of the rules that we can change, I'm sure we'll change it for next year. But for me those two points… I was happy with full points, because I had to work hard enough for it.
I heard that you are talking with Chip Ganassi Racing. Is that true?
I heard I’ve signed a deal with them already to race with them next year! A lot of articles have been sent to me about that. People were like: «Hey, you’ve signed to race with Chip Ganassi, congrats!» I have not committed to anything yet for next year so it was quite funny to see those things. And the journalists think they got the latest scoop, let's say. I know that it’s not true. I haven’t committed to anything. Just some poor journalism, really.
I think because Marshall Pruett is a very famous IndyCar journalist, when people saw him as a source, they didn’t second guess it.
I saw it came from somebody else. There's so many different headlines I've seen. There was one headline I was set to compete with or have signed with Chip Ganassi so… I’m still keeping all the options open. I mean I think it's no secret that IndyCar is a category that I find quite exciting and I think from the outside it probably seems like the most obvious option. It is the series I've always enjoyed watching. I think the racing is very exciting and the series is growing quite a lot. But I'm not committed to anything yet. I'm still just kind of keeping all the options open and trying to see what's going to be best for next year. Nothing really is there to say. I know it's a lot of vague and general comments but that is honestly the reality of the situation. I don't have anything to say on my plans yet.
Sadly you’re going out at the end of the season. What was the most beautiful thing in F1 and what made you angry in the time you were here?
I think one of the things that's quite the positive and cool part of it it's just how I still find it strange because I'm not one who likes attention. I'm not one who ever wants to get into the sport because I want it to be more well known or be famous or whatever. I find it cool when you see how, especially since the restrictions were loosened, more fans started coming and just kind of seeing how passionate some of these guys are about the sport and how as an F1 driver you're kind of put on the pedestal.
I saw one fan who had a tattoo with your number…
I met him yesterday actually. He is a very nice guy. I’m not speaking specifically about that but in general to see the reactions of some fans. When they see a driver they ask for a picture or an autograph and just kind of the passion for drivers and how much they put them on a pedestal. For me it feels weird because they come to me and I am like «Do you want a picture with me or an autograph?». That's not my natural character. I don't feel like that. But it is quite cool, when you see that. Not just for me but other drivers. It obviously makes me appreciate where I am. Obviously I'm leaving the sport. I've been here for three years and even though I didn’t achieve what I want to do in the sport, there were only so many drivers to have been on the grid. That I think is quite cool and obviously makes you take a step back and realise that maybe it didn’t work out, but I was still quite fortunate to be in the position that I was. In terms of the negative aspect. Let’s say the position I’m in. Obviously not having the opportunity to fight with a more competitive car I think that's probably actually one of the disappointments. Obviously it's the same for my teammates that have been in this situation. We all would have loved to have raced with other cars more competitively. Obviously what I love about the sport is the racing aspect and the competition aspect. It's been tough the past three years that I haven't had that opportunity, but that's Formula One. I knew what I was signing up for when I got into it and it was still my goal. But obviously you hoped for more progress and we just struggled for these three years to produce a fully competitive package. And then obviously besides that maybe, I guess let's say general impressions that you can get from the outside that people will only remember the bad moments-type thing. I think this is the same in many other sports, especially with the world of social media and kind of how much more access everyone has to drivers, to the sport. People really remember the bad things. That is obviously like a lot of things that can be blown out of proportion, but I guess that’s the same thing that every driver has to deal with or every athlete or every person in the public have to deal with. But that's probably something I won't really miss much about this part or in F1 in general.
I got to meet @NicholasLatifi !! He was so nice and even signed my arm lol! pic.twitter.com/nJbwhmzHqY
— Williams F1 USA (Latifi Points Enjoyer) (@Williams_F1_USA) October 24, 2022
What about Abu Dhabi? It was a tough one.
Yeah, Abu Dhabi was tough. That was obviously one incident that had very big repercussions in many different ways. That was obviously not nice, but it's happened, it is in the past. I've kind of been a bit over that for a while now. I came into the season not even not even thinking about it really. It's done and I’ve just wanted to move on from those things.
Now we are here in the United States. Then it’s Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi. Which one are you looking for?
This race as an event in general, just because I like the atmosphere here. Being so close to the city centre, you don't always have the opportunity to go during a Formula One race. Some of the tracks are quite far and a little bit of nowhere. When you're able to stay so close to the city – there's obviously a handful of races when you could do so – it does create a nice atmosphere on the weekend. And just being in North America, I always enjoyed this, because there are not so many races over on this side of the ocean. So yeah, this is probably the most I am looking for.
If you could choose other series to race in, what would you choose and why?
To be honest, it’s tricky to say. In formula car racing, F1 is still where obviously I want to be. But if we're talking about not formula cars, I guess there’s really only two main endurance championships. Obviously there are a few of them, but you mainly think of WEC and IMSA. So I’m gonna say that those two obviously count.
How many Polish words have you learned since the last interview?
Not a lot has changed, to be honest since the last interview (laugh)... But on second thought, there are a few new ones. I know «dzidzia», which means baby, because my Sandra has a niece and nephew. I also know «ciocia», which is auntie. I used to say «wudziek», but it's pronounced «wujek» – uncle. And I guess the normal ones, that we covered the last time we spoke. I know how to sing happy birthday in Polish, I’ve done it many times now, even though I find it funny, it's not actually saying happy the words are not actually happy birthday. It's not a happy birthday, it’s «sto lat», which means wishes for 100 years. I guess it's improved a little bit, fractionally.
I think that is everything. Thank you so much for your time. I always love to talk with you. It was a pleasure.
Thank you so much.
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