Biography of Formula 1 driver Nicholas Latifi

After starting his karting career at the age of 13, Latifi impressed in various Canadian and American series before making his single-seater debut three years later at the 2012 Italian Formula Three Championship.

The Canadian then spent time in the Formula Renault 3.5 series and appeared in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain before making the switch to GP2, where he took part in two races with Hilmer Motorsport in 2014 and eight races with MP Motorsport in 2015.

A full-time ride came via the DAMS team in 2016, though Latifi managed just one podium finish in 22 races. Now rebranded as the Formula 2 Championship the Canadian showed improvement over the next two seasons, picking up two victories and 12 podium finishes.

Williams come calling

After seeing peers like Russell, Alexander Albon and Lando Norris make the jump before him, Latifi finally showed his skillset during the 2019 campaign. The Canadian finished second to Nyck de Vries in the Drivers’ Championship, managing four wins to go along with four other podium finishes. All the while Latifi was named test driver for Renault in 2016, Force India in 2018 and Williams in 2019, with a full-time seat finally arriving with the latter team in 2020 thanks in part to an investment in the financially struggling outfit via his billionaire father Michael Latifi, CEO of Sofina Foods.

The Canadian’s debut campaign was one to forget as Williams languished at the back of the grid. Latifi’s best finish was 11th place at the Austrian, Italian and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, meaning there is ample room for improvement heading into 2021.

One place to start is in qualifying, as Latifi was out-qualified by teammate George Russell for all 16 races the duo were together, a feat that was only equalled by Max Verstappen at Red Bull with the now replaced Alexander Albon.

Nicholas Latifi outside of Formula 1

Nicholas’ father, Michael Latifi, was number 10 on Motorsport magazine’s ‘Formula 1 Rich List’ thanks to his role as founder and executive chairman of Sofina Foods Inc, a Canadian food producer and distributor. Lance Stroll’s father, Lawrence, was eighth on the list.