Nicholas Latifi will start Sunday's Grand Prix inside the top 10 for the first time in his Formula 1 career after a "very special" qualifying day at Silverstone. The Canadian racer has found himself in Q2 on five occasions throughout his career but had never, prior to this weekend, made it beyond that stage. However, in wet conditions and with a car short on upgrades compared to teammate Alex Albon, Latifi put in a stellar Q2 lap that booked his place at the right end of the grid. "That was a very special day in tricky conditions," he celebrated. "I think just getting to Q2 was already great and Q3 was definitely more than we could've hoped for. "When it does rain, you obviously hope that there is opportunity. "I think what was really key as well as being in the right place at the right time, and the team did a great job with that, with the track positioning. And yes, we got the lap when we needed to."
Latifi accepts he will likely go backwards on race day
Latifi will start the British Grand Prix six positions up on teammate Albon, something that will represent a huge confidence boost amid a difficult season for the 27-year-old. The Canadian's best-ever finish saw him place seventh at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix – but he is not expecting to better that result on Sunday. "My car's not the 10th-fastest car, clearly, on the grid, but with the rain we managed to do a great job as a team and put ourselves there," he added. "Tomorrow, for the race, it's most likely going to be dry, we’re going to have a lot of faster cars coming from behind. "We have to see what we can do; at the end we have to focus on our race and whatever the result is going to be, it's going to be.”
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