Nicholas Latifi has voiced his frustration over not being invited by the stewards to give his version of events following his collision with Zhou Guanyu at the Singapore Grand Prix. On Lap 7 of the race, Zhou tried to make a move on the Williams into Turn 5, using the racing line. However, Latifi turned left and the pair made contact, causing both cars to retire from the event. The incident was reviewed by the stewards later on and it was deemed that Latifi was at fault, with the Canadian being handed a five-place grid penalty to be taken at the Japanese Grand Prix as well as receiving two penalty points. While Latifi acknowledged that he had been at fault in the crash, he admitted to being unhappy at not being summoned by the stewards to give his take on what happened.
Latifi reflects on Zhou collision
"Watching all the different onboards, I think, if you're going off the rulebook, it's clear he came up alongside me and I didn't leave him enough space," Latifi told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I think [there were] things that were maybe not considered, which is as well maybe one of the frustrations, that I didn't have a chance to go to the stewards, because they didn't ever summon me, like normally happens when there's an incident between two drivers." Latifi has suggested that Zhou should have expected that he would not be able to see the Alfa Romeo in his blind spot. "I was taking the same line I was taking every single lap beforehand," the Williams driver explained. "And I did actually look into my mirrors, both ways. You see from the onboard that I glanced in both directions but the problem was, just because of the difference in lines, he was driving in the blind spot of the mirror the whole way down to the corner. "So, in that sense, as drivers we all know, there's a massive blind spot in the car. "And again, I did look, so if he's driving in a place where I can't see him, when I do make an effort to look, and I just then take my normal line – obviously, he ended up being there – but if I can't see him, because he's driving in a place where he should expect I can't see him, especially on a street track in the wet. So yeah, it's tricky."
"Frustrated" Latifi raises issue of consistency
Latifi feels that his punishment would have been easier to accept had he had the opportunity to speak to the stewards. "If I would have got penalised anyways in the end, after being able to at least give my side of the story, it doesn't really make much of a difference, then I would have accepted that," the 27-year-old commented. "But I guess just not being able to go to the stewards and give my side of the events and give different points that I think weren’t considered, that was probably a bit frustrating. "Especially when we just want… we're always talking about the consistency amongst decisions and penalties and whatnot."
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