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Nicholas Latifi's days of misery at Williams do not seem to be coming to an end this season but what does seem to be coming to an end is his time at the British team. There are already rumors floating around that (started by Ted Kravitz) that Williams might be interested in replacing the Canadian with Oscar Piastri, a driver that Alpine is looking to loan for next season.
In this piece, let's take a look at why such a move by Williams might not be a bad thing for the team and would make a lot of sense.
Nicholas Latifi has gotten somewhat exposed by Alex Albon
Nicholas Latifi has never been a "great" F1 driver by any means. His junior career was not stellar and expectations were never that high from the Canadian. However, before the start of this season, Latifi was seen as a driver that could produce solid results. A driver that was safe, consistent, and maybe not have breathtaking speed but will bring the car home.
He was more or less out-qualified by George Russell in almost every race the duo raced together. But since Russell was rated very highly up and down the grid, that didn't damage Latifi's reputation that much. To add to this, the points scoring finish in Hungary certainly cemented his position as a solid driver.
With Alex Albon coming to the team, it was expected that Latifi could be more or less a match for the Red Bull academy driver. Albon is a very good driver, but he's certainly not an elite talent that many recognize a George Russell to be. However, what has happened this season has been somewhat surprising and it has exposed the Canadian driver to an extent.
Nicholas Latifi has not lapped anywhere near the kind of pace that Albon has shown this season. To add to this, consistent crashes at almost every race weekend has made the paddock question, other than money, what value Nicholas Latifi brings to Williams.
The Canadian will surely bring a lot of money to the team, but with the consistent crash damage suffered by the car, even Williams will need to take stock of whether Nicholas Latifi is a resource worth putting in that second Williams seat.
Oscar Piastri works for Williams in two lucrative ways
This is where the option of Oscar Piastri seems lucrative for Williams because the Australian might just be the answer the team needs to grow from being just a backmarker. The Australian driver is a brilliant talent, someone that has a junior career as stellar as the likes of Charles Leclerc and George Russell.
He has been rated very highly by some of the well-known members of the paddock and even Alpine boss Laurent Rossi considers him a potential future world champion. For Williams, partnering a rising prospect like Piastri with Albon will give the team two strong drivers in its lineup, and to add to it, It gives the team the opportunity to exploit the car's potential to its fullest and maybe chart a path to the midfield.
WIth Piastri, that's not the only thing Williams gets as it could try to brochure a power unit deal with Renault that could offset the cost of losing Nicholas Latifi's sponsorship money. All in all, if Williams plays its cards right it could have a better driver lineup with a power unit deal that covers the expenses.
Latifi has become a bit of a liability for Williams and a move to sign Piastri could help the team in its quest to progress through the field.
