Why Latifi’s F1 career deserved better than becoming an internet meme

As far back as late spring, when the first rumblings of Alpine’s plan to place Oscar Piastri at Williams for next year were starting to emerge, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Latifi.

His on-track struggles meant there was not a huge amount to strengthen his case for keeping his drive at Williams next year, making Friday’s confirmation his contract would not be extended an unsurprising announcement.

But the news gives Latifi the chance to now take the next steps in his racing career and offer some closure. His three seasons in F1 may not have brought about the results he wanted, but they’ve also included some extremely difficult circumstances – a hard pill to swallow after so many years preparing to make the step up and realise your dream of being an F1 driver.

Latifi joined the F1 grid for 2020 with a sizeable amount of testing under his belt, both conducted privately and in official sessions, and proved in F2 he had the pace to make the step up. Yet as Williams found itself still recovering from the disastrous 2019 season, cut adrift from the rest of the F1 pack, it was always going to be hard for him to make an impact.

That’s before you consider the season was complicated by COVID, delaying his debut until July, and the fact Latifi had a talent like George Russell to contend with across the garage. It was not an easy starting point for a rookie.

The first breakthroughs arrived last year as Williams started to find more performance, latching back onto the rear of the midfield. The topsy-turvy race in Hungary allowed Latifi to snare his first F1 points with seventh, marking Williams’ first score for more than two years. Russell’s tears may be the overriding memory of that day, but Latifi’s efforts were also key. Another point followed at Spa when the rain came and cut proceedings short, giving him ninth after a solid qualifying on Saturday.

And then Abu Dhabi happened.

The impact of last season’s finale on F1 as a whole is well-known. But Latifi is sometimes a forgotten man in the story. As the fallout began, he found himself subjected to ridiculous accusations, abuse and even death threats, the severity of which made him fear for his own safety. It was sickening to think a racing driver who simply made a mistake had to be subjected to such vicious attacks from online trolls.

Latifi may have…