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Latifi returns to work at Williams


By Andrew Hooper
June 19 2020

With the world of Formula One slowly coming out of the lockdown arising from the Covid-19 pandemic announcements have been made about the opening races of the 2020 calendar plus more drivers are taking to the track or the simulator to get back up to speed prior to the first race in Austria. One such driver is Williams Racing's Nicholas Latifi who was, along with team-mate George Russell, was seen back at the Williams factory heading for the teams simulator.  

 
 Latifi returns to work at Williams
 

With the world of Formula One slowly coming out of the lockdown arising from the Covid-19 pandemic announcements have been made about the opening races of the 2020 calendar plus more drivers are taking to the track or the simulator to get back up to speed prior to the first race in Austria.

One such driver is Williams Racing's Nicholas Latifi who was, along with team-mate George Russell, was seen back at the Williams factory heading for the teams simulator. In the months prior to this day Nicholas had taken part in online racing running in a F1 organised series. But now it was time to return to the simulator at Grove and for Nicholas he would describe by saying that it “felt weird” after having spent so much time in front of a gaming simulator.

In his blog Nicholas would comment on his day testing at Grove by saying: "Heading back to the Williams factory for the first time since the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled on 13 March was a fantastic feeling. It marked a big step towards me and the team finally getting our 2020 season underway in Austria next month. My first day back at the office was a busy one. As soon as I arrived I had a COVID-19 test to make sure I don’t have the virus right now. I then need to be tested again at the end of this month before heading to the Red Bull Ring.

“The test itself was fine – certainly not as invasive and uncomfortable as I thought it might be! The rest of my day was taken up with some sim work and media duties.

“We did a lot of correlation work against our previous running in the sim and we also continued the general prep work for Austria and Budapest. I drove for a total of three hours in the sim.

“Initially, it felt weird to be back in a proper set-up rather than driving the F1 game on my home rig. It’s a totally different experience. It took a few laps to get back up to speed and to dial out some of the driving habits you pick up on the F1 game. Let’s put it this way, you wouldn’t get away with them in real life!”

Nicholas would add: "The factory itself was quite empty because there’s still a lot of people working from home. But it was a superb feeling to get back to some proper work. Everyone I saw was very excited and positive to return. For many of them it was their first day back as well and I could clearly see the fresh motivation on their side.

I have another two days planned at the factory before the first race and I honestly can’t wait to head back to Grove again. We’re nearing the point where everything we worked so hard on during the winter can finally be put into practice at an F1 race weekend. It’s been a long wait. But hopefully it’s second time lucky for us as a team."

 

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Latifi returns to work at Williams
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 19/06/2020 10:09
Williams F1
19/06/2020 10:09
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