Toronto’s Latifi gets first F1 experience at Canadian GP practice

MONTREAL – Nicholas Latifi got his first taste of Formula One action Friday when he drove a Force India car in the first practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix.

It was only one practice, but the 22-year-old from Toronto, a test and reserve driver for Force India, hopes one day to be a regular in the world’s top motor racing series.

The first step will be to finish in the top five in F2, which would give him enough points to get an Formula One superlicence.

“Ultimately it is my goal to race in F1, preferably sooner rather than later,” said Latifi, who drove in the morning practice session and then handed the car back to regular driver Sergio Perez of Mexico. “It depends how I do in F2.

“For sure I’ll be pushing for that. The real focus is on F2 for this year and all the extra F1 stuff I do just supplements that.”

He is currently 10th in F2 standings, after finishing fifth overall last year.

Latifi was slowest among the 19 cars that completed at least one lap in the practice, but said he wasn’t looking to go fast. His first job was to test the car for the team using two types of tires.

“I don’t look at the timing screens,” he said after putting in 28 laps at Circuit Gilles Vileneuve. “It wasn’t really important to set a fast lap. It was just to get through the program.”

It may help that his father, Michael Latifi, bought 10 per cent of the McLaren Group, a British luxury car manufacturer that has an F1 team, two weeks ago for $350 million through the British Virgin Islands based Nidala Company.

A family investment in the Williams team helped another young Canadian driver, Lance Stroll of Montreal, secure an F1 drive.

But Latifi said his father’s investment is not linked to a job with McLaren, whose star driver, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, is considering a move out of F1 next season.

“It was announced that my father had made an investment in McLaren but ultimately, it has nothing to do with my racing career,” said Latifi. “It was a pure commercial opportunity.

“For sure, whether I arrive in F1 or not, it’s something I want to achieve by my performances on the track. In terms of how soon, the sooner the better, but it will be determined by my performance in F2 and whether or not I can get the superlicence points.”