Hungarian GP: Nicholas Latifi discusses keeping momentum as summer break approaches

Williams driver Nicholas Latifi says part of him wishes the summer break wasn’t coming after this weekend, as he builds some momentum inside the car.

The Canadian had a really rough start to his campaign and that saw him off of the pace of team-mate Alex Albon in the car, and subject of much speculation over his future in Formula 1.

Indeed, the latter issue remains a prominent one for Latifi, but he does feel as though he has improved performance-wise since Silverstone, with upgrades and tweaks to his Williams car aiding that.

Certainly, you cannot argue with the numbers as he is now much closer to Albon in performance, and he has spoken about how positive momentum has been building over the last few races in Europe.

The summer break arrives after the Hungarian GP, however, and so there’s always a feeling that some momentum might be lost between now and the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August.

Asked by Give Me Sport at the Hungaroring whether he felt the summer break was coming at the wrong time, he replied:

“Yeah I would be happy to just keep going right now because there is a bit of positive momentum for sure.

“It is a bit frustrating because I do feel some momentum and I would be happy to keep going but on the other hand it’s a good opportunity to analyse and obviously it’s a long season so everyone needs a bit of a break.

“I am looking forward to the break but we’ll think more about that after the chequered flag on Sunday!”

As Latifi mentions, it is a long season and so he and many others will be grateful for the break, too, but it is clear that the Canadian would also be happy to try and keep racing to build that momentum he feels he is establishing.

That’s the way it goes, though, and instead he will be