Williams’ drivers said two years of hard work had been justified as the team ended its longest-ever points drought.
Nicholas Latifi and George Russell finished eighth and ninth respectively in yesterday’s race, taking six points between them. They stand to increase their haul if Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification for a technical infringement is upheld.Both drivers have come close to scoring points for the team since then. Russell said yesterday’s result “shows it’s been worth it.”
“It shows you that you should never give up,” he continued. “We’ve got here because when we were last every single race in 2019, we didn’t stop fighting. And if we’d stopped fighting in 2019 now in 2021 when we’ve got a faster car, maybe we wouldn’t have been on top of our game like we were today.
“So it just shows no matter the situation, there always something to learn and you’ve just got to give it everything every every time.”
Latifi started behind Russell but passed him at the first corner. He ran as high as third at one stage before slipping back.
“In the end, I know I didn’t have the pace to stick with the guys in front when I was in P3 so we [focused] on getting my tyres to the end,” said Latifi. “In the end I really struggled with them.
Scoring points with both cars was the best the team could have hoped for, he added.
“I haven’t been in a points-scoring position this year,” said Latifi, “but George has and as a team we’ve been making improvements on the car from the start of the year to now, we’ve been knocking on the door of those points.
“So it’s so nice to actually get them and reward the team for that. Obviously on my side from a personal point of view, I’m extremely satisfied for the team and even more so because they’re all working so hard.”
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Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd August 2021, 9:13
Well deserved points for williams, russel is an exceptional driver who definitely deserves a better car, but the car has been improving lately and allowed a talented driver to often get into q3 and also stay roughly there during the race, finally there was an eventful race and they got some points.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd August 2021, 9:14
I also think russell is a bit unlucky, when a big result is on offer something happens and the other driver ends up making more points or any (kubica, latifi), despite him regularly outperforming them.
AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
2nd August 2021, 11:52
Yup. In fact when he was asked to cede his position to 3 cars which he wrongly overtook in the pits, one of the tits on Sky wrongly said he had a puncture and was slowing down. My heart sank for a moment there. Really happy for Williams…10 points if Vet’s dsq is upheld.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
2nd August 2021, 12:09
@asleepatthewheel So that’s what happened, I didn’t know what happened to him after the restart. Thanks.
Jere (@jerejj)
2nd August 2021, 13:23
@asleepatthewheel A puncture, LOL. I assumed he had a temporary power loss like Ricciardo in the Styrian GP.
Emma
2nd August 2021, 20:08
They, like everyone else, didn’t know why he was quickly losing positions. They were thus wondering aloud what problem had befallen him of which a puncture was a possibility. I don’t think Crofty deserves to be labelled a tit for that.
kpcart
2nd August 2021, 13:05
Driving errors often had him miss points. Last year spinning under safety car. In 2019 when Kubica scored their only point, he passed Russell when Russell ran off the track. But once he’s in a top team all that will be forgotten as he has the speed
Patrick
2nd August 2021, 10:43
An exceptional driver who was soundly beaten by his underrated team mate. Perhaps Mercedes should consider Lattifi for a drive instead of Russel?
Matthijs (@matthijs)
2nd August 2021, 11:08
Patrick, Russell wasn’t soundly beaten by Latifi. He overcame a 18 seconds deficit in lap 38 to 1 second at the finish as you can see here https://www.racefans.net/2021/08/01/2021-hungarian-grand-prix-interactive-data-lap-charts-times-and-tyres/.
I loved the part when Russell said he accepted a compromised strategy to help Latifi earn points if necessary.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
2nd August 2021, 11:08
I meant lap 49, not 38 actually.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
2nd August 2021, 13:36
I think we can say that Latifi obviously did the better job. Latifi was reasonably close to Tsunoda in the 2nd stint, but there was no point getting any closer or he will have ruined his tyres. Latifi’s pace did seem to be as good. Russell had a huge gap, therefore clean air. from looking at the early stages of the race, I think Latifi’s pace looked as good or better. But I wouldn’t go as far as saying he was soundly beaten.
But I certainly respect Russell for saying the team could do anything to his race that could help latifi.
dot_com (@dot_com)
2nd August 2021, 13:46
I agree – it was proper team thinking. Honestly wish Williams had a better car that would entice Russell to stay. You could see by his emotions at the end of the race that he really loves his Williams, but you can’t blame him for wanting a race winning car.
OOliver
2nd August 2021, 10:15
Imagine if Verstappen and Ricciardo didn’t have some car damage, Latiffi would have scored and Russel 11th.
Francesco (@schivo69)
2nd August 2021, 12:15
Well, in that case we should imagine that there would be Bottas, Perez and Leclerc too; pushing both out of the points…
OOliver
2nd August 2021, 13:49
Don’t get me wrong, I’m just trying to highlight how results can go to those undeserving.
Russell has outperformed Latiffi all season yet Latifi came close to being the only one to have scored points for Williams so far.
kpcart
2nd August 2021, 13:07
Ocon wouldn’t have won either.. but no point imagining,focus on real life and what actually happened
Jere (@jerejj)
2nd August 2021, 13:24
@OOliver I’m not sure if Ricciardo had damage since the contact with Leclerc was merely wheels touching.
dot_com (@dot_com)
2nd August 2021, 13:44
If Russell hadn’t done such an amazing job holding up Riccardio and Verstappen, two of the most ‘rugged’ overtakers in the sport, they would have cruised up to the back of Latifi in no time. I think what Russell did best on Sunday was his defensive driving, which ensured they both stayed in the points.
Dave
2nd August 2021, 10:30
Brag In The Points: The Sequel.
Nandy
2nd August 2021, 10:54
Brilliant from Williams. Hard to believe they were fighting for wins and championships less than ten years ago.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
3rd August 2021, 10:01
In car performance, they were close to a race win in baku 2017. I honestly think massa will have won that if he didn’t get a broken rear damper.
OOliver
2nd August 2021, 13:50
If you keep going round and round in circles, eventually you’ll get it straight.