Damon Hill says Nicholas Latifi is not quick enough to retain his F1 seat after Nyck de Vries’ super drive

De Vries finished ninth on his Formula 1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix while Latifi has not scored a point all season

(Getty Images)

Damon Hill insists Nicholas Latifi does not deserve to retain his Formula 1 seat after Nyck de Vries’ superb performance to finish in the points for Williams at the Italian Grand Prix.

After Alex Albon was forced to miss the weekend action at Monza after feeling unwell with appendicitis, De Vries stepped up on short notice having driven in first practice for Aston Martin on Friday.

However it did not take long for De Vries - a Formula 2 and Formula E champion - to get up to speed with the car as he not only qualified for Q2 but then finished in the points on Sunday, coming home ninth.

Those two points put De Vries ahead of Latifi - who is yet to score a point this season for Williams - in the Drivers Championship and 1996 world champion Hill believes the respective performances show that Canadian driver Latifi is not quick enough to keep his place in F1

“I’m sorry but this is the way it is,” Hill told Sky Sports. “In this case, Nicholas hasn’t got the pace he needs to stay in that position in Formula 1.

“He’s had some good moments but along comes a guy [De Vries] who’s not even driven in the grand prix before and he’s done a fantastic job.”

“I know he had grid penalties and stuff like that, which helped him up the grid, but he still delivered in qualifying and didn’t really make a mistakes.

Nyck de Vries finished in the points for Williams after stepping in for Alex Albon (Getty Images)

“He’s done enough for us to be talking about him, he’s got Toto [Wolff] talking about him. That’s what you need to do to become a Formula 1 driver.”

De Vries has previously taken part in practice sessions for Williams and Mercedes too this season and is in contention for a seat next year.

Alex Albon has signed a “multi-year contract” at Williams but Latifi’s future remains uncertain, with De Vries one of a number of drivers linked to the 2023 seat.