F1 driver caught up in Lewis Hamilton controversy was embarrassingly beaten by footballer

An axed F1 driver who apologised for helping Max Verstappen to beat Lewis Hamilton once had his lap time beaten by a former Premier League footballer. Nicholas Latifi drove for Williams between 2020 and 2022, scoring just nine points during his time on the grid. His most notable moment was a crash at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021 which inadvertently shaped the outcome of that year's Drivers' Championship battle.

Latifi's collision with the barriers in the closing stages of the race brought out the safety car with only a few laps remaining. Race director Michael Masi failed to apply the rules correctly by only allowing some lapped cars to overtake the safety car, leaving Hamilton as a sitting duck with Verstappen behind on fresher tyres. Inevitably, the Dutchman passed his British rival on the final lap to claim the honours in controversial fashion.

It resulted in Latifi receiving vile death threats and he later apologised for his crash, saying on social media: "I made a mistake. I wasn't aware of the situation of the race up until then. Obviously, it was never my intention to inadvertently influence that."

What happened in Abu Dhabi was not the only embarrassing blow that Latifi suffered during his racing career. He was once beaten by former West Bromwich Albion defender Darnell Furlong, who produced a scintillating lap while karting in the Midlands.

Furlong, who now plays for Ipswich Town, told the East Anglian Daily Times: "Yeah, that's my claim to fame! We went to Daytona Tamworth once, which is not far from West Brom's training ground. His lap time was on the board and I managed to beat it.

"I watch a lot of motorsport at home, get involved in it whenever I can, while my little boy likes to do a little bit of go-karting now. It's definitely something that's a large part of my life outside. It's really nice that I have something to take my mind away from football."

Latifi has since walked away from motorsport and gone into an entirely different industry. Two years ago, he announced his decision to pursue a Master of Business Administration at London Business School.

He appears to be following in the footsteps of his billionaire father, a business mogul who owns meat processing company Sofina Foods. Their logo was prominently placed on the Williams car during Latifi's spell with the team.

He previously revealed that his father was the one who encouraged him to start racing, telling the F1 website: "The funny thing is, I had to be asked a few times to try [racing karts], because I had no interest in racing.

"It was something that I was more just wanting to do as a hobby. On the third occasion, I was kind of pushed. My parents were like: 'If you don't like it, you don't have to continue, so you might as well just try one race.'.

"I tried one race and I was hooked. I was 13 and the passion just kind of grew from there, and the love for it, and the rest is history."

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