The Canadian’s departure from Williams was made official on Friday morning, with the team revealing his contract will not be extended beyond the end of this season.
Williams said Latifi’s replacement and new teammate for Alex Albon – who tied the Grove-based outfit down to a multi-year contract in August – would be announced in “due course”.
But what options do Williams have and who could find themselves in the running?
Nyck de Vries
Following his starring points-scoring F1 debut as a last-minute stand-in to replace the unwell Albon at Monza, Nyck de Dries will be at the top of Williams’ wish-list to fill the vacated seat.
The Mercedes reserve driver and Formula E champion convincingly out-performed Latifi in both qualifying and the race on his way to matching Williams’ best result of the season with a superb drive to ninth.
Williams boss Jost Capito made it clear after the race that de Vries, who also beat Latifi to the 2019 F2 title, has nothing else to do to prove he is worthy of a full-time seat, and the team are said to have already put an offer on the table.
But Williams face competition for the Dutchman’s services, with Alpine and AlphaTauri also interested in signing de Vries for F1 2023.
Logan Sargeant
Along with de Vries, F2 frontrunner Logan Sargeant is the main name that has been linked with an F1 race seat with Williams next year.
Related Articles
The 21-year-old American is already part of the Williams driver academy having joined the junior roster ahead of his rookie F2 season at the start of 2022.
Sargeant has claimed two feature race victories in an impressive first season in F2 and is currently third in the standings.
In order to have any chance of earning promotion to F1, he must first finish inside the top five championship positions to get the required license points he needs.
Sargeant, who will make his F1 practice bow with Williams in FP1 at the United States Grand Prix later this year, has 135 points going into the final F2 round in Abu Dhabi, but could yet slip out of the top five if he has a shocker .
If Alpine end up getting their first-choice target Pierre Gasly and Red Bull sign de Vries to replace the Frenchman at AlphaTauri, then Sargeant would find himself at the head of the queue for the spare Williams seat.
Jack Doohan
Williams could have another option from F2 in the shape of Jack Doohan.
Doohan, 19, sits just behind Sargeant in the standings and could find himself in the frame if his rival fails to secure a superlicence.
But that would rely on Alpine agreeing to let their leading junior join another F1 team.
Alpine may be open to such a scenario if they land Gasly, with CEO Laurent Rossi already stating the team’s preference is to sign an experienced driver.
Rossi did also suggest that Alpine would rather Doohan make his F1 debut in a less-pressured environment. The Enstone outfit had planned to place Oscar Piastri at Williams before he snubbed the move in favor of a switch to McLaren.
Doohan took part in a private three-day test at the Hungaroring in a 2021-spec Alpine F1 car earlier this week as the Australian looked to show off his credentials.
Daniel Ricciardo
If Williams wanted a marquee signing, they could look at bringing in free agent Daniel Ricciardo.
The eight-time grand prix winner is searching for an F1 drive for 2023 after being booted out of McLaren following a tough 18 months, but it remains to be seen whether Williams’ project would appeal to him.
Riccardo said he would remain “pretty open-minded with any scenario” for next season, including a potential reserve driver role.
Speaking at the recent Italian Grand Prix, the Australian did not rule out the possibility of racing in F1 next season, though he admitted he has now “accepted” he may not be on the grid.
Mike Schumacher
Mick Schumacher is another driver facing an uncertain F1 future.
The 23-year-old German has struggled to match teammate Kevin Magnussen in his second F1 campaign and found himself under pressure early in the year after a pair of huge accidents.
Although Schumacher has since gone on to score his first points in F1, it remains to be seen whether he will be retained by Haas amid speculation over his future and affiliation with Ferrari, who his legendary father Micheal drove for.
Given Schumacher’s status as a free agent, he cannot be ruled out of contention for a Williams seat.
Ferrari reserve and former Alfa Romeo racer Antonio Giovinazzi and Jack Aitken, who stood in for George Russell at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, could be alternative options.
