Williams driver Nicholas Latifi offered “huge apologies” to his team after crashing twice – first in qualifying and then in the race – during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.

In his own words, Latifi has had a “frustrating” start to the 2022 season, finishing 16th behind his new teammate Alex Albon’s – who was P13 – in Bahrain and with his crash-filled weekend in Jeddah.

It was after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that the Williams driver admitted he was struggling with the balance of his FW44, which he said had contributed to his Lap 15 shunt.

“It’s just frustrating. I mean we are not starting [the season] where we want, where we hoped to be,”

“I am struggling a lot with the balance of the car. I mean, it’s one thing to have the pace we are at, but we’re lacking overall downforce and then balance-wise, the car is a bit all over the place, and that’s what I am struggling with at the moment.

“[When I crashed] I took the same line as I have across the weekend, so it was unexpected. But obviously both disappointing and frustrating.”

Despite what Latifi defined the “unpredictable” nature of the FW44 due to the lack of down-force characterizing the car, the Canadian didn’t shy away from his own responsibilities and allowed himself to be self-critical, claiming that two crashes over a race weekend was “not what I expect of myself”.

“The rear just seems to let go very unpredictable,” commented the driver. “It’s what we’ve been finding with this car so far, it’s very unpredictable and the balance is all over the place. I mean, there is no secret there but as the driver it’s my job to try and still get the most out of it and drive it.

“It's two times I’ve put it in the wall, and it’s not what I expect of myself at the level that I am at. It’s tricky. It’s just one to forget and move and obviously, huge apologies to the team for all the damage this weekend.

“I wasn’t racing anybody, I am just driving by myself, but the car is still difficult to drive – but as I said, that’s my job, and I have to see what I have to do to improve it.”

Although Williams appeared stronger than last year, they remain the only one team, along with Aston Martin, who have failed to score a point in 2022. Let’s see if they’ll bring updates ahead of the Australian GP in Melbourne on April 10.