Nicholas Latifi simply wants to "maximise" his first season with Williams regardless of their competitiveness.
The Canadian will be the only rookie on the grid in 2020, having stepped up from Formula 2 and a reserve driver role with the British team.
And while he has got a solid level of experience from Friday practice outings, he does expect to lag behind teammate George Russell initially.
“I’m going to try and do my own thing,” Latifi told RaceFans. “I’m my own person, my own driver.
Also Read:
- F2 champion De Vries 'happy' for Latifi as he plays down F1 rejection
- Williams tout Russell potential as he hopes to join midfield fight in 2020
- Williams now believing in future potential despite 'brutal' 2019
“Obviously George is one of the highest-rated junior drivers and I’m very much looking forward to going up against him.
“For sure he’ll be a good benchmark, a good reference for me in the beginning parts to learn.
“He’s not going to be a rookie any more next year so I assume he will have some advantage.”
Rather than worry about competing against Russell though, Latifi says the main priority is continuing the process of helping Williams move up from the back of the grid.
“I think we’re going to work very well together," he stated.
“Where the results are, where the performance is going to be, it’s obviously very difficult to say, but regardless, my goal is still going to be to just trying to extract the maximum performance whatever package we have."
And while ambitions for points are likely farfetched with Williams, who only scored one in 2019, the 24-year-old is still excited to race with them.
“I think going into Formula 1 as a rookie is always going to be difficult and have its own challenges,” Latifi said.
“I think I’m joining a great team for a first year, they have their history of developing young drivers, [and are] one of the most successful teams in Formula 1.
“I think two bad years doesn’t define a team’s legacy, doesn’t define what they’re capable of. So I have complete faith from what I’ve seen so far working in the team that people will get on top of the problems and hopefully be back to a more representative order.”
