"Goatifiiiii; A better F1 driver than Verstappen"- Fans go crazy as Williams' Nicholas Latifi emerges fastest driver of FP3 for 2022 F1 Hungarian GP

Nicholas Latifi is a driver that the F1 fandom has come to love and hate in equal measure in the last few years. Regardless, the Williams driver took everyone by surprise at the FP3 session of the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP today.

Prevailing wet conditions meant times were going to tumble near the end of the session and voila, that's exactly what happened. In a surprise turn of events, Latifi was able to climb right to the top of the standings with the fastest lap of the session in the dying stages.

As soon as he did, the "Goatifi" memes returned as fans reacted to Latifi finishing at the top of the standings in a session for probably the first time in his F1 career.

“Senna was the Rain’s King.. until Latifi!”

“Driver of the year.”

“something I never thought I’d see”

“De goat is p1 in fp3 goatfiiiii”

“Nicholas Latifi is a better F1 driver than Verstappen. Dont get me wrong. Verstappen obviously had a better career and is one of the greatest frauds of all time, but in terms of individual quality Latifi is obviously the better F1 driver.”

“I’ve been an F1 fan since 1950, and in the last 72 years, I have never seen a better driver than Sir Nicholas Latifi. This man is the undisputed GOAT, and will win 8+ championships. Thank you Latifi for gracing our sport with your presence and allowing us to witness it.”

“I’d be happy with this podium at the end of the race”

““Leclerc and Verstappen come over the line, and don’t improve. Latifi goes over the line AND GETS POLE POSITION FOR THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX.” (We can only wish)”

“Croft being ridiculously patronising about this…and what is with the rhyme too?”

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Nicholas Latifi was looking forward to mixed conditions on Saturday

Nicholas Latifi did not have a great day of dry running on Friday. At the end of the day, the Canadian was looking forward to the mixed conditions on Saturday.

Post-FP2, he said:

“Overall it’s been a tricky day with the track conditions and temperature which have probably been the same for everybody. We struggled to get the balance dialed in, so there’s still a bit of lap time to extract if we can bring the car a little bit more together. There are still a few things on my side to work on. Tomorrow could provide some opportunities with the mixed conditions so hopefully we can take advantage of that.”

Lest we forget, Latifi reached Q3 in the wet qualifying in Silverstone. The Canadian seems to like these conditions and could spring a surprise.