Latifi was signed as Renault's new test driver for the 2016 season. He drove a Formula One car for the first time in a test in May of that year, completing 140 laps at Silverstone in the Renault-powered Lotus E20. His first test in an in-use Formula One car came on one year later at the post-race test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, driving the Renault R.S.17 and completing 141 laps. He later tested again for the team at the Hungaroring.