Nelson Piquet, Jr.

Nationality Brazilian
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	2008–2009
Teams	Renault
Races	28
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Career points	19
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	2008 Australian Grand Prix
Last race	2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Nelson Ângelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior^[1] (born July 25, 1985 in Heidelberg, West Germany), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian race car driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet, one of Brazil's most successful F1 drivers. In the 2005 and 2006 seasons he raced in the GP2 Series, taking a win in Belgium in 2005 and claiming 2nd place in the series in 2006.^[2] He was signed as test driver for Renault Formula One team for the 2007 season, and was promoted to the race team for 2008,^[3] before being dropped midway through the 2009 season.^[4]

Personal Details

Piquet's parents separated soon after he was born, and he lived in Monaco with his Dutch mother, Sylvia Tamsma, until he was eight years old. He then moved to live in Brazil with his father. "They kind of swapped me. My mother wanted me to get to know my father, she wanted me to know Brazil and the language, and she realised life in Brazil would be better for a child."^[5] Piquet has two sisters, Kelly and Julia, and four brothers, Geraldo, Laszlo, Pedro and Marco. He lived in Brasilia and attended the American School of Brasilia until he was 16 years old, when he decided to pursue his racing career full time.

Before F1

Piquet's racing career started in 1993 in Brazilian karting, where he would stay until 2001 when he moved to Formula Three Sudamericana.^[2] His father's wealth enabled him to race for his own team, a practice he continued until he left GP2 Series. He raced in part of the 2001 season there, staying for 2002 winning the championship^[6] with four races to go. In 2002 he also raced one race of Brazilian Formula Renault.

In 2003, Piquet moved to the UK where he joined the British Formula Three Championship and formed the Piquet Sports team. He went on to finish the championship in 3rd place with six wins,^[6] five podiums and eight pole positions. A test with the Williams Formula One team followed.^[6]

In 2004, Piquet won the British Formula Three Championship. He became the youngest driver to have ever won the championship at 19 years and 2 months.^[2] He also did further running for Williams.

In 2005, Piquet took part in the A1 Grand Prix for A1 Team Brazil, winning both the Sprint and Main races at the first event of the season at Brands Hatch,^[6] as well as scoring a point for the fastest lap. He also drove for the HiTech/Piquet Sports in the GP2 Series, winning his first race at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, and tested for the BAR-Honda Formula 1 team.^[6]

In 2006, Piquet gained second place in the championship to British driver Lewis Hamilton in his second year of GP2.

Formula One

Piquet driving for Renault at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix.

Piquet scored the first points of his F1 career at the 2008 French Grand Prix.

2007: Renault

During the 2007 season he was the official test and reserve driver for the Renault Formula One team.^[7]

2008: Renault

The 2008 season saw Piquet promoted to the Renault Formula One race team to drive alongside returning double World Champion Fernando Alonso.^[8] It was reported that he gained preference for the seat over Heikki Kovalainen because Kovalainen was seen as a potential rival to Alonso, and such a challenge to Alonso could damage the team.^[9]

The first race of the 2008 season in Australia saw Piquet start 21st and damage his car in a collision on the opening lap, before ultimately retiring on lap 31.^[10] This was exactly the same result as his father achieved in his first race. At the Malaysian Grand Prix he started from 13th on the grid and finished 11th.^[11] He started the Bahrain Grand Prix from 14th but retired with a gearbox problem after his second pit stop. Piquet qualified in 10th for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, taking part in the first top 10 qualifying session of his career.^[12] However, his race ended on lap seven after colliding with Sébastien Bourdais in an attempt to overtake. The Turkish Grand Prix saw him qualify 17th^[13] and finish the race 15th.^[14] His problems were further compounded with a pair of non-finishes, when he crashed out at Monaco after failing to get to grips with the damp conditions,^[15] and spun off while chasing team-mate Alonso in Canada, before ultimately retiring on lap 42^[16] with brake failure.^[17]

Piquet was under increasing pressure from his Renault team over the course of the 2008 season, and there was speculation he would lose his race seat if he did not improve.^[18][19][20] Renault did nothing to quell the rumours, publicly urging him to improve after the Turkish Grand Prix^[21] and suggesting after Monaco that he lacked confidence.^[22] Despite the pressure, the young driver responded well. Piquet scored his first points in F1 with a 7th place finish at the 2008 French Grand Prix passing his twice-World Champion team mate Fernando Alonso in the last few laps. In the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Piquet was at one point laying in fourth place, having passed his team mate who was on old tyres. Piquet aquaplaned and spun out on lap 36 along with several other top runners as the wet conditions reached their worst. A race later, however, at the German Grand Prix, he finished ahead of the Ferrari of Felipe Massa to claim second place to Mclaren's Lewis Hamilton and his first podium finish, after — with a stroke of luck — being the only driver on a one-stop strategy which, with the help of the Safety Car segment, gained him several positions.

2009: Renault

Piquet at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix

Piquet at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

Despite rumours that he was on his way out, Renault decided to keep Piquet by signing him to a one year contract.^[23] Alonso continued as his teammate hoping to elevate Renault into title contention once again.

Piquet had a disappointing start to the 2009 season, failing to make past the first qualifying session in any of the first three races. His first race, in Australia, ended on lap 24 when he retired with brake failure.^[24] He had a better race in Malaysia the following week finishing 13th, two places and only seven seconds behind team-mate Alonso after the race was cut short due to extreme weather. China was another disappointment, however, and after spinning several times and requiring two new nose cones for his car he eventually finished 16th and last, two laps down, in what team manager Flavio Briatore described as a "very, very bad race".^[25][26] He had a better race at Bahrain on his way to 10th making up one of the most amounts of places behind Webber, whom he held off at the end of the race. In Spain he had a quiet race but was still disappointing after finishing 12th.

At the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Piquet was running 10th in a long train of cars being held up by Sebastian Vettel. Piquet's strategy was such that he could have gained many places when those on earlier stops came in, as he was not due to stop until lap 36. He criticised Sebastien Buemi, after the Toro Rosso driver ran into the back of Piquet's Renault, taking them both out of the race. Piquet said, "I'm very angry because Monaco's a long race and that's why these young drivers need to be careful with what they're doing. I don't know what he was thinking there — we planned a long first stint and, if it wasn't for that fool, I could have ended up in seventh."

Later, at the 2009 German Grand Prix, Piquet out-qualified his team-mate for the first time. However, following the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, he still had not scored any points in the 2009 season. On 3 August 2009 Piquet confirmed that he had been dropped by Renault.^[27] He hit out hard at his former manager and team boss Flavio Briatore calling him his 'executioner' and questioning Briatore's general Formula One knowledge. Piquet also said the Renault boss favoured teammate Fernando Alonso.^[28] Renault's test and reserve driver Romain Grosjean replaced Piquet for the rest of the season.^[29] Along with several other drivers, Piquet was linked to a drive with Ferrari as a replacement for injured Felipe Massa, after stand-in Luca Badoer finished last at the European Grand Prix.^[30] However, Ferrari instead signed Giancarlo Fisichella.

2009 FIA investigation

In August 2009 after Piquet Jr. left the Renault F1 team, allegations surfaced in the media that Piquet Jr. had deliberately crashed his car at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in order to benefit teamate Fernando Alonso who went on to win the race.^[31][32] At the time, Piquet, Jr. had characterised the crash as a simple mistake. Piquet made statements to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) that it had been deliberate, and he had been asked by Renault team principle Flavio Briatore and engineer Pat Symonds to stage the crash. In return for his evidence, Piquet Jr. was given immunity by the FIA,^[33] and on 4 September 2009 Renault F1 were charged with conspiracy and race fixing, and were due to face the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009.

On 11 September, Renault and Briatore stated they would initiate a criminal case against Piquet Jr. for making false allegations and blackmail. However, on 16 September, Renault announced they would not contest the charges, and that Briatore and team engineer Pat Symonds had left the team.^[34][35]

On 21 September, on conclusion of the FIA hearings, Piquet Jr, who was 22 at the time of the 2008 Singapore GP, said "I bitterly regret my actions to follow the orders I was given... My situation at Renault turned into a nightmare. Having dreamed of being a Formula One driver and having worked so hard to get there, I found myself at the mercy of Mr Briatore. His true character, which had previously only been known to those he had treated like this in the past, is now known. Mr Briatore was my manager as well as the team boss, he had my future in his hands but he cared nothing for it. By the time of the Singapore GP he had isolated me and driven me to the lowest point I had ever reached in my life. Now that I am out of that situation I cannot believe that I agreed to the plan, but when it was put to me I felt that I was in no position to refuse."^[36] It is worth noting that "Witness X" who provided a first-hand details of the conspiracy planning, backed up Pat Symonds' claim that the idea for the crash came from Piquet Jr. himself as a way to atone for his poor performance and possibly aid in his ongoing negotiations for a contract extension with the team. ^[37]

Piquet Jr. has received criticism from many in the F1 community. BBC F1 commentator Martin Brundle suggested that Piquet Jr. was now unemployable in Formula One, saying that no team or sponsor would want to be associated with the Piquet family. Brundle noted that Piquet Jr. "didn't deliver at Renault, he wasn't fast enough, that's why he was released and that's why he has dropped hand grenades into the system ever since". Brundle was also highly critical that Piquet Jr. escaped sanction from the FIA despite admitting to race-fixing, while the others involved were heavily punished. ^[38][33] Other leading F1 figures have echoed Brundle's sentiments. Toyota team principal John Howett was quoted as saying, "I think on his performance...disregarding the issue, I probably would not give him a drive and I would probably be further influenced in that decision by what took place." Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing, has added, "I don't think we would have any interest [in Piquet Jr.] at Red Bull Racing."^[39]

2010

A few hours after Campos confirmed one of its drivers for 2010, Planet F1^[40] reported that F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone hinted at the identity of Bruno Senna's teammate. The Spanish team is yet to announce the second driver. Ecclestone said in the paddock of the new Yas Marina Circuit that he would like to see the sacked Piquet Jnr get another chance in the wake of the crash-gate affair. Like 26-year-old Senna's famous uncle Ayrton, Piquet's father also won three drivers' world championships. "It'd be good wouldn't it, another good name," Ecclestone is quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph^[41]. "That's what's being talked about actually."

The situation would, however, mean that Campos lines up for its first season with two Brazilians.

Piquet has also been hinting that he is in talks with Force India^[42] Piquet is quoted as saying "I'm close to Force India at the moment but obviously this is being very interesting for me, so I don't know. I'm still in the process of deciding what I'm going to do. Maybe spend one more year in Europe before coming here [to NASCAR]; it's still all up in the air.".

NASCAR

Piquet told Brazilian TV Globo that he will test a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Red Horse Racing from Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina on October 12th. When asked whether the test could take him down the NASCAR route next season, Piquet said it is not the plan. ^[43]

Racing record

Career summary

^† Includes points scored by other Team Brazil drivers.

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nelson Angelo Piquet

• Nelson Piquet Jr. official website
• @NelsonPiquet on Twitter
• Career statistics