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2009: Piquet on Briatore after being dropped from Renault
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====2009: Renault====
====2009: Renault====


However after driving the state of the art F1 car at speeds outdone by the Stig in a mini... Renault realised that he's completely useless the F1 team fired him. Piquet now spends his leisurely moments complaining about the F1 team to anyone that will listen.
[[File:Piquet 2009 Malaysian GP 1.jpg|thumb|right|Piquet at the [[2009 Malaysian Grand Prix]].]]
[[File:Nelson Piquet 2009 Turkey.jpg|thumb|right|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. <ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/3388038/Fernando-Alonso-and-Nelson-Piquet-to-stay-with-Renault-in-2009-Formula-One.html</ref> 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 [[2009 Australian Grand Prix|Australia]], ended on lap 24 when he retired with brake failure<ref>http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/03/29/piquet-spin-result-of-brake-failure/</ref>. He had a better race in [[2009 Malaysian Grand Prix|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. [[2009 Chinese Grand Prix|China]] was another disappointment, however, and after spinning several times and requiring two new nose cones for his car<ref>http://www.grandprix.com/race/r806racereport.html</ref> he eventually finished 16th and last, two laps down, in what team manager Flavio Briatore described as a "very, very bad race".<ref>http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/04/20/briatore-ponders-what-might-have-been/</ref>. He had a better race at [[2009 Bahrain Grand Prix|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 [[2009 Spanish Grand Prix|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 the crash, 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 {{F1|2009}} season. On 3 August 2009 Piquet confirmed that he had been dropped by Renault. <ref>http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77538</ref> He hit hard on his former manager and team boss [[Flavio Briatore]] calling him his 'executioner' and questioning Briatores general Formula One knowledge. Piquet also said the Renault boss favored teammate [[Fernando Alonso]].<ref>http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/08/13/ego-bigger-than-anything-else-piquet-on-briatore/</ref>


==Racing record==
==Racing record==

Revision as of 00:53, 14 August 2009

Nelson Piquet Jr.
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityBrazil Brazilian
TeamsRenault
Entries28
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums1
Career points19
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry2008 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry2009 Hungarian Grand Prix
2008 position12th (19 pts)

Nelson Ângelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior[1] (born July 25, 1985 in Heidelberg, 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] Piquet currently resides in Oxford, England.

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.

Career

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 only driver on one-stop strategy which, with the help of the Safety Car segment, gained him several positions.

2009: Renault

However after driving the state of the art F1 car at speeds outdone by the Stig in a mini... Renault realised that he's completely useless the F1 team fired him. Piquet now spends his leisurely moments complaining about the F1 team to anyone that will listen.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing
2001 Formula Three Sudamericana Piquet Sports 7 1 1 77 5th
2002 Formula Three Sudamericana Piquet Sports 17 16 13 296 1st
2003 British Formula Three Piquet Sports 23 8 6 231 3rd
Macau Grand Prix ? 1 0 0 N/A 8th
Masters of Formula Three Piquet Sports 1 1 0 N/A 2nd
F3 Korea Super Prix Hitech Racing 1 0 0 N/A 3rd
2004 British Formula Three Piquet Sports 24 5 6 282 1st
European Formula Three Cup Piquet Sports 1 1 0 N/A 4th
Macau Grand Prix Piquet Sports 1 0 0 N/A 10th
Masters of Formula Three Piquet Sports 1 0 0 N/A 8th
Bahrain F3 Superprix Piquet Sports 1 0 0 N/A NC
Porsche Supercup Porsche AG VIP Team 1 0 0 0 NC
2005 GP2 Series Hitech-Piquet Sports 22 0 1 46 8th
2005-06 A1 Grand Prix Brazil 14 2 2 71† 6th†
2006 GP2 Series Piquet Sports 21 6 4 102 2nd
Le Mans 24 Hours Russian Age Racing (GT1) 1 0 0 N/A 4th
Mil Milhas Brasil Cirtek Motorsport (GTP1) 1 0 1 N/A 1st
2007 Formula One Renault Test driver
2008 Formula One Renault 18 0 0 19 12th
2009 Formula One Renault 10 0 0 0 20th*

*Season in progress.
† 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)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 DC Points
2005 Hitech/Piquet Racing SMR
FEA
14 		SMR
SPR
6 		ESP
FEA
5 		ESP
SPR
2 		MON
FEA
11 		EUR
FEA
5 		EUR
SPR
3 		FRA
FEA
Ret 		FRA
SPR
DSQ 		GBR
FEA
Ret 		GBR
SPR
Ret 		GER
FEA
3 		GER
SPR
8 		HUN
FEA
Ret 		HUN
SPR
10 		TUR
FEA
4 		TUR
SPR
6 		ITA
FEA
3 		ITA
SPR
Ret 		BEL
FEA
1 		BEL
SPR
14 		BHR
FEA
Ret 		BHR
SPR
15 		8th 46
2006 Piquet Sports VAL
FEA
1 		VAL
SPR
4 		SMR
FEA
5 		SMR
SPR
2 		EUR
FEA
Ret 		EUR
SPR
19 		ESP
FEA
4 		ESP
SPR
2 		MON
FEA
Ret 		GBR
FEA
4 		GBR
SPR
5 		FRA
FEA
4 		FRA
SPR
2 		GER
FEA
13 		GER
SPR
DNS 		HUN
FEA
1 		HUN
SPR
1 		TUR
FEA
1 		TUR
SPR
5 		ITA
FEA
2 		ITA
SPR
6 		2nd 102

Complete Formula One results

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points
2008 ING Renault F1 Team Renault R28 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 AUS
Ret 		MAL
11 		BHR
Ret 		ESP
Ret 		TUR
15 		MON
Ret 		CAN
Ret 		FRA
7 		GBR
Ret 		GER
2 		HUN
6 		EUR
11 		BEL
Ret 		ITA
10 		SIN
Ret 		JPN
4 		CHN
8 		BRA
Ret 		12th 19
2009 ING Renault F1 Team Renault R29 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 AUS
Ret 		MAL
13 		CHN
16 		BHR
10 		ESP
12 		MON
Ret 		TUR
16 		GBR
12 		GER
13 		HUN
12 		EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN BRA ABU 20th* 0*

*Season in progress.

References

  1. ^ "Biography for Nelson Piquet Jr".
  2. ^ a b c "Nelson Piquet Jr Profile - Planet-F1 News - from planet-f1.com".
  3. ^ "ING Renault F1 - Nelson Piquet Jr. - ING".
  4. ^ "Piquet confirms Renault have dropped him".
  5. ^ Nelson Piquet Jr Tells Stephen Moss How He Intends to Become a Grand Prix Legend, Just Like His Father
  6. ^ a b c d e Formula 1 : Biography Nelson Piquet Jr - F1-Live.com
  7. ^ F1 News > Renault re-aligns aspirations
  8. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Renault confirm Alonso, Piquet for 2008
  9. ^ BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Alonso opts for return to Renault
  10. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Briatore says no pressure on Piquet
  11. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Malaysia Sunday quotes: Renault
  12. ^ BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Raikkonen denies Alonso home pole
  13. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Turkey Saturday quotes: Renault
  14. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Turkey Sunday quotes: Renault
  15. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Monaco Sunday quotes: Renault
  16. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Kubica leads historic BMW 1-2 in Canada
  17. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Canada Sunday quotes: Renault
  18. ^ F1 News > Piquet under pressure
  19. ^ Piquet to be replaced by Sato at Renault? - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
  20. ^ Doornbos to drive Renault, Piquet under pressure? - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
  21. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Renault tell Piquet he must improve
  22. ^ autosport.com - F1 News: Symonds: Piquet needs self-belief

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nelson Angelo Piquet.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Formula Three Sudamericana Champion
2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by British Formula Three Champion
2004 		Succeeded by
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