Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Ângelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior[1] (born 25 July 1985 in Heidelberg, West Germany), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a racing driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet, one of Brazil's most successful F1 drivers. Piquet Junior currently drives part-time in the Camping World Truck Series for Red Horse Racing.
 | |
| 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 |
| 2009 position | 21st (0 pts) |
Piquet Jr. raced in the GP2 Series in 2005 and 2006.[2] He drove for the Renault Formula One team for the 2008,[3] before being dropped midway through the 2009 season.[4] After losing his ride, it was revealed that he had crashed on purpose at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The crash helped his team-mate, Fernando Alonso, win the race.
Personal Details
Piquet's parents separated soon after he was born. He lived in Monaco with his Dutch mother, Sylvia Tamsma, until he was eight years old. He then moved to 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 Brasília and attended the American School of Brasília. When he was 16 years old, he decided to pursue his racing career full-time.
Before F1
Piquet's racing career started in 1993 in Brazilian karting. In 2001 when he moved to Formula Three Sudamericana.[2] He raced in part of the 2001 season, and won the 2002 championship.[6] In 2002 he also entered one race of the Brazilian Formula Renault series.
In 2003, Piquet moved to the UK and joined the British Formula Three Championship. He went on to finish the championship in third 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 win the championship, at 19 years and 2 months.[2]
In 2005, Piquet took part in the A1 Grand Prix for A1 Team Brazil. He won both the Sprint and Main races at the 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain, the first ever A1 race.[6] He also set the fastest lap. He drove 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 was second in the GP2 championship to Lewis Hamilton.
Throughout hes eary careet, Piquet was able to race for his own team. His father purchased the teams he raced for.
Formula One
During the 2007 season he was the official test and reserve driver for the Renault Formula One team.[7] For 2008 season Piquet was promoted to the Renault race team. He drove alongside returning double World Champion Fernando Alonso.[8]
The first race of the 2008 season in Australia saw Piquet start 21st and damage his car in a collision on the opening lap. He finally retired on lap 31.[9] This was exactly the same result as his father achieved in his first race at the 1978 German Grand Prix. Piquet qualified in 10th for the Spanish Grand Prix his first top 10 qualifying position of his career.[10] Piquet scored his first points in F1 with a 7th-place finish at the French Grand Prix. He passed his team mate Alonso in the last few laps. At the German Grand Prix, finished in second place and his first podium finish.
Renault singed Piquet to a one-year contract for the 2009 season.[11] His first race, in 2009 at Australia ended on lap 24 with brake failure.[12] China was another disappointment. He spun several times, requiring two new nose cones for his car. He finished 16th and last, two laps down, in what team manager Flavio Briatore described as a "very, very bad race".[13][14] His best race of the year was a tenth-place finish at Bahrain.
On 3 August 2009 Piquet confirmed that he had been dropped by Renault.[15] He hit out hard at his former manager and team boss Briatore. He called him his 'executioner' and questioned Briatore's Formula One knowledge. Piquet also said the Renault boss favored teammate Fernando Alonso.[16] Renault's test and reserve driver Romain Grosjean replaced Piquet for the rest of the season.[17]
2009 FIA investigation
After Piquet left the Renault F1 team, the media started making claims about Piquet. They said that had crashed his car on purpose at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. They said he did this to benefit team-mate Fernando Alonso. Alonso had made an early pit stop, and was far behind the leaders. Alonso went on to win the race.[18][19] At the time, Piquet had said the crash as a simple mistake.
Piquet told the FIA that it had been on purpose. He said had been asked by Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and engineer Pat Symonds to stage the crash. In return for his statement, Piquet was given immunity by the FIA.[20] On 4 September 2009 Renault F1 was charged with conspiracy and race fixing. On 16 September, Renault announced they would not contest the charges, and that Briatore and team engineer Symonds had left the team.[21][22]
Piquet 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.[20][23] Piquet decided to move to NASCAR for 2010.[24]
NASCAR
Piquet made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Daytona International Speedway. He has made several races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He drove one race for Red Horse Racing.[25] In his first truck race, Piquet was managed to score a sixth-place effort, the first Brazilian driver to finish in the top ten in the series history. Piquet announced that he would be competing in three races for Billy Ballew Motorsports.[26] In August, he competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Watkins Glen International road course. He finished seventh in his first start in the series.[27]
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 | Hitech Racing | 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 | 21st |
| 2010 | ARCA | Eddie Sharp Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 450 | 50 |
| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series | Red Horse Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 150 | NC | |
| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series | Billy Ballew Motorsports | 3 | 0 | 0 | 418 | NC | |
| NASCAR Nationwide Series | Baker Curb Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 146 | NC | |
# 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 A1 Grand Prix 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 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Brazil | GBR SPR 1 |
GBR FEA 1 |
GER SPR 3 |
GER FEA Ret |
POR SPR 2 |
POR FEA 8 |
AUS SPR 3 |
AUS FEA 9 |
MYS SPR 4 |
MYS FEA 10 |
UAE SPR Ret |
UAE FEA Ret |
RSA SPR Ret |
RSA FEA 9 |
IDN SPR |
IDN FEA |
MEX SPR |
MEX FEA |
USA SPR |
USA FEA |
CHN SPR |
CHN FEA |
6th | 71 |
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 L 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 L 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 | 21st | 0 |
Nelson Piquet Jr. Media
Piquet driving for Renault at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix
Piquet at the 2009 German Grand Prix
Piquet at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix
Piquet at Road America in 2012
Piquet at his first NASCAR Nationwide Series win at Road America in 2012.
Piquet competing at the RFK Stadium during the 2014 Global RallyCross Championship.
Piquet racing in the 2015 Berlin ePrix
Piquet Jr. driving at the 2018 Berlin ePrix.
References
- ↑ "Biography for Nelson Piquet Jr". IMDb.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Nelson Piquet Jr Profile". planet-f1.com. 365 Media Group Ltd. 2008-01-26. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "ING Renault F1 - Nelson Piquet Jr. - ING" (in Nederlands). ING. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "Piquet confirms Renault have dropped him".
- ↑ "Nelson Piquet Jr Tells Stephen Moss How He Intends to Become a Grand Prix Legend, Just Like His Father". Buzzle.com. 2005-10-05. Archived from the original on 2007-12-03. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Formula 1 : Biography Nelson Piquet Jr - F1-Live.com". En.f1-live.com. 1985-07-25. Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "F1 News > Renault re-aligns aspirations". Grandprix.com. 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "F1 News: Renault confirm Alonso, Piquet for 2008". autosport.com. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "F1 News: Briatore says no pressure on Piquet". autosport.com. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Raikkonen denies Alonso home pole. BBC News. 2008-04-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7368562.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ Arron, Simon (2008-11-05). Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet to stay with Renault in 2009: Formula One. London: Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/3388038/Fernando-Alonso-and-Nelson-Piquet-to-stay-with-Renault-in-2009-Formula-One.html. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "Formula One news: Piquet spin result of brake failure - GPUpdate.net Formula One". F1.gpupdate.net. 2009-03-29. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "F1 - Grandprix.com > F1 Results 2009 > Chinese GP > Race Report". Grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "Formula One news: Briatore ponders what might have been - GPUpdate.net Formula One". F1.gpupdate.net. 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "autosport.com". autosport.com. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "Formula One news: 'Ego bigger than anything else' - Piquet on Briatore - GPUpdate.net Formula One". F1.gpupdate.net. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "autosport.com". autosport.com. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ GLOBOESPORTE.COM Spa-Francorchamps, Bélgica (2009-08-30). "Fórmula 1 - NOTÍCIAS - FIA investiga acidente de Nelsinho Piquet em Cingapura-2008 e pode punir Briatore" (in Portuguese). Globoesporte.globo.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ↑ BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | F1 launches Singapore race probe. BBC News. 2009-08-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8229787.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Ferdinand, Dan (2009-08-11). "Nelson Piquet can expect a paddock backlash for deliberately crashing his Renault at last year's Singapore Grand Prix". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ Cary, Tom (2009-09-17). Q and A: why Renault face race-fixing allegations and other questions. London: The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/renault/6199480/Q-and-A-why-Renault-face-race-fixing-allegations-and-other-questions.html. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ↑ Renault blames Briatore & Symonds. BBC Sport. 2009-09-17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8261004.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ↑ Brundle, Martin (2009-09-14). BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | Piquet 'now unemployable in F1'. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8254417.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ↑ "Piquet Jr makes switch to NASCAR". BBC News. 2010-01-12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8454905.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
- ↑ "NASCAR Daily News Headlines". 2010-02-08. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
- ↑ "NASCAR : Nelson Piquet to race three events for Billy Ballew Motorsports". Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
- ↑ "NASCAR Career Statistics". 8 August 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.