| Nelson Piquet, Jr. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | July 25, 1985 Heidelberg, West Germany |
||||||
| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
| Truck no., team | TBA - Turner Motorsports | ||||||
| 2011 position | 10th | ||||||
| Best finish | 10th (2011) | ||||||
| First race | 2010 NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Daytona) | ||||||
|
|||||||
| Statistics current as of November 19, 2011. | |||||||
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| 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) |
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 Brazillian stock car racing driver and former Formula 1 driver. He currently drives for Turner Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series.[2]
Piquet 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.[3]
He was signed as test driver for Renault Formula One team for the 2007 season, and was promoted to the race team for 2008,[4] before being dropped midway through the 2009 season.[5] After losing his drive, it emerged that he had crashed deliberately at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help his teammate, Fernando Alonso, win the race; the resulting scandal has become one of the most important in the sport's history.
Contents |
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 realized life in Brazil would be better for a child."[6] 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 until he was 16 years old, when he decided to pursue his racing career full time.
Piquet's racing career started in 1993 in Brazilian karting, where he would stay until 2001 when he moved to Formula Three Sudamericana.[3] 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[7] 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,[7] five podiums and eight pole positions. A test with the Williams Formula One team followed.[7]
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.[3] 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,[7] 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.[7]
In 2006, Piquet gained second place in the championship to British driver Lewis Hamilton in his second year of GP2.
During the 2007 season he was the official test and reserve driver for the Renault Formula One team.[8]
The 2008 season saw Piquet promoted to the Renault Formula One race team to drive alongside returning double World Champion Fernando Alonso.[9] 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.[10]
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.[11] This was exactly the same result as his father achieved in his first race at the 1978 German Grand Prix. At the Malaysian Grand Prix he started from 13th on the grid and finished 11th.[12] 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.[13] 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[14] and finish the race 15th.[15] 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,[16] and spun off while chasing team-mate Alonso in Canada, before ultimately retiring on lap 42[17] with brake failure.[18]
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.[19][20][21] Renault did nothing to quell the rumours, publicly urging him to improve after the Turkish Grand Prix[22] and suggesting after Monaco that he lacked confidence.[23] 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. In Japan however he had his best race of the season, finishing a solid fourth. In the closing laps he was even catching up to Räikkönen and Kubica before making an error.
Despite rumours that he was on his way out, Renault decided to keep Piquet by signing him to a one year contract.[24] 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.[25] 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".[26][27] He had a better race at Bahrain on his way to 10th making up one of the most amount 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 Sébastien 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.[28] 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.[29] Renault's test and reserve driver Romain Grosjean replaced Piquet for the rest of the season.[30] 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 second-to-last at the European Grand Prix.[31] However, Ferrari instead signed Giancarlo Fisichella.
In August 2009 after Piquet Jr. left the Renault F1 team, allegations surfaced that Piquet Jr. had deliberately crashed his car at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in order to benefit team-mate Fernando Alonso who went on to win the race.[32][33] 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 principal Flavio Briatore and engineer Pat Symonds to stage the crash. In return for his evidence, Piquet Jr. was given immunity by the FIA,[34] 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.[35][36]
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."[37] Renault accused Piquet of 'false allegations' and even produced an annonymous "Witness X" who supposedly provided first-hand details of the conspiracy planning, which backed up Pat Symonds' claim that the idea for the crash came from Piquet Jr. himself as a way to atone for poor performance and aid in his negotiations for a contract extension with the team.[38]
However, in December 2010 the Piquets won a libel case in the High Court against Renault. Renault apologised to Piquet for defaming him and paid substantial damages. The Piquet's lawyer said "They were both treated appallingly by Renault F1 when they dared to reveal the scandal to the governing body... F1 has been deprived of the best of Nelsinho and it is to [F1's] detriment that his talent is now being demonstrated elsewhere." Renault issued an apology in response to the High Court decision: "The team accepts that the allegations made by Nelson Piquet Jr were not false. "It also accepts that Piquet Jr and his father did not invent these allegations in order to blackmail the team."[39]
On 15 October 2009 Massa was reported as saying he was "certain" Alonso was involved in the scandal, adding, "Without a doubt he knew it."[40] Six weeks later it was reported that Alonso turned down Massa's charity kart race invitation.[41]
A few hours after Campos confirmed one of its drivers for 2010, website Planet F1 reported that F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone hinted at the identity of Bruno Senna's teammate. Ecclestone said in the paddock of the new Yas Marina Circuit that he would like to see the sacked Piquet Jr. get another chance in the wake of the Crashgate affair.[42] "It'd be good wouldn't it, another good name," Ecclestone was quoted by the British Daily Telegraph newspaper as saying, "that's what's being talked about actually."[43]
On December 28, 2009, it was reported by Spanish website Motor21.com that Nelson Piquet Jr. had signed a three year contract with the new Campos Meta team alongside Senna.[44] However, this was later revealed by Motor21.com to have been a hoax in celebration of the Spanish Día de los Santos Innocentes festival.[45] Piquet himself hinted that he had talks with Force India.[46] However, they have since opted to retain both Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi so Piquet decided to sign for NASCAR for 2010.[47]
Piquet told Brazilian Rede Globo that he would test a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Red Horse Racing from Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina on October 12, 2009. When asked whether the test could take him down the NASCAR route next season, Piquet said it is not the plan.[48] However, he announced that he will race in NASCAR in 2010—albeit without specifying which series—during the following January.[49] Piquet drives in the Camping World Truck Series with Red Horse Racing,[50] and made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Daytona International Speedway driving the #6 Toyota for ARCA powerhouse Eddie Sharp Racing. In his first truck race, Piquet was managed to score a 6th place effort, the first Brazilian driver to finish in the top ten in the series history. Piquet then announced that he would be competing in three races for Billy Ballew Motorsports driving the #15 truck. The three race deal will start on May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway his first race for the team. He will then compete at Texas Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway, with the possibility of getting more races.[51] In August, he competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Watkins Glen International road course and finished seventh in his first start in the series.[52] On December 13, 2010, Kevin Harvick, Inc. announced that Piquet would drive a third truck for the team for the full 2011 Truck series season. The 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team he will drive for is the # 8 Qualcomm Chevrolet with Chris Carrier as crew chief .[2] He ran very well at Nashville in 2011. He finished 2nd to Kyle Busch. Piquet continued to have a very impressive rookie season, finishing 10th in points as well as being a finalist for Most Popular Driver. Nelson signed with Turner Motorsports to race full time in the Camping World Truck Series and part time in the Nationwide Series in 2012.
† Includes points scored by other Team Brazil drivers.
(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 |
(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 |
(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 | 21st | 0 |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robbie Kerr |
Autosport National Racing Driver of the Year 2003 |
Succeeded by James Thompson |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by Juliano Moro |
Formula Three Sudamericana Champion 2002 |
Succeeded by Danilo Dirani |
| Preceded by Alan van der Merwe |
British Formula Three Champion 2004 |
Succeeded by Álvaro Parente |