Nelson Piquet, Jr.
Nelson Angelo Piquet (born 25 July 1985 in Heidelberg, Germany ) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver. He rose in 2008 to the highest motor sport Formula 1 and launched until his dismissal in the middle of the 2009 season for the team by the French automobile manufacturer Renault, the Renault F1 Team.
Piquet is the son of three -time Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet, who went from 1978 to 1991 for well-known teams such as Brabham and Williams at the start. To distinguish among the public he is (Portuguese for "little Nelson Piquet " ) also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet.
- 3.1 Statistics in Formula 1 3.1.1 Individual Results
Racing career
Beginnings in motorsport
His career began in 1993 with up to 2001 powered karting, before moving to the South American Formula 3. His father allowed him to go in his team for which he played parts of the 2001 season and the entire 2002 season, in which he also won the title. 2002 he also drove a race in the Brazilian Formula Renault. In 2003 he moved to the British Formula 3, in which he drove two seasons long and could take the title in his last race. In 2004 he started for a race in the Porsche Supercup. In the debut season of A1GP, he went to Brazil at the start and was two wins, two pole positions and five podium finishes achieve. 2005 and 2006 Piquet Jr. took the GP2 series at the start. Despite a total of five race wins in two seasons, the Brazilian could not win the championship. In 2006 he was second in the overall standings behind Lewis Hamilton.
Formula 1
At the age of 19 years Piquet was allowed to go to his former team for the first time a Williams F1 car sample also due to the good relations of his father. Due to his good performances in the GP2 series, he was committed at the beginning of the 2007 season of the Renault F1 team as a test driver with the option of a regular contract. On 10 December 2007, Renault confirmed the commitment Piquet as the second regular driver next to returnees Fernando Alonso for the 2008 season.
The Brazilian initially could not convince. His teammates he drove miles behind and made it unlike Alonso not to control the aerodynamic immature Renault in the points. The node burst only at the French Grand Prix at Magny -Cours - on a track that already knew Piquet from the junior categories. There he was ahead of Alonso seventh. At the Grand Prix of Germany at the Hockenheimring Piquet managed with a happy second place his first podium. The race was neutralized after an accident by Timo Glock by the Safety Car and the strategists at Renault command post had ordered its pilots to the cheapest possible time for a pit stop, which Piquet after the safety car period was in the lead and the race to the end could drive.
After this strategy is successful, Piquet was persuaded, at the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2008 to feign an accident, whereby his teammate Alonso won the race.
Piquet in 2009 received a second chance at Renault. While his team-mate Alonso overtook frequently points, the Brazilian was able to drive into the points in any race. Once back in July came up rumors that Piquet will be replaced after the Hungarian Grand Prix, he confirmed on 3 August that he would not go for Renault at the start with immediate effect. The reason for the separation Renault Piquet stated disappointing performance driving skills. In the same train Piquet went with the manipulations in the Grand Prix of Singapore 2008 to the public, after which Renault him and his father initially threatened with lawsuits and then parted with manager Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds. Due to the affair Renault F1 was sentenced on 21 September 2009 by the FIA on probation. In similar breaches the team threatened a lock until the end of 2011. Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were covered with locks on all FIA events. Briatore indefinitely Symonds for five years. Piquet himself came out with impunity from the affair. Both the barrier against Briatore and Symonds was lifted against the 5 January 2010 by a French court. In support, the court stated that the barrier due to the weak evidence was irregular. In addition, Briatore a compensation of 15,000 euros was awarded.
NASCAR
After his Formula 1 career Piquet has changed in the American NASCAR scene. In 2012, he won it in two different racing series of NASCAR. The first success was the race the Nationwide Series at Road America. In August, a further success followed in the Camping World Truck Series, where he ever won a race on an oval at Michigan International Speedway as the second non- Americans after the Canadian Earl Ross in 1974. In September he won on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another oval race.
While race wins foreign driver on the few normal race tracks in the calendar are now almost normal - here Juan Pablo Montoya, Ron Fellows, Marcos Ambrose and just Piquet Jr. have now collected 12 wins - the ovals are still considered a sole job of the U.S. driver.
Personal
Nelson Angelo is one of six children of three -time Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet. He was born in Germany because his pregnant mother accompanied her husband in 1985 during the Formula 1 race in Europe. At this time (August 4, 1985), the Grand Prix of Germany was held at the Hockenheimring, which is why Piquet and his wife were in Germany. So Piquet junior was born in a Heidelberg hospital the light of day. He grew up in Brazil and the Brazilian citizenship had always held.
Success statistics
- 2006 runner-up GP2 Series
Statistics in Formula 1
As of end of 2009 season