Nelson Piquet Jr.

Infobox F1 driver
Name = Nelson Piquet Jr.

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Caption =
Nationality = flagicon|BRA Brazilian
Car number = 6
Team = Renault
Races = 15
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 1
Points = 13
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 0
First race = 2008 Australian Grand Prix
First win =
Last win =
Last race = 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
Last season = 2008
Last position =

Nelson Ângelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2825079/bio Biography for Nelson Piquet Jr.] ] (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 [http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,14257_3079816,00.html Nelson Piquet Jr Profile - Planet-F1 News - from planet-f1.com ] ] . He was signed as test driver for Renault Formula One team for the 2007 season, and has been promoted to the race team for 2008 [ [http://www.ing.com/group/showdoc.jsp?docid=198855_EN&menopt=spr%7Cone ING Renault F1 - Nelson Piquet Jr. - ING ] ] . Piquet currently resides in Oxford, England.

Personal Details

His parents separated soon after he was born and he lived in Monaco with his Dutch mother Sylvia Tamsma until he was eight years old when he 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." [ [http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-5-2005-78192.asp Nelson Piquet Jr Tells Stephen Moss How He Intends to Become a Grand Prix Legend, Just Like His Father ] ] He has two sisters, Kelly and Julia, and four brothers, Geraldo, Laszlo, Pedro and Marco.

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 . 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 [http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/drivers/piquet.shtml Formula 1 : Biography Nelson Piquet Jr - F1-Live.com ] ] 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 3 Championship and formed the Piquet Sports team. He went on to finish the championship in 3rd place with six wins , five podiums and eight pole positions. A test with the Williams F1 team followed.

In 2004, Piquet won the British Formula 3 Championship. He became the youngest driver to have ever won the championship at 19 years and 2 months . 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 , 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.

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

Formula One

2007: Renault

During the 2007 season he was the official test and reserve driver for the Renault Formula One team. [ [http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17392.html F1 News > Renault re-aligns aspirations ] ]

2008: Renault

The 2008 season has seen Piquet promoted to the Renault Formula One race team to drive alongside returning double World Champion Fernando Alonso. [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64336 autosport.com - F1 News: Renault confirm Alonso, Piquet for 2008 ] ] It is reported that he gained preference for the seat over Heikki Kovalainen as Kovalainen was seen as a potential rival to Alonso and such a challenge to Alonso could damage the team. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7136498.stm BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Alonso opts for return to Renault ] ]

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. [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65885 autosport.com - F1 News: Briatore says no pressure on Piquet ] ] 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 went on to finish 11th. [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/66046 autosport.com - F1 News: Malaysia Sunday quotes: Renault ] ] 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. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7368562.stm BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Raikkonen denies Alonso home pole ] ] 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 [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67308 autosport.com - F1 News: Turkey Saturday quotes: Renault ] ] and finish the race 15th. [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67356 autosport.com - F1 News: Turkey Sunday quotes: Renault ] ] 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, [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67739 autosport.com - F1 News: Monaco Sunday quotes: Renault ] ] and spun off while chasing team-mate Alonso in Canada, before ultimately retiring on lap 42 [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68131 autosport.com - F1 News: Kubica leads historic BMW 1-2 in Canada ] ] with brake failure. [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68136 autosport.com - F1 News: Canada Sunday quotes: Renault ] ]

Piquet has come under increasing pressure from his Renault team over the course of the 2008 season, and there has been speculation that Piquet will lose his race seat if he does not up his game. [ [http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20392.html F1 News > Piquet under pressure ] ] [ [http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/16052008/23/piquet-replaced-sato-renault.html Piquet to be replaced by Sato at Renault? - Yahoo! Eurosport UK ] ] [ [http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/27052008/23/doornbos-drive-renault-piquet-under-pressure.html Doornbos to drive Renault, Piquet under pressure? - Yahoo! Eurosport UK ] ] Renault have done nothing to quell the rumours by publicly urging him to improve after the Turkish Grand Prix [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67436 autosport.com - F1 News: Renault tell Piquet he must improve ] ] and suggesting after Monaco that he lacks confidence. [ [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67800 autosport.com - F1 News: Symonds: Piquet needs self-belief ] ] 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 was 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 and this, with the help of the Safety Car segment gained him several positions.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season in progress

References

External links

* [http://www.nelsinhopiquet.com.br/ Nelson Piquet Jr. official website]

* [http://www.driverdb.com/racingdriver319.html Career statistics]