Nelson Ângelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior[1] (born July 25, 1985), also known asNelson Piquet Junior orNelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilianstock car racing driver and formerFormula One andFormula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 season. He currently competes full-time in the BrazilianStock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 33Toyota Corolla E210 for Motul TMG Racing.
He also races a ORECA 07 in the LMP2 Pro/Am class of theEuropean Le Mans Series for Team Virage.
Piquet Jr., born inHeidelberg,West Germany, is the son of three-timeFormula One world championNelson Piquet, one of Brazil's most successful F1 drivers. Piquet's parents separated soon after he was born, and he lived inMonaco with hisDutch 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."[4] Piquet has two sisters,Kelly and Julia, and four half-brothers, Geraldo, Laszlo,Pedro, and Marco. He lived in Brasília and attended theAmerican 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 Braziliankarting, where he would stay until 2001 when he moved toFormula Three Sudamericana.[5] His father's wealth enabled him to race for his own team, a practice he continued until he leftGP2 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 ofBrazilian Formula Renault.
In 2003, Piquet moved to theUnited Kingdom where he joined theBritish Formula 3 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 theWilliamsFormula One team followed.[6]
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.[5] He also did further running forWilliams.
The2008 season saw Piquet promoted to theRenaultFormula One race team to drive alongside returning double World ChampionFernando Alonso.[8] It was reported that he gained preference for the seat overHeikki 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 inAustralia 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 the1978 German Grand Prix. At theMalaysian Grand Prix he started from 13th on the grid and finished 11th.[11] He started theBahrain Grand Prix from 14th but retired with a gearbox problem after his second pit stop. Piquet qualified in 10th for theSpanish 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 withSébastien Bourdais in an attempt to overtake. TheTurkish 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 atMonaco after failing to get to grips with the damp conditions,[15] and spun off while chasing teammate Alonso inCanada, 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] Renault did nothing to quell the rumours, publicly urging him to improve after the Turkish Grand Prix[19] and suggesting after Monaco that he lacked confidence.[20] Despite the pressure, Piquet scored his first points in F1 with a 7th-place finish at the2008 French Grand Prix passing his twice-World Champion teammate Fernando Alonso in the last few laps. In theBritish Grand Prix atSilverstone, Piquet was at one point lying in fourth place, having passed his teammate 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 theGerman Grand Prix, he finished ahead of the Ferrari ofFelipe Massa to claim second place to McLaren'sLewis Hamilton and his first podium finish. He had been the only driver on a one-stop strategy which, with the help of asafety car segment, gained him several positions. In theJapanese Grand Prix, he finished fourth.[citation needed]
Despite rumours that he was on his way out, Renault decided to keep Piquet by signing him to a one-year contract.[21] 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, inAustralia, ended on lap 24 when he retired with brake failure.[22] He had a better race inMalaysia the following week finishing 13th, two places and seven seconds behind his teammate 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".[23][24] He had a better race atBahrain on his way to 10th making up one of the highest number of places behind Webber, whom he held off at the end of the race. InSpain he finished 12th.[citation needed]
Later, at the2009 German Grand Prix, Piquet out-qualified his teammate for the first time. However, following the2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, he still had not scored any points in the2009 season. On 3 August 2009 Piquet confirmed that he had been dropped by Renault.[3] He hit out hard at his former manager and team bossFlavio Briatore calling him his 'executioner' and questioning Briatore's general Formula One knowledge. Piquet also said the Renault boss favoured teammateFernando Alonso.[25] Renault's test and reserve driverRomain Grosjean replaced Piquet for the rest of the season.[26] Along with several other drivers, Piquet was linked to a drive withFerrari as a replacement for the injuredFelipe Massa, after stand-inLuca Badoer finished second-to-last at theEuropean Grand Prix.[27] However, Ferrari instead signedGiancarlo Fisichella who Piquet had replaced at Renault in 2008.
In August 2009, after Piquet left the Renault F1 team, allegations surfaced that Piquet had deliberately crashed his car at the2008 Singapore Grand Prix, to benefit his teammateFernando Alonso, who went on to win the race.[28][29] At the time, Piquet characterized the crash as a simple mistake. Later, he recanted, making statements to theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) that it was deliberate, and that he had been asked by Renault team principalFlavio Briatore and engineerPat Symonds to stage the crash. In return for his evidence, Piquet was granted blanket immunity by the FIA.[30] On 4 September 2009,Renault F1 principals were charged with conspiracy and race rigging, and were called to face theFIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009.[citation needed]
On 11 September, Renault and Briatore stated they would initiate a criminal case against Piquet for making false allegations and blackmail. However, on 16 September, Renault announced they would not contest the charges, and that both Briatore and Symonds had left the team.[31][32]
On 21 September, on conclusion of the FIA hearings, Piquet, who was 23 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."[33] Renault accused Piquet of 'false allegations' and even produced an anonymous "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 himself as a way to atone for poor performance and aid in his negotiations for a contract extension with the team.[34]
However, in December 2010, the Piquets won a libel case against Renault. Renault apologised to Piquet for defaming him and paid substantial damages. The Piquets' 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."[35]
On 15 October 2009, Felipe Massa was reported as saying he was "certain" Alonso was involved in the scandal, adding, "Without a doubt he knew it."[36] Six weeks later, it was reported that Alonso turned down Massa's charity kart race invitation.[37]
A few hours after the newCampos Meta team had confirmedBruno Senna as one of its drivers for 2010, F1 chief executiveBernie Ecclestone said in the paddock of the new Yas Marina Circuit that he would like to see the sacked Piquet get another chance in F1 as Senna's teammate.[38] Ecclestone said "It'd be good, wouldn't it, another good name. That's what's being talked about, actually."[39]
On December 28, 2009, it was reported by Spanish website Motor21.com that Piquet had signed a three-year contract with Campos alongside Senna.[40] However, this was later revealed by Motor21.com to have been a hoax in celebration of the SpanishDía de los Santos Innocentes festival.[41] Piquet hinted that he had had talks withForce India.[42] However, they opted to retain bothAdrian Sutil andVitantonio Liuzzi, so Piquet decided to move toNASCAR for 2010.[43] Several months later, Piquet said that he had had talks with more than one F1 team to race again after the Crashgate controversy.[44]
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 #8 Chevrolet with Chris Carrier as crew chief.[50] Piquet finished 10th in points and was a finalist for Most Popular Driver and runner-up toJoey Coulter for Rookie of the Year.
Piquet signed withTurner Motorsports for 2012 after KHI folded. That year he drove the No. 30 Chevrolet for the full season in the Camping World Truck Series, and drove part-time in theNationwide Series.[51]
On June 23, 2012, Piquet scored his first win in NASCAR competition, winning the Nationwide SeriesSargento 200 atRoad America; he was the first Brazilian driver to win a NASCAR national touring series event.[53]
On August 18, 2012, Piquet won his first race in the Camping World Truck Series at Michigan. On lap 56 of the race he spun out racingKurt Busch after a restart. The team pitted under the caution and it allowed them to use fuel strategy later in the race to obtain their first win of the season.[54] On September 29, 2012, Piquet won his second career Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.[55]
In 2013, Piquet moved to full-time competition in the Nationwide Series, driving the No. 30 for Turner Scott Motorsports in a bid forRookie of the Year.[56] He also drove in selected Truck Series races for the team, and in the Truck Series finale atHomestead-Miami Speedway forNTS Motorsports.[57]
Late in the 2013 season, Piquet was fined $10,000 by NASCAR and placed on probation until the end of the season for remarks described as "homophobic" made over social media.[citation needed]
Released by Turner Scott Motorsports due to a lack of sponsorship following the 2013 season, in April 2014 it was announced that Piquet would contest the2014 Global RallyCross Championship withSH Racing, driving the No. 07Ford Fiesta ST.[60] He collected four podiums in nine races, and finished the season in fourth place in the championship standings.[61]
Piquet was outmatched by his teammateMitch Evans every ePrix in2018-19 season, he only scored 1 point in that season. He left the Jaguar team after Sanya ePrix. He was replaced byAlex Lynn, for the remainder of the season.