Nelson Piquet biography

My favourite F1 driver of all time, Nelson Piquet, was born on August 17th 1952 in Rio De Janeiro.

Like most, he started in go karts.

Often racing with him was Roberto Moreno. They had an emotional reunion about 20 years after this photo.

Nelson Piquet, having been successful in karts, was advised to move to Europe to compete in other categories in order to start a career in formula one.

That and more advice was given by Brazil’s first F1 world champion, Emerson Fittipaldi.

Having moved to the UK close to my birth, he completed in British F3 in 1978.

While Nelson Piquet was leading the British F3 championship, his first Formula one race was at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, driving an Ensign. That day, his teammate was Harald Ertl, who had helped save Niki Lauda’s life while his car had been burning at the Nurburgring two years earlier.

Nelson Piquet and Jack Brabham:

During a F3 race, in 1978, he spoke to BS Fabrications owner, Bob Sparshott, who was looking for some talent, saying the following:

"If I were you, I'd hire that boy right there".

He did 3 races in a BS Fabrications McLaren, an old car run by a low budget team. It was the same car in which Emerson Fittipaldi had won his second world championship in 1974.

Very fittingly, he did his first race with Brabham at the end of 1978 season. He stayed at Brabham until 1985.

In 1978, when I was a baby, Nelson Piquet was British F3 champion and drove 3 different F1 cars.

In 1979, Nelson Piquet continued driving a Brabham, as the teammate of the late Niki Lauda.

1979 was also an ironic year when Nelson Piquet was given a ride back to the pits by Carlos Reutemann who was Piquet’s closest rival two years later for the championship.

In 1980, Nelson Piquet won his first race, the US GP West. Sharing his last podium with him was Emerson Fittipaldi (world champion in 1972 and 1974) in his final F1 season. It was a highly symbolic handover from a top Brazilian to the new top Brazilian.

He finished runner up in 1980 to Alan Jones in a Williams, the last time an Australian was world champion.

1980 and 1981 seasons in the Ford-Cosworth Brabham had not been problem free, for example a punctured tyre causing this crash at Silverstone at the British Grand Prix.

His first world championship was in 1981, defeating Alan Jones’ teammate, Carlos Reutemann. The last race of the season was the Caesar’s Palace Grand Prix, in a car park of a Las Vegas hotel / casino. After the race, he had to be lifted out of his car, on that extremely hot day.

Nevertheless, he had greater endurance than Reutemann, who had been easy for Piquet to overtake, which he described using his classic sense of humour: “He just opened the legs.”

Drama and notoriety in 1982 for Nelson Piquet.

For the 1982 season, Brabham had started using a new engine, a turbocharged BMW. It was powerful and also unreliable.

For many, the most memorable event of Nelson Piquet’s career took place that year. At the same race where he had made his debut 4 years earlier, a driver he had previously helped start his F3 career is the only Chilean driver to have ever raced in F1, Eliseo Salazar.

Salazar’s car was rather uncompetitive, and he was nearly one full lap behind Piquet’s Brabham-BMW. Not having paid attention to the marshals’ blue flags which are supposed to mean that the driver is being lapped and should make plenty of space to be passed, he broke rather late and caused a collision through a chicane. It is the only time that Piquet lost his temper and punched and kicked the Chilean he had previously helped. It remains the only thing for which Eliseo Salazar is well known.

Also in 1982 at the French Grand Prix, he said, "No formula one driver can say he's not afraid. In every start I was scared to death, especially if I looked away and saw Andrea De Cesaris". He observed what many realized later, and once it had become known to everyone, he earned the nickname “De Crasheris”.

In 1983, Nelson Piquet became a double world champion. He won the first race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix.

1983 was the first season in which a turbocharged car won the world championship. His main rival was Alain Prost, known as “the Professor” because of the way in which he analyzed everything, even during a Grand Prix. He was driving a Renault, which had been the first team to race with a turbocharged engine.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, the Professor made a rare mistake, locking his brakes and sliding into Piquet’s Brabham.

DNF also became Prost’s official result a few corners later.

With 3 races left, Piquet won the next two, including at Brands Hatch where I met him 2 years later.

The South African Grand Prix and his 3rd place finish made him world champion for the second time. The Professor had been unable to work out how to get his engine to survive the race, while Piquet drove as slowly as possible to gain enough points to take the title.

1984 & 85: Brabham finale

As reining world champion, he came to realize that the Brabham was gradually becoming uncompetitive.

Always having the best sense of humour, here he is joking about a burned foot caused by an overheated brake pedal. Sharing the podium with him are McLaren drivers Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. Lauda won his 3rd world championship in 1984, and Prost won his 1st (of a total of 4) in 1985.

In 1985, Nelson won just 1 race, the French Grand Prix. It was the last time a Brabham won a race. He had by then started negotiating a contract with Frank Williams, to become a Williams driver to replace Keke Rosberg (1982 world champion and father of 2016 world champion, Nico Rosberg) who was moving to McLaren to replace Niki Lauda who was going to retire.

The greatest day of the 1980s was when I met Nelson Piquet at Brands Hatch in 1985 after qualifying for the European Grand Prix. I was in the paddock looking at the cars in the pit lane. When I saw him walking to the car park, I yelled, “there he is!”

I sprinted after him and asked for his autograph. On that day, I was the world’s happiest 8 year old. Years later, I did a race driving course for an afternoon at Brands Hatch. I have driven at the same track where Nelson Piquet drove and won a Grand Prix.

The dramatic Williams years

During preseason testing, team founder Frank Williams had an accident while driving quickly to an airport in southern France.

Nelson won the first race of the 1986 season in Brazil, which was a good start.

A highly competitive season, dominated by the ‘big four’ of newcomer Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, teammate Nigel Mansell, and Nelson Piquet. Prost prevailed that year.

The best overtake ever was achieved by Piquet at the first Hungarian Grand Prix in 1986. By then, Senna had become well known for blocking drivers trying to overtake him. So much so that Piquet had named his fellow Brazilian ‘the São Paulo taxi driver’. The only way to overtake him was around the outside and not run too wide.

At qualifying at Imola in 1987, Piquet crashed at the Tamburello curve.

During the 1994 race, Senna fatally crashed at the same corner.

Driving cautiously thereafter, Piquet built up as many points as possible. His main and only rival to become world champion in 1987 was his teammate, Nigel Mansell. He often complained for no good reason, and while often faster than Nelson Piquet, he often overdrove the car, threatening mechanical reliability.

Piquet became world champion for the 3 time at the Japanese Grand Prix. Nigel Mansell was trying too hard to set a faster time than Piquet in qualifying and hit a wall of tyres. Spinning while airborne, his car landed with such force that it jarred his spine severely. His season and championship bid were finished in a few seconds.

Piquet became world champion through successfully recovering from his early season crash and driving wisely. Mansell’s approach had been the complete opposite and it cost him dearly.

Lotus wilderness

In 1988, Honda engines powered McLaren and Lotus. Senna had moved to McLaren, and Piquet replaced him.

The Lotus was only fast in a straight line. It was his only world championship defence season in which he won no races.

The 1989 Lotus without the Honda engine was even worse. It seems that the designer, Gérard Doucerouge, could not even design a paper aeroplane. His first car, the Ensign, was comparable. The last time a Lotus driver became world champion was Mario Andretti in 1978, the year that Piquet’s F1 career began.

Career finale at Benetton

Now driving the far more competitive Benetton, Nelson drove well in 1990, as best of the rest behind the dominant McLarens and Ferraris.

Nelson had a good view of this crash between Prost and Senna at the first corner of the Japanese Grand Prix. After the race, there were many interpretations of the incident. According to Piquet, “Senna drove into Prost, and that’s all there is to it.”

Piquet won the race, and second to him was his teammate, Roberto Moreno, a childhood friend from Brazil.

After the race, Moreno described Piquet as being “just like a brother.”

The best Australian Grand Prix of all time was won by Piquet, managing to outsmart Mansell.

1991 was his last season in Formula one. His last race win, his 23rd, was at the Canadian Grand Prix. Nigel Mansell had been leading the race on the last lap, then his Williams Renault stopped halfway around the circuit. Kicking his car after getting out, it was mysterious what the problem had been.

On that day, Piquet was the oldest driver, aged 39. Asked if felt sorry for Nigel, he answered “I feel sorry for nobody.”

The habitual complainer lost the 1991 championship to Senna, again overdriving his car in Japan while trying to stay ahead of Senna, he ended up in the gravel trap at the first corner.

His new teammate halfway through his final season was Michael Schumacher. Nelson Piquet calmly accepted being outpaced and finishing behind the future 7 times world champion, having already decided to retire from formula one and try the Indianapolis 500 race the following year.

Indianapolis tribulation

I was shocked to read about Piquet’s awful crash during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 race in 1992.

He suffered multiple fractures to his lower left leg which required hours of reconstructive surgery.

I was among many who wrote to him wishing him a full recovery.

He did recover, and took part in the 1993 Indianapolis 500. When asked what his aim was before the race, yet again, he made full use of his classic sense of humour: “I will not crash.”

My personal favourite (and a role model)

Now living in Brasilia (I believe), he has a great piece of artwork on his house wall: Williams FW11b-Honda.

A few appearances here and there, the most notable was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, driving a Brabham BT52-BMW without a helmet.

Competitive, unique, funny and highly intelligent, I am quite similar to Nelson Piquet.

s Roberto Moreno.

They had

an emotional reunion about 20 years after this photo.

1Brian Sun

Often racing with him was Roberto Moreno. They had an emotional reunion about 20 years after this photo.

1Brian Sun