Nelson Piquet Jr.

Driver

Birthday July 25, 1985

Birth Sign Leo

Age 38 years old

Nationality Brazil

#25602 Most Popular

1978

This was exactly the same result as his father achieved in his first race at the 1978 German Grand Prix.

1985

Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 season.

He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 33 Toyota Corolla E210 for Motul TMG Racing.

He also races a ORECA 07 in the LMP2 Pro/Am class of the 2023 European Le Mans Series with United Autosports.

1993

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.

2001

He raced in part of the 2001 season there, staying for 2002 winning the championship with four races to go.

2002

In 2002 he also raced one race of Brazilian Formula Renault.

2003

In 2003, Piquet moved to the United Kingdom 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 Formula One team followed.

2004

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.

2005

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 One team.

2006

Piquet also finished runner-up in the 2006 GP2 Series, fourth in the 2014 Global RallyCross Championship, and seventh in the 2012 NASCAR Truck Series.

Piquet Jr., born in Heidelberg, West Germany, is the son of three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet, one of Brazil's most successful F1 drivers.

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."

Piquet has two sisters, Kelly and Julia, and four half-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.

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

2007

The son of three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet, he was signed as test driver for Renault Formula One team for the 2007 season, and was promoted to the race team for 2008, before being dropped midway through the 2009 season.

During the 2007 season he was the official test and reserve driver for the Renault Formula One team.

2008

After losing his drive, it emerged that he had, under instruction from senior members of the team, crashed deliberately at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help his teammate, Fernando Alonso, win the race.

The resulting scandal became one of the most significant in motor sport history, and ultimately saw a permanent end to Piquet Junior's career in Formula 1.

The 2008 season saw Piquet promoted to the Renault Formula One race team to drive alongside returning double World Champion Fernando Alonso.

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.

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.

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.

Renault did nothing to quell the rumours, publicly urging him to improve after the Turkish Grand Prix and suggesting after Monaco that he lacked confidence.

Despite the pressure, Piquet scored his first points in F1 with a 7th-place finish at the 2008 French Grand Prix passing his twice-World Champion teammate Fernando Alonso in the last few laps.

2010

Piquet qualified in 10th for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, taking part in the first top 10 qualifying session of his career.

However, his race ended on lap seven after colliding with Sébastien Bourdais in an attempt to overtake.

2013

At the Malaysian Grand Prix he started from 13th on the grid and finished 11th.

2014

He started the Bahrain Grand Prix from 14th but retired with a gearbox problem after his second pit stop.

2017

The Turkish Grand Prix saw him qualify 17th and finish the race 15th.

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, and spun off while chasing teammate Alonso in Canada, before ultimately retiring on lap 42 with brake failure.