Nelson Piquet Jnr: was he lucky or good?
Nelson Piquet Jnr finished second at the Hockenheimring
Nelson Piquet Jnr has not had the best of seasons so far. I picked him as the worst driver of the year so far when I ranked them all after the British Grand Prix and few of you seemed to disagree.
Today he gave Renault their first podium finish of the year. But how much of it was down to luck?
The safety car period that followed Timo Glock’s crash could not have been timed more perfectly for Nelson Piquet Jnr. He made his only stop for fuel – having qualified 17th – on lap 36. At the same time, Glock was burying his Toyota into the pit wall, causing a lengthy safety car period.
That left Piquet third on the road and, once Lewis Hamilton and Nick Heidfeld had made their pit stops, gave him the lead of the race.
When the race got back under way he was able to defend his position from Felipe Massa, who never really got close to him. He held the lead for six laps before Lewis Hamilton forced his way past. Piquet continued to lap quickly and Massa couldn’t get near to him to make a pass for second.
I thought Piquet showed a lot of maturity in the closing stages of the race. He didn’t throw the car off the track tying to defend his lead from Hamilton, and he set some of his fastest laps of the race to keep Massa at bay.
No, he wouldn’t have finished second on merit. But he took the opportunity that was presented to him and made the most of it – and sometimes that’s the best you can do in F1. How did you rate Piquet Jnr’s drive?
It was Piquet's first podium finish and Renault's first of the year
michael counsell said on 21st July 2008, 2:33
After the safety car only Hamilton, Heidfeld and arguable Raikkonen were faster than him which is very impressive. The Renault is quick as Alonso showed in qualifying but never really had the chance to show in the race.
“And like Mike said it’s really surprising Massa didn’t catch him – though how much of that is to Piquet credit or Massa’s discredit I’m not sure…”
What about all the other drivers who were no where near Massa?
On qualifying form the fastest Ferrari was only a few tenths faster than the fastest Renault. Piquet was as fast as he should be given that he was on the soft tyres compared to Massa’s hard. The impressive thing about Piquet was that the made his soft tyres last, recording his fastest lap on lap 66, one lap from the finish.
Massa did seem to be losing a lot of brake dust which can’t have helped, yet he managed to comfortably lead the rest of the field and even hold behind the 2nd fastest driver in the second half of the race, Heidfeld (albeit with the fastest lap).
True Massa didn’t win and should have defended Hamilton more but overall his race was good and was comfortably ahead of his teammate for the whole weekend.
Loki said on 21st July 2008, 2:56
Fergus: whilst that may be true of earlier years, I’d say the bar has been raised considerably that rookies must show at least signs of promise at a very early stage. Places in F1 can be volatile and even good drivers need to work at keeping their places – there are probably more contenders nowadays up for an F1 seat.
This probably hasn’t helped with Lewis Hamilton setting a high standard in his rookie year – taking pro and con arguments aside. Given that Piquet was his rival in GP2, and that Piquet has joined a top team (well, one that has won championships beating Ferrari in recent years), many were excited at the prospects of Piquet in F1.
Without comparing him to Hamilton, he’s hardly shone full stop as a driver, often making a hash of it during qualifying, or in races. It’s been pretty much uninspiring to watch so far, but now that we see he can be sensible in a top position, and not flunk away something good, things can change.
F1′s a tough business, often no love lost, and although Piquet’s often dismissed I want to see if this will improve his confidence and do better, or if it is just a one hit wonder.
chunter said on 21st July 2008, 3:32
I don’t think he was 100% lucky, but I wonder what Renault have done to improve pace; earlier in the year he would have been lunchmeat for the cars behind him, and he’d have settled in behind Kimi.
If an article comes out later this week announcing that Renault are under investigation, we’ll have the answer.
Paige said on 21st July 2008, 3:56
Piquet did a great job on the track today. Yes, he was boosted into contention by the combination of luck (the safety car) and strategy (one-stopper), but the fact is that he outran Massa, who was in a surely superior car, from the restart of the race to put distance on him and finish second. He showed poise in the situation in which he was at the front of the field racing against superior cars. Hamilton got by, but that was pretty much a given.
Also, it’s worth noting that he has beaten Alonso two of the last three weeks in the race. Perhaps its now Alonso’s job at Renault that could be on the line! LOL!
the limit said on 21st July 2008, 4:04
As they say, ‘fortune favours the brave’. Yes, Piquet did get a big piece of luck today, but he had to be in that position to take advantage in the first place.
Of all the drivers on the grid, Piquet’s head has been on the chopping block all season, and this result is just what he needed.
To really rub salt into the wound, he secured Renault’s first podium since Fuji last year, something Fernando Alonso has yet to achieve since returning to the fold.
Whether Piquet has a long term future is hard to say, but this race certainly helped prolong it just that little more further.
Sri said on 21st July 2008, 4:29
@Oliver
Tsk, tsk. I sniff sarcasm. However mate, let us look at facts.
Hamilton’s fastest lap time: 1:16.039
Piquet’s fastest lap time: 1:16.910
Hmm, it seems to me almost a second. In F1 parlance, i hope you understand that it is almost a light-year. Most teams would be happy to gain that much time at the turn of the season. So Ham may not have had “an airplane”, as you mentioned, but his car was indeed flying(relatively speaking).
Sri said on 21st July 2008, 4:37
@ Oliver
Almost forgot to mention one tiny detail… Remember Alonso? Yes, the back-to-back champion from not so long ago. His fastest lap time was: 1:17.115
Now that is telling. If you still have a problem with me praising Piquet, well nevermind…
Fergus Gallas said on 21st July 2008, 4:49
Loki: I do agree that things were different but they were rookies anyway.
It is not fair to say that Renault is a top team these days (Alonso must have something to say about this), if so I should consider Williams as well (beated Ferrari and Schumacher all the same).
>>“Places in F1 can be volatile and even good drivers need to work at keeping their places – there are probably more contenders nowadays up for an F1 seat.” <<
Rookies of this millennium:
- Robert Kubica 2006 BMW : 6 races (3rd italy) 6points – 1point/race
- Timo Glock 2008(not considering2004) Toyota 5points – 0.5point/race
- Nico Rosberg 2006 Williams : 4 points – 0.22point/race
- Vettel 2007 BMW / STR : 8 races 6 points – 0.75point/race
- Button 2000 Williams : 12 points – 0.7point/race
Would you burn these guys?
Regarding Hamilton: He is a great driver, i am certain that he will take some f1 titles, but wouldn’t you agree that his rookie year must have been different if he had something else in his hands other than Mclaren or Ferrari?
Piquet was a great contender to Hamilton when they had similar conditions. I wonder if we’ll be fortunate enough to see that again.
With similar cars would be safe to say if a driver is good or just a weekend driver. Other than that we should be glad to see races like we had today in Germany.
Paige said on 21st July 2008, 5:31
It’s easy to throw criticisms at Piquet for some of his performances this year, but again: he is just a rookie. Expecting any rookie to perform like Hamilton did last year is wholly unrealistic because 1) not every driver is as good as Lewis Hamilton (I would contend that none in F1 are), and 2) not every rookie gets the chance to drive a car as good as the McLaren was last year. Renault is no longer a top-tier team, so expecting him to challenge for podiums regularly is unrealistic. Most rookies make a number of mistakes and crash their fair share of cars.
What you look for in rookies when you evaluate them is how they progress over the course of the season and how they handle certain situations when they face them. Piquet has faced lots of media criticism for his poor start to the season and his mistakes. He’s responded to the media criticism by remaining focused and improving his performances. He was decent at Monaco and Montreal before crashing. He was good at Magny Cours and even overtook his twice-world-champion teammate on the track to take 7th. He was quick in qualifying at Silverstone and was solidly in contention for a points finish before the spin. And today, he drove a great race at Hockenheim.
Let’s see how he continues to progress before we rush to judgment about him and his place in F1.
Gman said on 21st July 2008, 6:04
Was Piquet on the podium today due to luck? To an extent, yes, but let’s give him some credit. Just look at some of his DNFs earlier in the year- judging by some of his past performances, I was expecting him to crack when he got the lead and was challenged by Hamilton. While Lewis won, Piquet brought the car home in second, and that deserves a hand. Sometimes things just fall into place, and a poor driver would not have made the msot out of them- Piquet did.
Chunter- you’ve got a good one with the investigation. My question for the weekend is this: How dose Piquet bring the Renault home in front of the Ferraris and BMWs while Fernando lagged further down the grid in the same machinery? Interesting…
milos said on 21st July 2008, 6:36
Lucky to find himself at the front after the safety car.
Good job from him to stay there and bring the car home in 2nd place and comfortably keeping Massa behind.
milos said on 21st July 2008, 6:42
“How dose Piquet bring the Renault home in front of the Ferraris and BMWs while Fernando lagged further down the grid in the same machinery? Interesting…”
Alonso simply drives this year in “all or nothing” style. Also, by qualifying 5th he had no chance to even think about 1 stop strategy that would allow him to have that luck that sent Piquet to the front end of the pack.
At the same time have to say that several of Alonso’s overtaking maneuvre attempts looked very misjudged … As far as I could see none of them worked out for him, but several went the wrong way for him – loosing places to cars behind him instead of gaining some … Sure not a race he can be proud of.
For some added irony, here are some Alonso’s words before the race:
“My team-mate was out in the Q1 and I am fifth on the grid. It’s a little frustrating to know that with only a slightly better car, I could be fighting for wins.”
Pedro Andrade said on 21st July 2008, 9:06
Did anyone else notice how low key were the Renault guys on the pit wall as Piquet crossed the line? I think they knew Alonso would be very ****** off!
Oliver said on 21st July 2008, 10:19
@Sri
“Nelsinho Jnr. kept his cool… The fact that it took Lewis 6 laps in a much faster car to overtake him and Massa who languished in 3rd place(i expected better from him) chasing him, speaks volumes about his performance today”
“Tsk, tsk. I sniff sarcasm. However mate, let us look at facts.
Hamilton’s fastest lap time: 1:16.039
Piquet’s fastest lap time: 1:16.910″
Sri with both statements you just made, you seem to contradict yourself. If Hamilton was almost a second faster than Piquet, then how many laps would he take him to catch Piquet from being maybe 5 or 6 seconds behind or even more, and having to go past another car to get to Piquet.
I have no problem with your praise of Piquet, I only feel you reporting or analysis is totally flawed and a poor assessment at best.
Oliver said on 21st July 2008, 10:24
I do not think anyone expects Piquet to win races, be on the podium regularly, or finish in the points at every race. Considering his reputation while in GP2, the lease expected of him, is to put in a consistent performance, and be much closer to his team mate during qualifying at the very least. The reality is that Piquet has been prone to making too many mistakes, crashing out of races while not under any pressure and much too often.
Podium or not, he has driven very poorly all season. The only good race he has had so far was the French Grand Prix.