Nelson Piquet Jr.

Nelson Ângelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born 25 July 1985 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany), also known as Nelsinho Piquet or Nelson Piquet Jr. is a German born, Brazilian racing driver, who competed in the FIA GP2 Series between 2005 and 2006. The son of three-time Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet, Piquet was the first driver to claim a maximum score at a GP2 Series meeting, and would finish as runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in the 2006 season.

Piquet made his GP2 Series debut at the start of the inaugural 2005 season, joining the Hitech Grand Prix squad which had partnered with his father's own entity, Piquet Racing to run Piquet for the season. A mixed maiden season saw Piquet emerge as a regular point scorer, with the Brazilian racer claiming one victory en-route to eighth in the Championship.

Retained by Piquet Sports for the 2006 campaign, Piquet would emerge as a title pretender at the start of the season, winning the opening race in Valencia. However, a mid-season slump saw him fall behind Hamilton in the Championship, and despite a late string of victories, Piquet would end the season twelve points behind Hamilton.

Piquet graduated to Formula One after the 2006 season, running as a test driver in 2007, before becoming a full time F1 driver in 2008 with Renault. After leaving F1, Piquet would bounce around various series, before becoming the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship Champion in 2015.

Background
Piquet began his career in karting at the age of eight in 1993, after moving to Brazil at the behest of his mother. At the age of sixteen he graduated to racing cars with his father, three time Formula One World Champions Nelson Piquet, running a team in the Formula Three Sudamericana for him. One win left the Brazilian youth in fifth in the Championship after three races, with Piquet staying in the series for 2002.

F3 Themes: 2002 - 2004
Piquet's sophomore season in Sudamericana F3 was far stronger, with the Brazilian racer claiming the Championship with a dominant display, claiming thirteen wins and sixteen poles out of seventeen races. A move to Europe and the British Formula 3 Championship followed for 2003, with Piquet emerging as a title contender as he secured six wins and third in the Championship. The Brazilian racer would also enter the one-off Masters of Formula 3, finishing second, as well as make his Macau Grand Prix debut, finishing eighth.

2004 saw Piquet complete a second season in British F3, with a stronger season carrying the Brazilian youth to the Championship after a season long duel with Adam Carroll.

GP2 Series History
Piquet moved into the new FIA GP2 Series for the inaugural 2005 season, after his father's Piquet Racing team partnered with Hitech Grand Prix to enter the Championship. Partnered by fellow Brazilian racer Alexandre Negrão, Piquet would impress at the pre-season test at Le Castellet, setting the second fastest time. That earned him #3 as his race number for the campaign, with the Brazilian duly opening the season with a point in the 2005 Imola Sprint Race.

Post GP2 Series Career
For 2007 Piquet secured a seat as a test/reserve driver for the Renault F1 team, spending the full season on the sidelines. He was duly promoted to a full race seat in 2008, although poor form as well as his involvement in the Crashgate Scandal, would mar his F1 career, with Piquet being dropped from Renault's squad midway through 2009. The Brazilian duly moved to the various NASCAR series in the United States from 2010 onward, before returning to the global racing scene in 2014 by joining the FIA Formula E Championship.

Electric Dreams: 2014 - 2019
Piquet would go on to become the inaugural Formula E Champion in the 2014/15 season, claiming two victories en-route to his first title since 2004. Unfortunately for Piquet he would be unable to defend his title in the following 2015/16 season, with a similarly poor 2016/17 season seeing him move to the factory Jaguar team. Yet, Piquet's form was still miserable, and after being outclassed by teammate Mitch Evans in 2017/18 and the start of the 2018/19 season, Piquet left the series to focus on the Stock Car Brasil Championship.

Full GP2 Series Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining 's career in the GP2 Series in statistical form.

GP2 Series Entries
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for during their GP2 career:

Career Results
Below is a table showing 's full GP2 Series record.


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