#18 – Nelson Piquet

Arguably, Nelson Piquet is slightly fortunate to have three championships, having never looked the class of the field during his time in Formula 1. However, that is partly because he raced during the most competitive era, being the fourth member of the mid-1980s ‘big four’, behind Prost, Senna and Mansell. Piquet’s first two titles were won in slightly controversial circumstances, the Brabham BT49 being the first to use hydro-pneumatic suspension, while in 1983 the team were accused of using illegal rocket fuel. He was also error-prone in his early years. In 1987, Piquet was outperformed by Mansell but outscored him due to greater consistency. His peak arguably came between these title-winning seasons as Piquet was extremely quick in his late seasons with Brabham, before never quite seeming the same driver after his huge accident at Imola in 1987.

Piquet made his debut in 1978, driving for Ensign and retiring, while he then raced an independent McLaren for three races. He crashed in wet conditions in Austria, but finished ninth in Monza. For the last race of the season, Piquet drove a third Brabham, qualifying some way behind John Watson and Niki Lauda and finishing 11th. His dominant championship victory in British Formula 3 in the same season earned him a full-time drive at Brabham alongside the greatest driver of the last era, Niki Lauda, for 1979.

In Piquet’s first full season, Brabham had a torrid time due to the unreliable Alfa Romeo engine, but Piquet performed extremely well compared to his world champion teammate, outqualifying him 8-7 over the course of the season with a number of impressive results, although Lauda did admit to feeling disillusioned with Formula 1 during the season, retiring for the first time at the end of it. After initially struggling for pace and crashing out of the first two races of the season. He qualified an excellent third in Zolder but contact with Scheckter and a poor choice of tyres dropped him out of contention.

He crashed out of fourth in Dijon, and at the start in Silverstone having started third. Engine failure denied him more points in Hockenheim, and it wasn’t until Zandvoort that he finally collected his first points with fourth. He crashed heavily in Monza after contact with Regazzoni, but in Montreal raced a Ford Cosworth engine for the first time and ran third until his gearbox failed. In Watkins Glen, Piquet started on the front row, but lost his chance to score points due to a mistaken choice of slick tyres in wet conditions. Three points did not do Piquet’s impressive rookie season justice and he had probably had the measure of Lauda, despite a lot of mistakes.

For 1980, the Brabham was considerably more competitive due to the Ford Cosworth engine, and in only his second full season, Nelson Piquet was able to fight for the championship with Alan Jones of Williams. In Buenos Aires, he started fourth and finished second despite winner Jones having a troubled race. He was less competitive in Rio and retired with suspension failure, before finishing fourth in Kyalami behind the faster Renaults and Ligiers, being passed late in the race by Pironi. In Long Beach, the Brabham was the class of the field and Piquet produced a flawless race to take his first victory by 50 seconds after a dominant pole. He and Ayrton Senna are the only drivers ever to take a grand slam for their first win.

Zolder was disappointing as Piquet spun out of fifth, while he finished third in Monaco, not having the pace of Williams or Ligier, and fourth in Paul Ricard. Piquet did well to hold off Reutemann for second in Brands Hatch but finished behind Alan Jones, while he took fourth in Hockenheim despite clutch problems, and fifth on the Osterreichring, but in Zandvoort, Piquet drove very well to pass Villeneuve, Arnoux and Laffite for victory, while the Renaults retired in Monza and Piquet took a dominant victory as a result, taking the championship lead from Jones.

Piquet was very quick in Montreal, taking a dominant pole, but collided with his title rival at the start, a racing incident. The race was restarted and Piquet led once again from Jones, but retired with engine failure and Jones took the title with a win. Piquet ran second to Bruno Giacomelli in Watkins Glen but spun out, finishing second in the championship. It is difficult to know how competitive the Brabham was as his teammates, Ricardo Zunino and Hector Rebaque, were far from top-line, but it was probably on a similar level to the Williams. Piquet could have been champion with fewer mistakes, but with his level of experience that was excusable.

Piquet continued to race for Brabham in 1981, fighting the Williams pair for the title, and despite a number of costly errors he claimed his first title. He finished second to Reutemann in Kyalami but the race was later declared non-championship for reasons of politics, the FISA/FOCA wars ongoing. In Long Beach, Piquet finished a distant third behind Jones and Reutemann, while in Rio he took pole but failed to score due to the decision to start on wet tyres. At the next race in Buenos Aires, Brabham introduced the genius ‘hydro-pneumatic suspension,’ which allowed the car to drop below the minimum ride-height when at speed, but move back above it when stationary for technical regulations. Brilliant as it was, the car idea was blatantly illegal but was inexplicably given the nod of approval by FISA, perhaps due to the political dispute with FOCA, led by Brabham team principal Bernie Ecclestone. The car was utterly dominant in Buenos Aires and Piquet won from Reutemann, teammate Hector Rebaque retiring from second. By Imola, the other teams had developed similar tricks, but those points gained in Argentina would prove crucial.

Piquet started fifth at the next race in Imola, but did well to fight his way to the front as Pironi struggled with tyres and Villeneuve pitted. Piquet won an entertaining race in wet conditions. Next came Zolder, where Piquet was part of a battle for the lead containing Pironi and the Williams pair, and retired after contact with Jones. He claimed pole in Monaco, but was hunted down by Alan Jones from a poor grid slot and, under considerable pressure from the reigning champion, Piquet crashed out. It was a costly error. At the next race in Jarama, it was Jones’ turn to crash out of the lead, but Piquet was not there to pick up the pieces, crashing himself while well out of contention. Piquet now sat 15 points behind Carlos Reutemann in the standings despite having the best car at the start of the season.

Piquet led in Dijon after jumping Arnoux at the start, but a red flag caused the race to be restarted around three-quarter distance, with aggregate times, and on the second start Piquet lost out to Prost and Watson. Then he crashed again in Silverstone, although this one was induced by a tyre failure. Piquet was in the lead battle in Hockenheim, passing Prost for second late in the race and inheriting the race victory after problems for Jones. On the Osterreichring he held off the Williams pair to finish third, while in Zandvoort he finished second to Prost after crucially passing a struggling Jones in the latter stages of the race. He was back in title contention, now level on points with Reutemann.

In Monza, Piquet ran third once again, behind Prost, the Renault the best car at the end of the season, and Jones, but retired on the final lap with engine failure and dropped back behind Reutemann in the standings. Piquet took pole in Montreal but only finished fifth, struggling in wet conditions. He still closed the championship gap to one point behind Reutemann going into the season finale in Las Vegas. When Reutemann took pole, it looked a foregone conclusion that he would take the title, but instead Reutemann had a shocker of the race, going backwards so quickly that it appeared the pressure had got to him. Piquet struggled with heat exhaustion, but still managed to make the crucial pass on Reutemann and finish fifth, having to be lifted from the car afterwards.

He was world champion for the first time, with just 50 points in a very open and competitive season. It was not his finest season, with a lot of mistakes earlier in the season, bad luck for Jones, and the Brabham also probably the overall best car, but Piquet had still got the job done on the day and was a worthier champion than the somewhat underwhelming Reutemann. Although the hydro-pneumatic suspension should never have been deemed legal, it only benefitted Piquet in Argentina as thereafter, the other big teams copied the trick. It was also an extremely difficult car to drive and Piquet’s quality had shone through.

After initially continuing with the Ford engine, Brabham quickly switched to a turbo BMW engine in 1982, which was to be the undoing of Piquet’s title defence as, despite being fast, it was extremely unreliable. The move would pay off in the long term. Piquet was also joined by a more competitive teammate, Riccardo Patrese from Brabham. He started second in Kyalami but stalled on the grid and then spun off. In Rio, Piquet drove the best race of his career. Starting seventh, he forced his way to the front with some good overtaking and an entertaining battle with Keke Rosberg. He then pressured Gilles Villeneuve into a mistake to take the lead and continued to hold off Rosberg for the remainder of the race, despite intense heat exhaustion which forced teammate Patrese out of the race, and Piquet’s head was visibly drooping in the closing laps. He then collapsed on the podium after a brilliant win.

Unfortunately, it was all for nothing as Piquet, along with Rosberg, was later disqualified for water-cooled brakes. These were water tanks, supposedly to cool the brakes, but rather designed to keep the car above the minimum weight limit at the start of the race, before the water evaporates during the race, and is topped up before the car is weighed again at the end. In Long Beach, Piquet crashed, while a problematic race in Zolder and a pitstop left him back in fifth, in his first race with the turbocharged BMW engine. In Monaco, the turbo failed him while Patrese took victory in the craziest end to a Grand Prix in history. In Detroit, Piquet failed to qualify due to engine failure in qualifying. The championship seemed to be gone.

Piquet did well to take his first proper win of the season in Montreal after passing Pironi and the Renaults and being unchallenged after Prost and Arnoux retired. He finished second in Zandvoort behind Pironi as the Renaults dropped out again. The Brabhams now tried a tactic of light fuel and soft tyres, to pull away at the start before making a pitstop, but it took time to be put to the test properly as Piquet suffered engine failure while leading in both Brands Hatch and Paul Ricard, and once again retired while leading in Hockenheim, this time due to contact with backmarker Eliseo Salazar, who he then famously attacked by the side of the track.

On the Osterreichring, the Brabham strategy was finally proven to be a good one as Patrese retained the lead after his stop. But both cars still retired with engine failures. Piquet was fourth in Dijon, but retired from the final two races to finish 11th in the championship behind Patrese. This was not representative of his pace during the season, and Piquet actually led more laps than anyone bar the two Renaults. The Brabham-BMW combination was fast and clearly had potential but just needed to sort out the reliability.

For 1983, Brabham had done just that and now had a car worthy of fighting for the title. Meanwhile, Piquet stepped up his game and was able to fight for the title with Prost’s Renault and the Ferraris of Arnoux and Tambay. In Rio, he started second but quickly made his way past Keke Rosberg to pull away and take victory. He struggled with Michelin tyres in Long Beach qualifying, then couldn’t make the same progress as the McLarens before retiring. In Paul Ricard, Prost dominated butt Piquet did well to beat Cheever in the second Renault to second. He stalled on the line in Imola, but finished second in Monaco after Laffite retired ahead of him.

In Spa, Piquet ran second behind Prost but dropped to fourth due to gearbox problems. In Detroit he led the race initially before being passed by Arnoux, who later retired leaving Piquet in position to win, until a late puncture relegated him to fourth. He then retired with more technical problems in Montreal, while third. Piquet was second to Prost in Silverstone, then in Hockenheim he fought Arnoux for victory and was chasing down the Ferrari when the turbo failed, putting him out. Piquet ran third on the Osterreichring but passed Tambay and jumped Arnoux in the pits, before dropping back due to engine trouble. He then led from pole in Zandvoort ahead of Prost, before his title rival attempted a pass which eliminated both drivers. This was unlucky for Piquet, as Prost was responsible for the collision, and he was now 14 points behind with three races to go.

From Monza onwards, the Brabham suddenly became the clear best car on the grid, and Piquet claimed victory after teammate Patrese retired. Then in Brands Hatch, he again inherited the lead after Patrese was hit by de Angelis and won again ahead of Prost to close the gap to just two points going into Kyalami. There, Piquet took the lead at the start ahead of Patrese and pushed hard until Prost’s turbo failed, and Piquet was champion despite backing off and finishing third. It was his second title, and it was a far more accomplished performance than his first with no real mistakes all season.

However, Piquet’s second title was also not without controversy. The upturn in pace in Monza had come from a new type of fuel, dubbed ‘rocket fuel,’ and after the season ended it is believed that Elf, fuel suppliers of Renault, tested some of Brabham’s rocket fuel in Kyalami and found it to be illegal. Alain Prost wanted to protest the result, but Renault refused and Brabham’s title stood. It is unknown whether or not the fuel was actually illegal.

Unfortunately for Piquet, the 1984 season would not produce a repeat of his title success in 1983, as the old gremlin of the reliability of the BMW turbo returned, and despite Piquet having the fastest car, it simply couldn’t finish the races and he finished a long way behind the McLarens in the championship. Piquet’s season started terribly, with zero points from the first six races. In Rio he stalled on the grid and then the engine failed, while in Kyalami he took pole and led initially from Lauda until his pitstop, after which the turbo failed. Turbo failure cost him again in Zolder, while fourth, and Imola while second after another pole. It failed him again in Dijon, while he retired in Monaco with electrical problems.

It finally came together for Piquet in Montreal, where he took another pole but this time the turbo did not fail and he led every lap to record a grand slam victory. However, it had not been an easy one, with Prost and Lauda harrying him all the way. Then in Detroit, he repeated the trick with another lights-to-flag victory despite late pressure from the illegal Tyrrell of Martin Brundle. This brief revival would not spark a title challenge, however, and Piquet was out again in Dallas, this time after hitting the wall. He took pole in Brands Hatch, but this time had already lost out to the McLarens before the car failed him again.

Piquet once again retired from the lead in Hockenheim, with gearbox failure after De Angelis had already dropped out ahead of him. Then on the Osterreichring, he led most of the race from Prost and Lauda who were attacking him. Prost dropped out but Lauda then passed him for the lead. Piquet, in second, backed off thinking his chance had gone as his tyres were badly worn. In reality, Lauda was struggling with gearbox problems but Piquet was unaware and didn’t attack him. This was down to brilliant, calm driving from Lauda, and Piquet cannot be blamed.

In Zandvoort, Piquet once again led at the start, after passing Prost, but retired from the lead, and in Monza he took pole but the same story ensued. Piquet was back on pole in the Nurburgring but could only finish third, running out of fuel at the end. Then in Estoril, he spun on lap one from pole and finished sixth. Piquet was fifth in the championship but had been the only real challenger to McLaren all season, leading the most laps of anyone bar Prost, and only reliability had let him down. It was among Piquet’s strongest seasons, with teammate Teo Fabi nowhere in comparison.

The 1985 season was to be a terrible one for Piquet and Brabham, who switched to Pirelli tyres, while the rest of the frontrunners used Goodyears, and had little success with them. The speed seemed to have gone, and while reliability was a little better, Piquet’s season was ruined by a series of mistakes as well as bad luck. The season started poorly, as Piquet spun out in Rio and had a tyre failure in Estoril, both while running uncompetitively. He ran out of fuel while outside the points in Imola, then collided with Patrese in Monaco. In Montreal, the car failed him on lap one, and sixth in Detroit was Piquet’s first point of the season.

In Paul Ricard, the hot temperatures suited the Pirelli tyres and Piquet charged forwards from fifth to win his first race of the season. Then in Silverstone he started second and finished fourth, which should have been third as the checkered flag was waved a lap early, and Laffite subsequently ran out of fuel. In Germany it was the old turbo problem again, while in Austria it was the exhaust that failed. Piquet took pole in Zandvoort but stalled at the start and never recovered. Piquet got a rare good result in Monza, finishing second, then was fifth in Spa. He was in the lead battle in Brands Hatch before being taken out by Rosberg. Car failures eliminated Piquet twice more in the final two races of a miserable season in which he was eighth in the standings, but had still categorically beaten new teammate Marc Surer.

For 1986, Nelson Piquet finally decided to leave Brabham, seeing opportunities for a higher salary elsewhere, and also recognising that the Brabham team was in decline. Indeed, they would never again win a race after Piquet left. Piquet was offered drives at both McLaren and Williams, choosing the latter as he didn’t like the amount of work with sponsors that was required at McLaren, and it was the right choice. Williams had looked very strong in the last few races of 1985 and the Honda engine would prove to be the best for the next few years. Piquet joined Nigel Mansell at Williams, and was signed as the lead driver, Frank Williams calling him the best driver in the world. However, despite having had an underwhelming start to his career, something had clicked for Mansell at the end of 1985 and he went into 1986 on top form, and surprisingly was good as Piquet. It was the beginning of a heated rivalry between the two drivers.

The first race of the season was in Rio, Piquet starting second behind Senna, passing him early and winning after Prost’s engine failed while he was threatening Piquet’s lead. Mansell had taken himself out trying to pass Senna. In Jerez, Piquet ran second to Senna until his engine failed. In Imola, Piquet led initially before his pitstop, but was narrowly beaten by Prost who fuel-saved to perfection. Next came Monaco, where Piquet was only seventh after engine difficulties. Piquet led in Spa but retired from the lead with engine failure.

In Montreal, Piquet finished only third, some way behind Mansell, while in Detroit he briefly led before pitting, and then crashed out, leaving him 17 points off the championship lead, although he had been unlucky with two engine failures. He was third in Paul Ricard, again outpaced by Mansell. Brands Hatch was an entertaining battle between the Williams pair, Piquet leading from pole at the start of the race until he made a mistake and Mansell passed him for victory. Piquet got his title challenge back on track in Hockenheim with another victory, beating Keke Rosberg who then ran out of fuel.

Piquet started second in Hungary, and shadowed Senna for the first part of the race before making one of the finest overtakes in Grand Prix history to pass him for victory. He retired in Austria while behind Mansell, but won again in Monza after passing his teammate late in the race for victory. In Estoril, his title chances took a hit with third place after a spin battling Senna as Mansell won, and after finishing fourth due to excessive tyre wear in Mexico City, having led the first part of the race, Piquet needed to win in Adelaide to take the title.

In Adelaide, Piquet led initially before dropping back with a spin, then charged back to second behind dominant leader Rosberg. Mansell, in third, was in total control of the championship, particularly after Rosberg’s tyre failed and he now only needed third place (and was a lap ahead of fourth at this time), to take the title. This moment of total control was to last no more than one lap, as his tyre then failed spectacularly on the straight, putting him out. Piquet now led the race and was in position to take the title, but opted to pit, as he was urged to do by Goodyear, fearing a repeat of the Mansell incident. To win the title, Piquet needed to chase down and pass Prost for victory, but the McLaren driver drove a perfect race to hold on and beat the faster Williams pair to the title.

Piquet ended up third in the championship, one point behind Mansell and three behind winner Prost. Had Williams just slightly favoured one driver over the other, they could have won the drivers’ title, and being the lead driver at the start of the year, Piquet would have expected that preferential treatment to have gone to him. But Mansell had improved significantly since 1985, and the Williams pair had allowed Alain Prost to beat them in a slower car, after one of the finest season performances in Grand Prix history.

The 1987 season was to offer Piquet a better chance of that third title, the Williams now a more dominant car than the year before despite the best efforts of Prost and Senna, their nearest challengers. In Rio, Piquet led initially but struggled with tyre wear and was beaten to victory by Prost. Then in Imola, he crashed heavily in qualifying and had to sit out the race. It was the worst accident of his career, and he later said that he was never really the same driver after it. Perhaps this explains why 1987 was a comparatively poor season for Piquet (albeit one that still presented him with a championship), as he wasn’t quite at the level he had been during 1983-86, his peak.

In Spa, Piquet led at the start after Mansell and Senna took each other out, but then the turbo failed just after he had been passed by Prost. He then finished second to Senna in Monaco after Mansell retired from the lead, and repeated the result in Detroit, this time after a far more impressive drive as he came from the back following an early puncture. He finished second to Mansell in Paul Ricard after an extra stop didn’t quite pay off. Then in Silverstone, Piquet took pole and led most of the race from Mansell who, after making a stop, hunted him down and passed him into Stowe with a famous dummy to take victory.

Piquet’s fortune changed in the following races, and he took the championship lead for the first time in Hockenheim after Mansell and Prost both retired with mechanical failures ahead of him. Then in Hungary he moved ahead of Prost and Senna and then inherited victory as Mansell retired from the lead just six laps from the end as a wheel nut came off his Williams. In Austria, Piquet led initially but was passed by Mansell and finished second, while in Monza he raced with active suspension and beat Senna with his best drive of the season to take victory, well ahead of Mansell. In Estoril he was only third, well behind Prost and Berger, but with Mansell retiring now looked in position to take the title, holding an 18 point lead.

Piquet struggled in Jerez to finish only fourth after a slow stop and two spins, while in Mexico he lost time initially after an incident with Prost, and the race was stopped as Derek Warwick crashed. Piquet won the second race but was beaten on aggregate by Mansell, leading the championship by 12 points with two races remaining. He secured his title in Suzuka as Mansell was injured after a crash in qualifying and had to sit out the rest of the season, and finished the season with a couple of underwhelming races, retiring while fourth in Suzuka and third in Adelaide. Although he had not been as quick as Mansell in 1987 and was a little fortunate to take the title, Piquet had also secured it with excellent consistency, taking 11 podiums in the first 14 races.

However, poor relations with the team and Mansell prompted Piquet to move to Lotus for 1988. It was to be a bad move for his career, the team a shadow of their former self, although Williams also lost Honda backing, the engine manufacturer having wanted Piquet to get the number one status. McLaren, with Prost and Senna as their drivers, totally dominated the season but Ferrari and Benetton often beat Lotus to be best of the rest. Piquet took two podiums for third in Rio and Imola, but over a minute behind the winner each time. Piquet would score points just five more times for the rest of the season, including a podium in Adelaide, the season finale, but was only sixth in the championship.

The 1989 season was the worst of Piquet’s career, the Lotus, now with a Judd engine rather than the Honda, so uncompetitive that even a driver of his calibre was unable to even finish on the podium all year. His best drive came in Silverstone, where he was fourth on merit, although he claimed the same result in Montreal and Suzuka. Piquet was eighth in the championship and left Lotus at the end of the season, although he had still clearly outperformed Satoru Nakajima during their time as teammates.

For 1990, Piquet joined Alessandro Nannini at Benetton and had a much better season. He scored minor points in each of the first three races, and claimed his first podium in Montreal after beating Nigel Mansell’s Ferrari for second. He scored more points in Mexico, Paul Ricard and Silverstone, then took another podium in Hungary although it required Nannini, Mansell and Berger to retire ahead of him. After what had mostly been a disappointing season by Piquet’s high standards, Nannini on a similar level to him for most of the season, he won the last two races. Suzuka was slightly fortunate, as Senna took out Prost and Berger and Mansell both retired, but in Adelaide he took the lead after Senna spun out and then held off Mansell to take an impressive win and third in the championship, his best result since 1987.

Piquet returned for his final season in 1991, taking a podium in Phoenix with third, and then finishing fifth in Interlagos. The final win of Piquet’s career came in Montreal as Mansell embarrassingly stalled on the final lap while dominating the race, as he slowed down to wave to the crowd. Piquet returned to the podium in Spa, finishing third ahead of teammate Roberto Moreno who was replaced by Michael Schumacher from the next race in Monza, and Schumacher beat Piquet to fifth in Monza. I believe that Piquet was told in an interview that Schumacher had been two tenths faster than him through Eau Rouge in Spa, to which Piquet replied, ‘but Michael doesn’t have a wife and child.’ In Estoril, he finished ahead in fifth, then was outpaced by his teammate again in Catalunya.

Piquet finished fourth in Adelaide, to take sixth in the championship, and subsequently announced his retirement. Even if his record of three championships flatters him a little and he wasn’t the standout driver in any of the three seasons, the fact that Piquet had so much success in an era as competitive as the 1980s, arguably the most competitive era ever in Formula 1, earns him a place in the top 20. His son, Nelson Piquet Jr, later went on to race in Formula 1 with Renault.

Wins: 23

Podiums: 60

Pole Positions: 24

Race Starts: 204

Points: 1682

*World Champion of 1981, 1983 and 1987*

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