Crashgate's Piquet rules out F1 return
By Motorsport.com/GMM
Nelsinho Piquet has admitted he has closed the door on Formula One.
The Brazilian's Grand Prix career ended in shame after one and a half seasons two years ago, after being ousted by Flavio Briatore and then triggering the 'crashgate' scandal.
Piquet, now 25, admitted to O Estado de S.Paulo that there were some early efforts to stay in F1 after that.
"I talked to the guy who bought Toyota," said Piquet, referring to Serbian Zoran Stefanovic who attempted to set up a team with some of the assets of the departed Toyota.
"Bernie was helping me too. I talked to him (Stefanovic) until the new year, I thought he was serious.
"It was after that I said, 'Ok, I'm realistic, enough'. My dream was not to be just a part of F1, for the glamour -- I wanted to do it right and be champion.
"It didn't happen," added Piquet.
As for returning to F1 one day, he explained: "That's very complicated, even for such a guy as Michael Schumacher. So it's not so easy to think about it.
"Do I want to get back out there and face the same garbage and politics? No. F1 is spectacular to watch on TV, but now I'm only thinking about NASCAR."
As for his then teammate Fernando Alonso's involvement in the crashgate scandal, Piquet concluded: "No. What happened was not his fault."
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