Special feature
Formula 1
Nelson Piquet – one of F1’s most formidable champions
Nelson Piquet was one of Formula 1’s biggest stars of the 1980s, going head to head with fellow legends Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna – and enjoying his fair share of success against them.
Charles Bradley
Edited: Mar 30, 2024, 2:07 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
After giving up on a promising tennis career, Piquet rose through the single-seater ranks following the advice of another Brazilian great, Emerson Fittipaldi, and came to Europe to follow his F1 dream.
After hard-fought battles in British Formula 3 against Derek Warwick, Piquet made his first F1 starts with Ensign and McLaren machinery in 1978, before finding a home at Brabham in 1979.
5
There – under the ownership of Bernie Ecclestone, management of Herbie Blash and with cars designed by Gordon Murray – Piquet unleashed his true potential at the pinnacle of the sport. His prodigious speed, and willingness to test hard to innovate elements of the car, helped Niki Lauda opt for (his first) retirement.
Piquet finished second to Alan Jones and Williams in 1980, but went one place better in 1981 to win his first world championship – defeating Williams’ other driver, Carlos Reutemann, in a thrilling title decider at Caesars Palace.
After a year spent developing the BMW turbo engine in 1982 – although memorably finding time out to karate-kick Eliseo Salazar in the German GP – Piquet won the title again in 1983, using the dart-shaped BT52 and BT52/B to beat Renault’s Alain Prost in a dramatic end to the season.
11
Gordon Murray on Piquet
Murray said Piquet was “a fantastic racing driver with a lot of natural talent. It was a pleasure and privilege to work alongside him. He was part of the family – and I say that with conviction. We had a family, we had much more than a team.
“It was the passion and the dedication in those early days. We used to load the windtunnel model in the back of his car and go down to Southampton University and do windtunnel testing, and Nelson was there for every single minute of development and he learned everything. From an engineering point of view, we had a fantastic relationship and that's because he was absolutely dedicated as a youngster.”
5
Piquet on his Brabham years
Piquet said of his time at Brabham: “It was fantastic, we were together for seven years, and we achieved two championships together. It was a big family atmosphere. To learn and work with a team was the most important thing.”
Read Also:
In 1984, Piquet would take nine pole positions – equaling the F1 record of the time – but only two wins, as turbocharger failures cost him dear and restricted him to fifth in the championship.
When Michelin withdrew at season’s end, Ecclestone’s decision to switch to Pirelli tyres rather than the superior Goodyears would prove a limiting factor for 1985, Piquet scoring just one win at Paul Ricard.
Piquet, who liked to relax between races, had also grown bored with endlessly testing the Italian rubber, so when Frank Williams offered him a vastly superior salary to join a Williams-Honda team clearly on the rise, Nelson leapt at the chance.
10
Relationship with Williams
In 1986, he finished third in the championship behind McLaren’s Alain Prost and Williams team-mate Nigel Mansell, but in ’87 the Brazilian would beat them both to claim his third World Championship. And that came despite a horrendous practice crash at Imola, which caused him to miss the race.
Piquet, who could be a divisive character when it suited him, maintains his last title was his hardest.
“I had to fight with everything, against other drivers and in my team – to be in an English team with an English teammate and win the championship, it was not easy!
“I had to try to create a division in the team, to survive to try to win the championship. It was a very difficult year, you can believe that.”
The toxic atmosphere that he’d gone some way to creating at Williams turned full circle when it came to contract time. Piquet opted to leave at the end of his title year for an easier time at Lotus, where he was assured number one status alongside journeyman team-mate Satoru Nakajima and – unlike Williams – he would retain the powerful Honda engines.
10
But after a frustrating two-year spell there, with Lotus getting trounced by McLaren using the same engine unit in 1988 and then losing that deal and being forced to run Judd engines in ’89, Piquet ended his career at Benetton.
There, he produced some stunning performances. By winning the final two races of the year, Piquet leapt to third in the 1990 drivers’ standings. The following year he scored his final victory in Canada – at great rival Nigel Mansell’s expense.
At season’s end, having encountered rising phenomenon Michael Schumacher as team-mate, Piquet retired from F1.
By then he had scored 23 grand prix wins across the Brabham, Williams and Benetton teams from 204 starts in total. He retired to concentrate on his business interests – and was especially successful with a GPS tracking system product for commercial vehicles.
He also attempted to conquer the Indianapolis 500 in 1992, only to suffer severe leg injuries in an horrific practice crash – before recovering and returning to compete there in 1993.
3
Piquet and the Le Mans 24 Hours
Piquet also twice contested the Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing eighth in a Bigazzi-run McLaren F1 GTR alongside Johnny Cecotto and Danny Sullivan in 1996, but failing to finish a year later teamed with JJ Lehto and Steve Soper in a works BMW Motorsport car.
His final race was the 2006 Mil Milhas Brasileiras at Interlagos, where he shared victory in an Aston Martin DBR9 with son Nelson Jr, Helio Castroneves and Christophe Bouchut.
Piquet quips today: “When I stopped racing, I realised how good my vacation was!”
But in retirement his outspoken nature cost him dear in 2023, when he was fined $950,000 by a Brazilian court for using racist and homophobic language against Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
Piquet soon apologised for his remarks, stating his language "was ill thought out, and I make no defence for it".
Nelson Piquet
Photo by: Jose Mario Dias
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Leclerc: "Such a fast" Sainz as Ferrari F1 team-mate pushes me to be better
Next article Norris: Potential for McLaren F1 team to improve puts "smile on my face"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Charles Bradley
Mika Hakkinen on his darkest day in F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mika Hakkinen on his darkest day in F1
Dillon: Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Dillon: Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash
Hamlin: NASCAR stripping Dillon of win would be “warranted”
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Hamlin: NASCAR stripping Dillon of win would be “warranted”
More from
Nelson Piquet
Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers
Formula 1
Formula 1
Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers
Top 10 F1 drivers of the 1980s
Formula 1
Top 10 F1 drivers of the 1980s
What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders
Formula 1
Formula 1
Abu Dhabi GP
What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders
More from
Williams
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Latest news
Franco Colapinto urges fans to stop the abuse: “You’re not helping me or my future”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
2 h
Franco Colapinto urges fans to stop the abuse: “You’re not helping me or my future”
Gresini: New MotoGP rules won't increase gap between factory and satellite teams
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
2 h
Gresini: New MotoGP rules won't increase gap between factory and satellite teams
Tristan McKee joins JR Motorsports in 2027 with future plans for full-time ride
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
2 h
Tristan McKee joins JR Motorsports in 2027 with future plans for full-time ride
Colton Herta eyes potential Indy 500 return and IMSA enduros as 2027 plans remain in flux
FIA F2
F2 FIA F2 2 h
Colton Herta eyes potential Indy 500 return and IMSA enduros as 2027 plans remain in flux
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe