Nelson Piquet Jr’s soundbites
Already, there are Bernie Ecclestone, Niki Lauda, and Jacques Villeneuve who excel in the art of the killer soundbite, and now Nelson Piquet Jr must be added to this very select club. The son of the three-time world champion took advantage of his first victory in the NASCAR Truck Series to take a swipe at some F1 drivers, both from the present and the past...
Everyone remembers Nelson Piquet Jr’s brief stint in F1, and not necessarily for his sole podium finish at Hockenheim in 2008. The son of the triple Brazilian world champion is mainly remembered for being at the center of the Singapore “crashgate” scandal where he deliberately crashed his Renault into the wall to enable his teammate to win.
After his suspension, Nelsinho turned to the United States and now races in the Truck Series, the third division of NASCAR. Last weekend, the Brazilian won his first race in this category at the Michigan International Speedway and took the opportunity to talk about F1.
The least we can say is that Nelson Jr is outspoken. The first to be criticized is Romain Grosjean, who replaced the Brazilian driver starting in Valencia in 2009. While this replacement may not have been the most brilliant, Grosjean managed to step back to take a leap forward and fully justifies his status as an F1 driver with the Lotus team today.
« Romain was lucky because he’s coming back at the right time with a weaker teammate and at the wheel of a very good car. If Fernando were at Lotus, he would win the championship. Grosjean has improved, but he is not a phenomenon and certainly not comparable to Alonso. He was lucky to return to F1 after a bad start and another season in GP2. He had a sponsor to come back to F1, didn’t he? » explains Piquet to the Brazilian media Terra.
This will certainly provoke a reaction from fans of the Frenchman, as well as from Räikkönen’s supporters. And if he’s going to upset Formula 1 enthusiasts, he might as well go all the way. Piquet Jr also has a very strong opinion about Ayrton Senna, who, in 11 seasons and 161 starts, stood on the podium 80 times, including 41 on the top step, achieved 65 poles, and won 3 world championship titles.
« Someone like Senna would have won nothing in today’s F1. He was very fast but he had no talent when it came to the technical and mechanical aspects, » says the person who participated in 28 F1 Grand Prix.
If Nelson Piquet’s son has found his way back to victory, it seems in any case that a certain humility is still somewhat lacking…
Update: Nelson Piquet Jr revisited his statements, indicating that they had been taken out of context and misinterpreted by journalists.
