Piquet has all the tools to shine!

Renault’s sporting director, Steve Nielsen, hopes that Nelson Piquet, one of the recruits of the 2008 season, will be able to put his numerous rookie mistakes behind him to come back stronger in Turkey in a week’s time.

After a difficult start to the season, the 22-year-old Brazilian wants above all to close the gap with his teammate, Fernando Alonso, as was the case in Barcelona last weekend during qualifying. Indeed, both drivers managed, for the first time, to qualify for Q3.

But once in the race, Piquet collided with Sébastien Bourdais from Toro Rosso, unfortunately, in the early laps of the Grand Prix. After an initial mistake at the first corner, the Renault driver was trying to recover the positions he had lost.

« I would say it’s Bourdais’ fault, but the problem is that Nelson Piquet shouldn’t have been behind the Frenchman at that moment in the race, » explained Nielsen.

« We trust him, and we know he can perform very well in the race, we hope he will do it next time, » he added.