Malaysian GP – A second unforgivable failure for Piquet

At the start of the 2009 season, Nelson Piquet Jr’s old demons are about to resurface. A rather late confirmation for a second year in Formula 1 showed Renault’s hesitation to trust him. To avoid disappointing his employer, the Brazilian will have to pull himself together in Malaysia.

Aided by the KERS, which should demonstrate its effectiveness on the long straights of the Sepang circuit, Piquet will have to secure his position since, as a reminder, he has the number 8 on his car…

Nelson, your race ended early in Melbourne, but you were competitive…

« Yes. I had a good start to the Grand Prix and gained quite a few places during the first lap. But it was when the safety car came in that I started having trouble with the brakes. When the race resumed, I fought with Rosberg and overtook him, but that’s when the brakes failed. I went off the track and ended up in the gravel. Fortunately, the car wasn’t damaged. It’s really unfortunate, I was in a good position. I think we could have had a great race and finished in the points. »

Tell us about the Sepang circuit…

« It’s a very wide track that offers some good spots for overtaking. We’ve seen some great races there in the past. There are two long straights where our KERS system should give us an advantage and help us make overtakes. It’s also a very physical race because of the high temperatures. This winter, I trained in extreme temperatures to prepare well. Therefore, the heat and humidity shouldn’t be a huge handicap. »

How are you going to approach this weekend in Malaysia?

I’ve already put Melbourne behind me and I am fully focused on the Malaysian Grand Prix. We know we need to improve our performance level, and we have already learned a lot from the R29 in Australia. We will use this knowledge during free practice and try to find a better chassis balance. Sepang should also allow us to determine our real performance level, as it’s a more traditional circuit than Melbourne. I am eager to be there.

According to a statement from the Renault F1 Team