Nelson Piquet, how long will he last?

RejectSteve · Post by **RejectSteve** » 19 Apr 2009, 23:17

thehemogoblin wrote:But what happens on the off chance that Bourdais accidentally escapes rejectdom?

Piquet fluked his way out of rejectdom. Every year somebody escapes. We still have Nakajima, Buemi, and Sutil.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 19 Apr 2009, 23:37

Going on Buemi's current form he might be out of rejectdom by Silverstone

LionZoo · Post by **LionZoo** » 20 Apr 2009, 00:08

C'mon guys, we should be happy when someone escapes rejectdom. Some of us are still hoping that Badoer will somehow get out of it, though the odds were already long and getting longer every year.

I think it's ridiculous that Flav only hires drivers that he manages. It's textbook conflict of interest, but then between all the organizations in F1 there's probably enough conflict of interest to shame Wall Street.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Apr 2009, 00:12

LionZoo wrote:C'mon guys, we should be happy when someone escapes rejectdom.

We're only happy when someone deserves to get out of rejectdom like Badoer or Buemi and they do so. If they don't well... we say they fluked it :lol:

XurizManson · Post by **XurizManson** » 20 Apr 2009, 00:44

http://mantovani.zip.net/images/nelsinho_piquet_ancora.jpg

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Apr 2009, 01:38

XurizManson wrote:http://mantovani.zip.net/images/nelsinho_piquet_ancora.jpg

That just about sums it up really

StoneColdSpider · Post by **StoneColdSpider** » 20 Apr 2009, 02:10

lol.. i like that pic

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 20 Apr 2009, 05:53

Wizzie wrote:
LionZoo wrote:C'mon guys, we should be happy when someone escapes rejectdom.

We're only happy when someone deserves to get out of rejectdom like Badoer or Buemi and they do so. If they don't well... we say they fluked it

Is Luca Badoer the most talented driver to be a reject?

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Apr 2009, 08:53

thehemogoblin wrote:
Wizzie wrote:
LionZoo wrote:C'mon guys, we should be happy when someone escapes rejectdom.

We're only happy when someone deserves to get out of rejectdom like Badoer or Buemi and they do so. If they don't well... we say they fluked it

Is Luca Badoer the most talented driver to be a reject?

Currently yes but Buemi is currently proving he has a bit of talent in him... and he's still in the rejectdom

Stewart · Post by **Stewart** » 20 Apr 2009, 09:07

Wizzie wrote:
thehemogoblin wrote:Is Luca Badoer the most talented driver to be a reject?

Currently yes but Buemi is currently proving he has a bit of talent in him... and he's still in the rejectdom

Surely the most talented reject is Alex Zanardi?

Also, I don't buy the 'Renault need Piquet so Alonso isn't threatened' thing. Alonso's had plenty of semi-decent teammates in the past (Trulli, Fisichella) and he was fine. OK, I realise that calling Trulli and Fisichella 'semi-decent' on this site must be close to blasphemy, but they were both capable of challenging Alonso and, on some days, beating him.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 20 Apr 2009, 09:14

Ah yes. We all forgot about Alessandro Zanardi. He, Yannick Dalmas and Badoer are all part of the growing collection of "What might have been" stories. Remember Zanardi easliy had the talent required to win the World Championship

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 20 Apr 2009, 09:27

Wizzie wrote:Ah yes. We all forgot about Alessandro Zanardi. He, Yannick Dalmas and Badoer are all part of the growing collection of "What might have been" stories. Remember Zanardi easliy had the talent required to win the World Championship

Can we add Pedro Lamy to that list as well?

Please?

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 20 Apr 2009, 09:33

Back to Piquet: the boss is not happy:

"Jesus Christ, it was a very, very bad race," said Briatore. "I understand if you spin once, but this was kind of a contest: the more you spin the more points you have. He spun a lot but no points.

From autosport: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74656

runningboots · Post by **runningboots** » 20 Apr 2009, 11:45

Piquet to be replaced by race 6 by Matthius Lauda.

ZBF1 · Post by **ZBF1** » 20 Apr 2009, 12:48

anyone considered Anthony Davidson?

he is at races anyway doing 5live so would be easy to move to the cars again

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 20 Apr 2009, 12:59

ZBF1 wrote:anyone considered Anthony Davidson?

he is at races anyway doing 5live so would be easy to move to the cars again

I hope so. I'd miss him on the commentary box, he's great.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 20 Apr 2009, 13:21

According to an article I read in Iltalehti, Renault has given Piquet time to improve his results until the middle of the season. If he's still doing his job as badly as he is now, he will be most probably booted and replaced by Roman Grosjean. But it's still a rumor.

StoneColdSpider · Post by **StoneColdSpider** » 21 Apr 2009, 10:56

i think theres only 1 man who can fill the shoes of Piquet Jr.... and thats Deletraz!!!

chrismc_DC2 · Post by **chrismc_DC2** » 21 Apr 2009, 13:42

I cant see N.P jr lasting too much longer if he continues this form....

The relative qualifying performances of himself & Alonso in China really summed up the difference between them let alone the race. It doesn't really matter that the team is geared around Alonso IMO......if Nelson had the burning talent then he would be looking stronger than he does at the moment :cry:

He just hasn't got that Edge required to be one of the top guys...

Hamilton was a rookie too when paired with Alonso & look how he asserted himself? Nelson just hasn't got IT

Piquet is just all at see now with confidence shot to pieces. Very sad situation, but its a sink or swim sport & he is in very real danger of drowning....

The Spyker Fighter · Post by **The Spyker Fighter** » 21 Apr 2009, 14:36

The question isn't how long Nelson lasts it's how many crashes he has I say around he finish's 2 races but near the back

Debaser · Post by **Debaser** » 21 Apr 2009, 22:11

I read somewhere he has a clause where after 5 races of this season they can fire him for poor performance. I've also read Sato may well replace him as he may bring backing from Japan. I so hope this is true, we need Taku back in F1.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 21 Apr 2009, 23:13

chrismc_DC2 wrote:Hamilton was a rookie too when paired with Alonso & look how he asserted himself?

Read over that statement again :lol:

Alonso and Hamilton were at McLaren that year and Ron was more likely than not giving Hamilton first choice over Alonso. So your statment is flawed.
But still Nelsinho is way out of his leauge here... Flav probably hired him as a seatwarmer at most

StoneColdSpider · Post by **StoneColdSpider** » 23 Apr 2009, 07:57

i hope Piquet lasts the season
otherwise we wont have much to talk about

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 23 Apr 2009, 09:45

StoneColdSpider wrote:i hope Piquet lasts the season
otherwise we wont have much to talk about

We can always talk about the FIA's stupid decisions, Taku's specatualer passes and crashes should he replace Nelsinho, Bourdais and how badly he's getting thrashed by Buemi, Planning Nick Fry's accidental death... :lol:

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » 23 Apr 2009, 09:55

He simply can't last much longer. I don't care what his name is or how much money he's bringing to Renault he is simply way too bad to have a renault drive. Even Alonso must be wishing for a better team mate... Having said that while Kovalinen is as bad as he is he's making Piquet look good!

Stuart
- http://www.formula1-blog.co.uk

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 25 Apr 2009, 01:06

I'm not entirely sure what Briatore expects of Piquet. He hired the Brazilian as smeone who could drive, but wouldn't challenge Alonso. The problem is that Alonso spends most of practice and qualifying circulating at the very bottom of the timing sheets until the final few minutes when he goes for a hard burn and leaps to the top. Piquet is doing everything that is asked of him, really; Renault never let him out with a light fuel tank until Alonso has set his time, and once that comes around, there isn't enough time for him to set a flying lap. It probably doesn't help that Piquet doesn't have a diffuser, either. Yes, he's a bad driver, but Briatore isn't doing much to let him prove otherwise.

StoneColdSpider · Post by **StoneColdSpider** » 25 Apr 2009, 04:34

yeah but really what has Piquet done anyway??
ok he has no defuiser and running a heavy car... that should mean that hes only slow....
but hes not only slow...
it was a complete mericle that he finished the last race in China.....

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 25 Apr 2009, 04:49

StoneColdSpider wrote:it was a complete mericle that he finished the last race in China.....

Considering the fact that almost everyone but Vettel screwed up in the wet, I don't think your words have much weight.

See, this is what I've been on about: yes, Piquet isn't the best driver. Yes, he's only really there to make up Renault's numbers. And yes, he's probably still there because all the other candidates are worse. But I think a lot of people are exaggerating just how bad he is to justify the case for seeing him leave. He's not an idiot the way Christjian Albers was. He hasn't done anything over-the-top like Yuji Ide. He's simply got a bad car in a team that all-but ignores him; I'm certain that if Briatore was told he had the option of running only one car in the race, he'd field Alonso in a heartbeat and wouldn't even consider Piquet. Or anyone else for that matter. If the Brazilian had started his career with someone like Toro Rosso or maybe Force India, I think we'd be seeing something else entirely.

Piquet's failures are a product of Flavio Briatore's mis-management more than any inadquecies on his part. Yes, he's lacking in talent, but that doesn't change the fact that Renault's management are smothering his opportunities to develop what he has got. And he's not the only one: Heikki Kovalainen experienced the same problems, and I'm sure that some of his less-than-impressive results for the McLaren are a hangover from Briatore. If Renault pulls out at the end of 2009, I cn't say I'd be too broken up about it, even if Briatore thinks Renault - and by proxy, himself - is the only thing keeping the sport afloat.

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 25 Apr 2009, 04:53

Captain Hammer wrote:
StoneColdSpider wrote:it was a complete mericle that he finished the last race in China.....

Considering the fact that almost everyone but Vettel screwed up in the wet, I don't think your words have much weight.

See, this is what I've been on about: yes, Piquet isn't the best driver. Yes, he's only really there to make up Renault's numbers. And yes, he's probably still there because all the other candidates are worse. But I think a lot of people are exaggerating just how bad he is to justify the case for seeing him leave. He's not an idiot the way Christjian Albers was. He hasn't done anything over-the-top like Yuji Ide. He's simply got a bad car in a team that all-but ignores him; I'm certain that if Briatore was told he had the option of running only one car in the race, he'd field Alonso in a heartbeat and wouldn't even consider Piquet. Or anyone else for that matter. If the Brazilian had started his career with someone like Toro Rosso or maybe Force India, I think we'd be seeing something else entirely.

Piquet's failures are a product of Flavio Briatore's mis-management more than any inadquecies on his part. Yes, he's lacking in talent, but that doesn't change the fact that Renault's management are smothering his opportunities to develop what he has got. And he's not the only one: Heikki Kovalainen experienced the same problems, and I'm sure that some of his less-than-impressive results for the McLaren are a hangover from Briatore. If Renault pulls out at the end of 2009, I cn't say I'd be too broken up about it, even if Briatore thinks Renault - and by proxy, himself - is the only thing keeping the sport afloat.

It came out in the news today that Renault is going to be cutting budget... why do they not bring in a pay-driver? If they're just going to have a seat-filler, why don't they get one that gives them money for it? I'm sure that anyone who drove for Midland and Spyker are more than available... plus, could you imagine if they picked up someone like Christijan Albers, and he got his sixth place and escaped rejectdom? This could be a watershed moment for Formula One rejects everywhere!

RejectSteve · Post by **RejectSteve** » 25 Apr 2009, 05:21

thehemogoblin wrote:It came out in the news today that Renault is going to be cutting budget... why do they not bring in a pay-driver? If they're just going to have a seat-filler, why don't they get one that gives them money for it? I'm sure that anyone who drove for Midland and Spyker are more than available... plus, could you imagine if they picked up someone like Christijan Albers, and he got his sixth place and escaped rejectdom? This could be a watershed moment for Formula One rejects everywhere!

I don't see how that can be good. Albers drove his way into rejectdom like it was something to be extremely proud of. I'll agree that if they're just going to ignore the second car it should be piloted by somebody bringing money into the team. Let's think of some offers. I think Turkish Idol (idle?) Jason Tahinci can bring his bag of Petrol Ofisi lira.

Debaser · Post by **Debaser** » 25 Apr 2009, 07:29

Ho-Pin Tung (hope I've spelt that right) can bring his suitcases of Chinese renminbi (That's China's currency-thank wikipedia for that)

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 25 Apr 2009, 07:51

Danica Patrick!! (please please please)

LionZoo · Post by **LionZoo** » 25 Apr 2009, 08:02

Debaser wrote:Ho-Pin Tung (hope I've spelt that right) can bring his suitcases of Chinese renminbi (That's China's currency-thank wikipedia for that)

I already mentioned him in the almost certainly reject drivers thread. (And yes I'm a fan of his considering I'm also Chinese/of Chinese heritage). Sadly though, I don't think Tung has many Chinese sponsors since he spent pretty much his entire life in the Netherlands. I heard his Chinese is atrocious.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 25 Apr 2009, 08:15

I'm pretty sure Renault would be cutting their budget for two reasons:

1) Because they need to find a sponsor for next season and it may take some time, so they need to adapt to having a lower budget for the orst-case scenario.
2) The FIA are introducing a voluntary expenditure cap for 2010. Driver salaries are said to be exempt, but teams will need to be able to compete for less than thirty million pounds (that's the proposed figure).

Briatore has also come out and said they ned to support Piquet. Given his less-than-friendly comments after Shanghai, I suspect the Powers That Be at Rneault are leaning on him to start paying the Brazilian a little more attention, kind of like when the FIA gave Andrea Moda the warning to start taking their second car seriously in 1992.

Debaser · Post by **Debaser** » 25 Apr 2009, 10:09

But Piquet is no more expensive than Grosjean and De Grassi, who are both young enthusiastic drivers who'd drive for almost anything. But I don't envy Piquet's replacement, only in 96/97 and half of 04 have Benetton/Renault had two equally competitive cars. I'm surprised Flavio's future as team boss isn't under threat, all he's done the last two seasons is moan and Renault haven't come close to winning a championship since Alonso left in 06.

Debaser · Post by **Debaser** » 25 Apr 2009, 10:09

But Piquet is no more expensive than Grosjean and De Grassi, who are both young enthusiastic drivers who'd drive for almost anything. But I don't envy Piquet's replacement, only in 96/97 and half of 04 have Benetton/Renault had two equally competitive cars. I'm surprised Flavio's future as team boss isn't under threat, all he's done the last two seasons is moan and Renault haven't come close to winning a championship since Alonso left in 06.

noshpit · Post by **noshpit** » 29 Apr 2009, 11:50

anthony davidson would be a good replacement to piquet. he could probably do better in the races than piquet as well as being able to commentate while racing.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 29 Apr 2009, 17:55

Debaser wrote:But Piquet is no more expensive than Grosjean and De Grassi, who are both young enthusiastic drivers who'd drive for almost anything. But I don't envy Piquet's replacement, only in 96/97 and half of 04 have Benetton/Renault had two equally competitive cars. I'm surprised Flavio's future as team boss isn't under threat, all he's done the last two seasons is moan and Renault haven't come close to winning a championship since Alonso left in 06.

Don't imagine for a moment Briatore's future is safe. Carlos Ghosn is a well-known sceptic of the impact motorsport has in Renault's image, and is probably only wishing something like a lie-gate to hit Enstone to pull the plug on them. Oh, he'd love that.

I suppose Flavio is just hanging around to get Bernie's chair. And Jean Todt will probably have Max's, in an unholy union of evil the like we haven't seen since Star Wars. Or since Two-Face and The Riddle decided to haunt Batman. I can only imagine Montezemolo would play The Joker on that one...

Bottom line: Piquet and Renault don't matter - at all.

Yes, I am sober. Why are you asking?

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 29 Apr 2009, 23:09

Flavio isn't nearly evil enough to play the part of Bernie.

hclw · Post by **hclw** » 01 May 2009, 15:20

Captain Hammer wrote:Flavio isn't nearly evil enough to play the part of Bernie.

I've seen those infamous photos of flavio in his thong. Well, he was more 'out' of the thong than 'in'.

Its the most evil set of photographs in the world. If Flavio is capable of that, he's capable of anything.