E FITTIPALDI: Piquet Jr To Be Bigger Threat Than Hamilton...

.....to Alonso now at Renault. Emmo is quoted as saying that because young Piquet is not only very quick, but has over 15,000km testing the Renault thus making him a formidable teammate.




(I have not followed the career of Piquet Jr. so I can't comment if this is a credible comment by Fittipaldi, or one Brazilian praising another Brazilian. If true, this will only add to what is building up to be one of the best F1 seasons of all time)

 

+1 to that

 

It isn't. Alonso will smoke Piquet.

 

I wasn't on here when the Hamilton started out, but can you remember anyone saying that about him.

 

Piquet seems to have the opposite attitude from what I remember Hamilton had. Here are a few select quotes without context

"I'm here to try to win," 22-year-old Piquet Jr said in Brasilia on Thursday
Piquet Jr said of the 26-year-old Alonso: "I don't think he will want to repeat the same mistake again."

This could be trouble for the team if Alonso really demanded #1 status.

Source:http://www.f1i.com/content/view/9084/1/

 

I don't think FA would have signed with Renault if he does not have the unofficial #1 driver status, especially after his year at McLaren. Besides, you are all forgetting that this year is DC's year to win the title.

 

he won't be allowed to. he's the firm no. 2

 

People who followed his career expected him to do well. Carol was one of those.

I completely missed the boat on Hami until I saw him at the first corner in the Australian GP. How he managed through that where any normal rookie would have just plowed right into the chaos, was a sure sign of things to come.

Piquet has been around for a while and done some testing. His times were never bad, but never really stellar either. So I expect him to do well in F1, but not perform any wonders.

 

I doubt Piquet Jr will be as quick as Hamilton.

 

Hi Andreas - thanks for the comment. I initially read this topic on Autosport early this morning. Apparently there's two schools of thought on this topic - one is that he's a real threat to Alonso and I also read that Heikki got the "boot" from Renault as he was the REAL threat to Alonso which of course couldn't occur. Please don't anyone discount the abilities of Nelson Jr. Facts speak for themselves:

1993 in Brazilian karting until 2001 when he moved to Formula Three Sudamericana. His father's wealth enabled him to race for his own team, a practice he continued until he left GP2 Series. He raced in part of the 2001 season there, staying for 2002 and becoming the champion with four races to go. In 2002 he also raced one race of Brazilian Formula Renault.

In 2003, Piquet moved to the UK where he joined the British Formula 3 Championship and formed the Piquet Sports team. He went on to win 3rd place with six wins, five podiums and eight pole positions.

In 2004, Piquet won the British Formula 3 Championship. He became the youngest driver to have ever won the championship at 19 years and 2 months. He also went to test for BMW Williams now Williams F1.

In 2005, Piquet took part in the A1 Grand Prix for A1 Team Brazil. In the first event in the series, he took first place in both Sprint and Main race events, as well as scoring a point for the fastest lap. He also became a driver for HiTech/Piquet Sports in the GP2 Series. He also was also testing for BAR-Honda.

In 2006, Piquet gained second place in the championship to British driver Lewis Hamilton in his second year of GP2.

During the 2007 season he was a test driver for the Renault Formula One team.

* * *
Time will tell . . .

Carol

 

Based on the GP2 races that I have seen - allowing for fading memory though ... I think Hamilton and Kovaleinen were much faster and better racers than Piquet.

 

.

Of course! This'll be his revenge year!


Onno

 

I agree, the more I think about it, Hamilton did more damage (besides the whole Stepneygate issue) than any driver to McLaren with his politicking inside the team and Alonso appreared to be the bastard before the world.

 

I think you are probaly correct. At this point, Piquet Jr. vs Hamilton is a crapshoot. No one really knows as it will depend on whose chassis is best for the new rules.

 

I think it is great that there are all these young talents entering F1, hopefully all of their teams will be able to give them the equipments needed to show off their skills and compete against each other.

 

Ditto. I just like the fact we have another new driver to talk about! Not that Nelsinho materialized out of nowhere, but you know what I mean.

 

I think HKs dismissal and Pj's approval by FA speaks volumes.
However I would LOVE to be proven wrong.

 

I didn't quite see that corner the same way. Once Kubica had chopped off Hamilton, Lewis yielded the position and inside line, and crossed over to the outside. Meanwhile, Alonso wasn't quite so gracious with Nick, and the two got tangled up, collecting Kubica, and making the outside the Place to Be. In short, Hamilton got lucky.

I started out as a big fan for Hamilton. Over time, the plastic interviews and cowboy driving began to wear the chrome off the shining surface. He may become a top driver, if he doesn't let his first season go to his head. (I suspect he lost the championship because his head was on the post-season, rather than the next corner.)

A lot of capable talent has entered F1. But timing and opportunities are often a matter of chance, so some have done better than others. So only time will tell how Jr's career will progress. And Hamilton's too, for that matter.

 

The interviews are plastic, but so were MS'. The "cowboy driving" I consider necessary roughness. Again something MS had plenty of. I'm still very optimistic that I'll win the multiple WDC bet. He made mistakes towards the end of the season, but ultimately it was the team that screwed up his title: They didn't call him in on time in China to change tires and they gave him that unexplicable 3rd pitstop in Interlagos (nobody else had 3 stops).

As Jack said, it is nice to see a lot of new talents come into F1 (and equally nice to see some lesser talents leave the scene), but make no mistake: Hamilton is the only serious contender. Vettel will win races and perhaps even Piquet, but it is Hami who got the baton from Schumacher.

 

+1000 Bang on the money

I started out indifferent about him not really knowing much of his history (unlike Carol, respect..).

IMO Within a few races you had to be thick or blind not realize he had skill above the norm.

 

He was just worried about his newly released biography, that's all.

I completely agrees with you that it takes more than just talent to become a F1 Champion, it takes luck and like it or not, some savy political/business moves to be at the right team and at the right time.

I am not completely sold on Hamilton just yet, he will have to prove himself this year without Alonso on the team. I strongly suspect that Alonso has a lot more to do with the McLaren turn around than most of the people here gave him credit for. We will see how much progress/development are made during the season at McLaren and Reanult to answer just how good Alonso and Hamilton really are or are not.

 

IMHO they are both very, very good.

 

I believe you are correct, by mid season at the latest, McLaren and Renault will be podiums. Ferrari will dominate the early season, BMW will surprise. Even DC will get a podium.

By mid season it will get exciting.

 

I'm still waiting to see how close the red car teammates get on points.

We may get to see more than four people on the top step this year.

 

+1

As Hamilton will smoke HK.