Piquet Jr. to join Renault?

More pieces of the driver line-up puzzle could have fallen in place following rumours that Renault have tapped GP2 Series front runner Nelson Piquet Jr. as their third driver for 2007.

According to French website Le Blog Auto, Piquet Jr. will take the place of former rival Heikki Kovalainen, which, if true, is likely to see the Finn step up into a race seat alongside the already signed Giancarlo Fisichella.

The move would revive the Piquet name in Formula One for the first time since his father left the sport in 1991 and join Nico Rosberg as continuing on the legacy of former champions into the modern day. Piquet Jr., who is currently embroiled in a tussle for the GP2 Series with potentially McLaren bound Lewis Hamilton, has been the subject of rumours in recent weeks, linking him to race drives with both Super Aguri and MF1 Racing.

However, the lure of a front running team, albeit in a background role, is thought to have tempted the Brazilian over a race drive with one of the back of the field squads, hoping a strong season building upon his experience testing with Williams on occasions in 2005 as a result of his triumph in the British Formula Three Championship, will lead to a more significant seat in 2008.

If Piquet Jr. does move into Kovalainen's seat then it does go someway to answering the question as to who will partner Fisichella in the second Renault. Indeed, it had been thought that Kimi Raikkonen was being tapped by the reigning constructors' champion, but his reluctance to sign on the dotted line in light of Ferrari's stalling over Michael Schumacher's career, is thought to have left them no choice but to bag the younger of the Finn's instead.

If Raikkonen is out of the frame for Renault, it is likely to see a return to the original claim that he will switch to Ferrari next season, even if a berth alongside arch-rival Fernando Alonso at McLaren remains a possibility.

All will no doubt become clearer at the Italian Grand Prix when Schumacher announces his future involvement in the sport…

Can't wait for Monza................