Nelson Piquet had his first full Formula One season in 1979, paired at Brabham with the double world champion Niki Lauda. By mid-season he was outpacing Lauda, who then meekly tiptoed off into early retirement. Piquet, of course, went on to become a triple world champion.
This weekend his son, 22-year-old Nelson Piquet Jr, adds F1 to a busy motorsport curriculum vitae. He too has a double world champion – Fernando Alonso – as a team-mate. In Brazil – where Nelsinho, as he is affectionately known, is accorded Beckham-esque media coverage – the parallel has led to intense expectation that the son could repeat the father’s success.
Pre-season testing at Renault has not indicated Alonso is in stark danger of having his reputation dented or his composure unsettled again by a rookie. To suffer a loss to a debutant once could be put down to misfortune; twice would be carelessness, and Alonso will be particularly motivated to restore his credibility in 2008.
Piquet, meanwhile, seems to have mellowed from the somewhat overconfident young man who competed in A1GP. He has talked a lot about the privilege of working alongside Alonso.
How good is Nelsinho? There is no doubt he will have a few moments in the limelight, most likely in qualifying. In GP2, where he finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton, he did not trouble the Briton unduly over a race distance but regularly out-qualified him. He is extremely well groomed for the step up to Formula One, so the paddock culture will not faze him. He is hungry and will take risks where a more seasoned driver might exercise caution, but he won’t make life difficult for Alonso.
Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima, 23, is another son of a father who raced in Formula One (Satoru). Charming and intelligent, this product of the Toyota development programme will be fast but ragged. To date, his impact in Formula One has largely been felt by two Williams mechanics whom he felled during a pitstop blunder at Sao Paulo in 2007.
Shrewdly, Williams gave him that debut race to acclimatise to a grand prix weekend. A graduate of GP2, he finished fifth in his rookie year in 2007.
The third new boy is Sebastien Bourdais, born in Le Mans with the fumes of racing cars in his nostrils. A late starter at 29, he was an impressive racer in Formula 3000 but had to cross the Atlantic to find a racing seat at senior level. He joins Toro Rosso as a four-time American Champ Car winner, joining the highly-rated young German, Sebastian Vettel.
Pitlane observers consider the two Sebs one of the strongest pairings. Vettel, undoubtedly a star of the future, comes with pace and nous. Bourdais has lots of trophies, confidence and the tactical acumen for stringing together an effective season.
