Nelson Piquet is a retired Brazilian racing driver best known for his successful Formula One career from 1978 to 1991, during which he won three World Drivers’ Championship titles in 1981, 1983, and 1987.
| Nationality | Brazilian |
|---|---|
| Born | Nelson Piquet Souto Maior 17 August 1952 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Piquet initially pursued a brief career in tennis before shifting his focus to karting, concealing his new passion from his father. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the Brazilian national karting champion in 1971–72 and winning the Formula Vee Brazil championship in 1976. Encouraged by fellow Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi, Piquet moved to Europe to compete in Formula Three, where he broke Jackie Stewart‘s record for most wins in a single season in 1978.
That same year, Piquet made his Formula One debut with Ensign and later drove for McLaren and Brabham. After joining Brabham full-time in 1979, Piquet finished runner-up in the 1980 Drivers’ Championship before securing his first title in 1981. Despite engine reliability issues in 1982, he bounced back to win his second championship in 1983. During the 1984–85 seasons, although Piquet struggled to win another title, he claimed three race victories.
In 1986, Piquet moved to the Williams team and narrowly missed out on the championship in a fierce battle. He secured his third and final title in 1987, though his rivalry with teammate Nigel Mansell led to a strained relationship. After a strained season, Piquet joined Lotus for the 1988–89 seasons, but his performances declined. He later moved to Benetton in 1990–91, where he won three races before retiring from Formula One.
Following his F1 career, Piquet competed in the Indianapolis 500 for two years and drove in sports car racing at various points. Today, he is retired from racing and has managed the careers of his sons, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Pedro, both professional racing drivers.
Nelson Piquet Formula One World Championship career
| F1 Career | 1978–1991 |
|---|---|
| Teams | Ensign, McLaren, Brabham, Williams, Lotus, Benetton |
| Engines | Ford, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Honda, Judd |
| Entries | 207 (204 starts) |
| Championships | 3 (1981, 1983, 1987) |
| Wins | 23 |
| Podiums | 60 |
| Career points | 481.5 (485.5) |
| Pole positions | 24 |
| Fastest laps | 23 |
| First entry | 1978 German Grand Prix |
| First win | 1980 United States Grand Prix West |
| Last win | 1991 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1991 Australian Grand Prix |
Nelson Piquet Teammates
| 15 Teammates | Involvement | First Year | Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Watson | 2 | 1978 | |
| Niki Lauda | 16 | 1978 | 1979 |
| Ricardo Zunino | 9 | 1979 | 1980 |
| Hector Rebaque | 22 | 1980 | 1981 |
| Riccardo Patrese | 31 | 1982 | 1987 |
| Teo Fabi | 12 | 1984 | |
| Corrado Fabi | 3 | 1984 | |
| Manfred Winkelhock | 1 | 1984 | |
| Francois Hesnault | 4 | 1985 | |
| Marc Surer | 12 | 1985 | |
| Nigel Mansell | 31 | 1986 | 1987 |
| Satoru Nakajima | 32 | 1988 | 1989 |
| Alessandro Nannini | 14 | 1990 | |
| Roberto Moreno | 13 | 1990 | 1991 |
| Michael Schumacher | 5 | 1991 |
Race Wins
| Win Number | Grand Prix |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1980 United States Grand Prix West |
| 2 | 1980 Dutch Grand Prix |
| 3 | 1980 Italian Grand Prix |
| 4 | 1981 Argentine Grand Prix |
| 5 | 1981 San Marino Grand Prix |
| 6 | 1981 German Grand Prix |
| 7 | 1982 Canadian Grand Prix |
| 8 | 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| 9 | 1983 Italian Grand Prix |
| 10 | 1983 European Grand Prix |
| 11 | 1984 Canadian Grand Prix |
| 12 | 1984 United States Grand Prix |
| 13 | 1985 French Grand Prix |
| 14 | 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| 15 | 1986 German Grand Prix |
| 16 | 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| 17 | 1986 Italian Grand Prix |
| 18 | 1987 German Grand Prix |
| 19 | 1987 Hunngarian Grand Prix |
| 20 | 1987 Italian Grand Prix |
| 21 | 1990 Japanese Grand Prix |
| 22 | 1990 Australian Grand Prix |
| 23 | 1991 Canadian Grand Prix |
Complete Formula One results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Team Tissot Ensign | Ensign N177 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER Ret | NC | 0 | |||||
| BS Fabrications | McLaren M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | AUT Ret | NED Ret | ITA 9 | USA | |||||||||||||||
| Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT46 | Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12 | CAN 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1979 | Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT46 | Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12 | ARG Ret | 15th | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Brabham BT48 | Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 | BRA Ret | RSA 7 | USW 8 | ESP Ret | BEL Ret | MON Ret | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER 12 † | AUT Ret | NED 4 | ITA Ret | ||||||||
| Brabham BT49 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | CAN Ret | USA Ret | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT49 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG 2 | BRA Ret | RSA 4 | USW 1 | BEL Ret | MON 3 | FRA 4 | GBR 2 | GER 4 | AUT 5 | NED 1 | ITA 1 | CAN Ret | USA Ret | 2nd | 54 | ||
| Brabham BT49C | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | USW 3 | BRA 12 | ARG 1 | SMR 1 | BEL Ret | MON Ret | ESP Ret | FRA 3 | GBR Ret | GER 1 | AUT 3 | NED 2 | ITA 6 † | CAN 5 | CPL 5 | 1st | 50 | |||
| 1982 | Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT50 | BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t | RSA Ret | BEL 5 | MON Ret | DET DNQ | CAN 1 | NED 2 | GBR Ret | FRA Ret | GER Ret | AUT Ret | SUI 4 | ITA Ret | CPL Ret | 11th | 20 | |||
| Brabham BT49D | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | BRA DSQ | USW Ret | SMR | |||||||||||||||||
| 1983 | Fila Sport | Brabham BT52 | BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t | BRA 1 | USW Ret | FRA 2 | SMR Ret | MON 2 | BEL 4 | DET 4 | CAN Ret | 1st | 59 | ||||||||
| Brabham BT52B | BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t | GBR 2 | GER 13 † | AUT 3 | NED Ret | ITA 1 | EUR 1 | RSA 3 | |||||||||||||
| 1984 | MRD International | Brabham BT53 | BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t | BRA Ret | RSA Ret | BEL 9 † | SMR Ret | FRA Ret | MON Ret | CAN 1 | DET 1 | DAL Ret | GBR 7 | GER Ret | AUT 2 | NED Ret | ITA Ret | EUR 3 | POR 6 | 5th | 29 |
| 1985 | Olivetti Racing | Brabham BT54 | BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t | BRA Ret | POR Ret | SMR 8 † | MON Ret | CAN Ret | DET 6 | FRA 1 | GBR 4 | GER Ret | AUT Ret | NED 8 | ITA 2 | BEL 5 | EUR Ret | RSA Ret | AUS Ret | 8th | 21 |
| 1986 | Canon Williams Honda Team | Williams FW11 | Honda RA166E 1.5 V6 t | BRA 1 | ESP Ret | SMR 2 | MON 7 | BEL Ret | CAN 3 | DET Ret | FRA 3 | GBR 2 | GER 1 | HUN 1 | AUT Ret | ITA 1 | POR 3 | MEX 4 | AUS 2 | 3rd | 69 |
| 1987 | Canon Williams Honda Team | Williams FW11B | Honda RA167E 1.5 V6 t | BRA 2 | SMR DNS | BEL Ret | MON 2 | DET 2 | FRA 2 | GBR 2 | GER 1 | HUN 1 | AUT 2 | ITA 1 | POR 3 | ESP 4 | MEX 2 | JPN 15 † | AUS Ret | 1st | 73 (76) |
| 1988 | Camel Team Lotus Honda | Lotus 100T | Honda RA168E 1.5 V6 t | BRA 3 | SMR 3 | MON Ret | MEX Ret | CAN 4 | DET Ret | FRA 5 | GBR 5 | GER Ret | HUN 8 | BEL 4 | ITA Ret | POR Ret | ESP 8 | JPN Ret | AUS 3 | 6th | 22 |
| 1989 | Camel Team Lotus | Lotus 101 | Judd CV 3.5 V8 | BRA Ret | SMR Ret | MON Ret | MEX 11 | USA Ret | CAN 4 | FRA 8 | GBR 4 | GER 5 | HUN 6 | BEL DNQ | ITA Ret | POR Ret | ESP 8 | JPN 4 | AUS Ret | 8th | 12 |
| 1990 | Benetton Formula | Benetton B189B | Ford HBA4 3.5 V8 | USA 4 | BRA 6 | 3rd | 43 (44) | ||||||||||||||
| Benetton B190 | Ford HBA4 3.5 V8 | SMR 5 | MON DSQ | CAN 2 | MEX 6 | FRA 4 | GBR 5 | GER Ret | HUN 3 | BEL 5 | ITA 7 | POR 5 | ESP Ret | JPN 1 | AUS 1 | ||||||
| 1991 | Camel Benetton Ford | Benetton B190B | Ford HBA5 3.5 V8 | USA 3 | BRA 5 | 6th | 26.5 | ||||||||||||||
| Benetton B191 | Ford HBA5 3.5 V8 | SMR Ret | MON Ret | CAN 1 | MEX Ret | FRA 8 | GBR 5 | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL 3 | ITA 6 | POR 5 | ESP 11 | JPN 7 | AUS 4 |
† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Sources:
- Nelson Piquet. Wikipedia.com
