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Piquet Jr wants top team debut; and so tells backmarkers not to bother
Topic Started: Aug 21 2007, 05:06 PM (377 Views)
Mrs Shrek
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Nelson Piquet Jr has warned Formula One's backmarker teams to not bother offering him a debut drive for the 2008 season.

The Brazilian test driver, linked with a possible move to a racing cockpit next year with Renault or Williams, revealed that he is only interested in joining a team that is capable of scoring regular points.

"I want to race for a top team," the 22-year-old told f1today.nl, explaining that he had not worked his entire career to finish last in F1.

"From the outset I want to have the opportunity to collect points.

"Some people think it is important to gain experience with a small team. I see it differently.

"You only have to look at (Lewis) Hamilton; on his first attempt with McLaren he was right up there."

Piquet finished second to Hamilton in the feeder series GP2 last year, thereafter agreeing to emulate Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen by sitting out a single season as Renault test driver.


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Rob
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Kind of an arrogant statement, considering how many good drivers there are in F1 right now.
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RJHSaints
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I agree with that, but I also see Piquet's point. Going to Spyker would make it very difficult to forge an F1 career for himself.
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NewMrMe
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Could he live to regret that statement?

I am sure that any midfield or backmarker teams that may have been considering him won't bother now.

What if there are no top seats available?

Very few drivers walk straight into a top drive. Most top drivers earn a top drive by proving themself with a smaller team. If you get offered the chance to go straight into a leading team, great, but it happens so infrequently that you cannot plan your career around it happening.
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dcoulthard19
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I think Piquet Jnr is in dreamland to be honest and has got totally the wrong attitude. Its one thing to have the self-belief in your ability but another to be arrogant and unrealistic.

Firstly he won't get a top team debut as the seats are filled and only really big talents get a top drive on their debut and I don't rate Piquet Jnr as a top driver in lets say the Hamilton bracket.

He is talented, of that I have no doubt and maybe could be very successful in the future but he isn't bigger than any of the top teams and he has to earn a seat with one.

If he gets an offer from a team like Williams then I think he should take it because I reckon thats the best he will get for 2008 because like I said in another thread I think Renault will stick with their current line-up.



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Dooly Tomalski
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Well he's off to a good start mouth wise. :)
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JOSEPH SARANDOS
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<LOL> <LOL> <LOL> @ the Chaloner tribute.
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JOSEPH SARANDOS
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dcoulthard19,Aug 22 2007
06:29 AM
I think Piquet Jnr is in dreamland to be honest and has got totally the wrong attitude. Its one thing to have the self-belief in your ability but another to be arrogant and unrealistic.

Firstly he won't get a top team debut as the seats are filled and only really big talents get a top drive on their debut and I don't rate Piquet Jnr as a top driver in lets say the Hamilton bracket.

He is talented, of that I have no doubt and maybe could be very successful in the future but he isn't bigger than any of the top teams and he has to earn a seat with one.

If he gets an offer from a team like Williams then I think he should take it because I reckon thats the best he will get for 2008 because like I said in another thread I think Renault will stick with their current line-up.

I suspect that due to their history, Piquet Jnr regards Williams as a top team.
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AndyW76
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RJHSaints,Aug 21 2007
05:59 PM
I agree with that, but I also see Piquet's point. Going to Spyker would make it very difficult to forge an F1 career for himself.

Alonso started at Minardi and when he joined renault, they weren't a WDC team.
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Paul_Murtagh
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AndyW76,Aug 22 2007
10:29 AM
RJHSaints,Aug 21 2007
05:59 PM
I agree with that, but I also see Piquet's point. Going to Spyker would make it very difficult to forge an F1 career for himself.

Alonso started at Minardi and when he joined renault, they weren't a WDC team.

Exactly. Schumi started with Jordan then Benetton, Senna with Toleman and Haikkinen with Lotus - all not front-running teams at the time but the drivers worked their way up
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AndyW76
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Not every driver is lucky enough to get fast tracked to a top team. In the case of hamilton, McLaren wanted a quick return on their investment, so took the risk with him, in the case of Piquet, he is not in the same position and he will only get a top drive by impressing a top team. He won't get anywhere shooting his mouth off and making demands.
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RJHSaints
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AndyW76,Aug 22 2007
09:29 AM
RJHSaints,Aug 21 2007
05:59 PM
I agree with that, but I also see Piquet's point. Going to Spyker would make it very difficult to forge an F1 career for himself.

Alonso started at Minardi and when he joined renault, they weren't a WDC team.

I know, but Alonso is in my opinion much better than Piquet, Rosberg, Kovalainen and pretty much all the new boys except Hamilton. So too Schumacher.

Kovalainen and Rosberg have both apparently got solid F1 careers in front of them despite neither having all that impressive a debut. Had they had a somewhat unimpressive debut in, say, a Spyker, they would likely not have half the reputation they do now.

Obviously you need talent, but having a good car in your debut year is a huge help.
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Norbert
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Rob,Aug 21 2007
06:35 PM
Kind of an arrogant statement, considering how many good drivers there are in F1 right now.

What sort of a statement would a team be looking for from a driver though...

"Yeah, I'll take a drive from a back of the field team, potter around for a few years without even finishing anywhere near the points, then hope I get a break....."

Doesn't really sound like the next Senna, does it?

<roflmao>
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TheCompleteGuitarist
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I think the point is, join F1 when there is a seat. Simple as that. I can't imagine considering how many people are waiting that chances come a long often.

It's very rare for some one outside the existing F1 driver line up to jump straight into a top team. Hamilton was only lucky because he'd been associated with the team since very young and even then they didn't give him his place automatically, they still considered hard and long.

We also know that not even the winners of previous formulae succeed in F1 and he only came second.

Didn't Hamilton make piquet look very ordinary at times?
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safc_fan89
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No team is going to offer him a seat ahead of other drivers that are in F1 at the moment. What a foolish thing to say. Only top team that he will end up is at Renault, and I think Alonso probably has his eyes on that seat in any case.
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