Piquet - GONE!!! (At Last???)

[RacingManiac]

Look at Massa, who likely in 2008 is working with some salary thats much less than Kimi's and he ended up being the contender, despite that most likely Kimi started with preferential equipment and crew. Piquet during his time never showed that he has the ability to match Alonso, and to expect Renault to hang onto him for any longer when they have championship ambition is not practical or realistic...

[vall]

"Team orders" are here to stay and I say it only fair; the teams spend millions of pounds runing two cars in the attempt win the manufacturer's and driver's championships. If they feel that this is best achived by putting all their eggs in one basket and having the second driver support the first then I say good luck to them.... this tactic can work... or it can back-fire, for example when Schumy had his accident at Silverstone a decade ago which effectively ended his year.

Besides, the best drivers are given number one status and therefore if you're a number two driver there's only one reason for this; you're not good enough to be number one!

If Piquet was consistantly out-pacing or even equalling Alonso even with clear number 2 status do you think any manufacturer would continue to back the number one driver? Of course not, they'd swap the drivers and give the "number 2" the "number 1" status..... Its dog eat dog... the not-so-good drivers have two choices; either join a good team as a number 2 driver or join another team (with potentially a worse car).....

right about way a driver gets N1 status. You much be damn good to win the N1 status. However, to win both WC titles, a team you better a good N2 driver too. First, it will bring you valuable point for the constructor championship, and second, will take off points of the N1 driver's competitors, thus making the WDC title easier.

[vall]

... so to screw up your N2 driver is just out of question. The teams what both drivers to perform. If not, you are gone

[bhall]

I agree that designating first and second drivers is the way to go for a team with true Championship aspirations, despite the inherent unsavory nature of doing so. Since 2000, all Drivers' Championships have been won with this driver dynamic. And the last two years' runners up have been on teams giving their drivers equal treatment.

However, it's probably better for a team to hire an experienced, above average driver to pair with their ace, like a Barrichello or Fisichella (and to an extent, Kovalainen). They've served their teams well within their roles, and I think no one would argue that their careers have been hampered. It's certainly not advisable for a young driver to try to cut his teeth within a team who clearly has their ace. The pressure to perform both as a rookie and as a second-class teammate is probably just too much. Nor would a contending team be able to do much with with rookie feedback.

This is where Piquet and Renault made their mistakes. But I understand a young driver grabbing such an opportunity. Only a fool wouldn't.

I, for one, hope he gets another chance. I think given equal treatment, say with Williams paired with Rosberg, he'd perform better.

[jon-mullen]

It's one thing to get fired for not performing, but it's another to point fingers. I wish he'd quit being so bitchy and get on with his life. He sucked. Not having the same upgrades to your car doesn't make you end up in the gravel so often. Good riddance.

+1! The only F1 race Piquet's performed well in is being more of a whiny pussy than Bourdais.

[ESPImperium]

I think that we havnt seen the last of Piquet in F1, i think that hes gonna go back to Piquet Sport in GP2 for the remainder of the season, and i can see Campos going for Piquet for next year alongside De La Rosa with Buemis cousin Natasha Ganchang as the test and reserve driver.

I think that we havnt seen the last of Bourdais as well, he may well come back with USF1 some how.

Vut with the loss of BMW Sauber that has somewhat coluded the waters for the 2010 seasons drives.

[astracrazy]

I feel kinda sorry for him - perhaps this should be a lesson for all young drivers looking up to FB. FA is always going to be his favourite and nothing will change that.

how many times have we seen piquet nearly crash out in the warm up lap? NONE (to my knowledge). Alonso once this year and once last year (spain was it?). Can you imagen the out cry from everyone had it been the other way round!?

A young driver needs encouragement and if what piquet says is true, he didnt stand a chance from day 1.

I hope to see him again in F1. Yes he made mistakes but so did massa when he started, look where he is now in F1 with the right support

(Ive always wondered what would have happened if Alonso and Hamilton were at Renault and not Mclaren?)

[jon-mullen]

how many times have we seen piquet nearly crash out in the warm up lap? NONE (to my knowledge). Alonso once this year and once last year (spain was it?). Can you imagen the out cry from everyone had it been the other way round!?

Spain, Monaco, Canada, British, Spa, Singapore, Brazil.

What did I just list? Times Piquet Jr. ended his own race in 2008. But you're right, I can't recall a single time he spun on the WARM UP LAP and still started the race.

[astracrazy]

Im not disputing that

But, i think he would have been a much better driver in F1 had he not been under FB

Thats my personal opinion

[The FOZ]

I've never liked Piquet as a driver, he's all over the shop every time I see him, it seems.

However, taking his rant about Flava Flavio at face value, things weren't quite what they'd seemed.

That being said, a true champion overcomes, but then again, were he a champion, he wouldn't be seconded to Alonso all the time in terms of car parts, training time, etc.

Here's the one part that gets me. If he was required to peform 40% as well as Alonso, on the understanding that both would get equal treatment - car updates, training time, training conditions, etc. - then certainly Renault has not delivered what they promised.

It's called "moving the goalposts", really, since they kept giving the benchmark - Alonso - better car parts and training time.

But again, given his performance, I've always considered him to be just out of his depth...I suspect Manor or Campos will give him a home, if only as a test driver. In fact, now would be an ideal time to pick him up, since he's "on the rebound"

[ISLAMATRON]

sure would be nice to have another 3 or 4 more teams on the grid so we ca see the honest development of young drivers like we got to see with Rubens, Alonso, Webber, Massa and others.

[vall]

But it is true that for one and a half seasons he has not improved. For example in 2007 Heiki has a terrible start but then gradually improved. This has not been the case with Piquet. It is time for him to go.

[astracrazy]

I've never liked Piquet as a driver, he's all over the shop every time I see him, it seems.

However, taking his rant about Flava Flavio at face value, things weren't quite what they'd seemed.

That being said, a true champion overcomes, but then again, were he a champion, he wouldn't be seconded to Alonso all the time in terms of car parts, training time, etc.

Here's the one part that gets me. If he was required to peform 40% as well as Alonso, on the understanding that both would get equal treatment - car updates, training time, training conditions, etc. - then certainly Renault has not delivered what they promised.

It's called "moving the goalposts", really, since they kept giving the benchmark - Alonso - better car parts and training time.

But again, given his performance, I've always considered him to be just out of his depth...I suspect Manor or Campos will give him a home, if only as a test driver. In fact, now would be an ideal time to pick him up, since he's "on the rebound"

Look at it like this. Alonso majority of the time had the better car. Hes got 13 points so far (1 retirement), Piquet 0 points (2 retirements?). But look at the difference between rosberg with 25.5 points and nakajima with 0.

When you look at that, i don't see piquet has done all that bad compared to others (this year)...

Says to me it was decided he was leaving before this season started

[ISLAMATRON]

Flav has executed the perfect 2 for 1 smash and grab. Took PK's money and gave him the seat with every intention of kicking him out of it and then doing the same to Grosjean, twice the money for the same seat, the only way Flav can be considered a great team principle.

TBH if I had a backmarker team like the current Renault is, selling seats would be what I would do, especially having to pay a huge chunk of money to the #1 prima donna.

I think Renault backing is gone, especially if they cant improve on the 7th place WCC standing that they are currently.

[The FOZ]

Flav has executed the perfect 2 for 1 smash and grab. Took PK's money and gave him the seat with every intention of kicking him out of it and then doing the same to Grosjean, twice the money for the same seat, the only way Flav can be considered a great team principle.

Maybe over in Europe things are different, but to my mind, wouldn't holding both the team boss and a driver management positions be considered to be a conflict of interest? I mean, what's good for the racer and what's good for the team clearly do not coincide 100% of the time, then what does he do?