The new faces of 2008: Nelson Piquet Jr.

As 2008 is just around the corner, we will introduce to you the new faces that will enter F1 next season. Nelson Piquet Jr., son of three times World Champion Nelson Piquet, will make his F1 debut with Renault during the Australian GP and this after a year of testing for the French team.

Nelson Angelo Piquet was born on 25 July 1985 in Heidelberg, Germany and is better known as Nelson Piquet Jr. Nelsinho's racing career started in 1993 when he entered Karting. In 2001, the youngster moved up to the Formula Three Sudamericana series where he could race for the team of his father. In 2002, he won the title with still four races to go.

In 2003, Nelsinho moved to the UK where he joined the British Formula 3 Championship and formed the Piquet Sports team. He became 3rd in the championship and won six races. In 2004, the Brazilian won the title. After winning the Championship, Piquet was invited for a test session with the BMW Williams Team.

The following season, the youngster entered the A1GP for A1 Team Brazil and immediately won the first race. Nelsinho also entered the GP2 Series as driver for HiTech/Piquet and was invited for an F1 test with BAR Honda.

During the 2006 GP2 season, Piquet Jr. became second behind Champion Lewis Hamilton. Soon, the Brazilian was announced as test- and reserve driver for the Renault F1 Team in 2007. After setting competitive lap times during the test sessions, Nelsinho was promoted to race driver for the upcoming 2008 season. He will team up with Fernando Alonso, who moved back to Renault after spending a year at McLaren.