Piquet Jr. proves F1 doubters wrong with superb drive in Germany

HOCKENHEIM, Germany – Nelson Piquet Jr.’s superb drive to a second-place finish at the German Grand Prix on Sunday might silence some of the young Brazilian’s critics. The Renault driver’s one-pit strategy saw him surge from 17th place into the lead with 14 laps to race before the superior McLaren of Lewis Hamilton overtook him at the hairpin corner for the victory. It was the first podium finish for the rookie—and the first of the season for Renault—following a very disappointing first half of the season. The 22-year-old son of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet had to retire from six of his previous nine FormulaOne races, finishing in the points only once. Going into Sunday’s race, few thought he’d be able to advance far from his 17th place on the grid. “I thought that was how I’d finish my weekend, but then we became quite lucky with these safety car rules. The team did a good decision by pulling me in at the right time," said Piquet Jr. Timo Glock’s high-speed crash in his Toyota forced the safety car out and Piquet Jr. took advantage as he had already pitted on the same 35th lap. With other teams pitting behind the safety car, Piquet Jr. moved up through the field into the eventual lead on his one-stop strategy before Hamilton overtook him with eight laps to go. “After the safety car I knew I just had to keep my pace, and I knew I mustn’t push my tires too hard in the beginning as I had to keep them until the end," said Piquet Jr., who had just two points from the three races he had completed. “When I was leading the race I knew Lewis would come by quickly and I knew Felipe [Massa] wasn’t that much quicker than me." Renault counts two-time world champion Fernando Alonso as its main driver, and Piquet Jr. had been feeling the pressure from the poor start to his F1 career. His qualifying performance on Saturday had him starting outside the top 10 on the grid for the eighth time. Massa had a braking problem that kept him from challenging down the stretch as the Ferrari driver finished third to put two Brazilians on the podium for the first time since 1991, when the senior Nelson Piquet finished third at Belgium behind winner Ayrton Senna. “If I’d taken too many risks [trying to hold Hamilton off], Felipe might have overtaken me, so I decided I had to save second place rather than end up in third or fourth place and not be so happy," Piquet Jr. said. “I just maintained the pace, made no mistakes and kept the rear tires good until the end." Renault heralded Piquet Jr.’s driving as “impeccable." “Nelson had an amazing race," team principal Flavio Briatore said. “[He] was able to remain strong under enormous pressure." – AP