Nelson Piquet Biography: Nelson Piquet Souto Maior is a retired racing driver and businessman from Brazil who won the World Drivers’ Championship three times in 1981, 1983, and 1987.
Nelson Piquet Biography
Nelson Piquet Biography: Nelson Piquet was born on August 17, 1952, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s then-capital, as the son of Brazilian surgeon Estácio Gonçalves Souto Maior. In 1960, his father moved his family to Brazil’s new capital, Brasilia, and later became Minister of Health in Joo Goulart’s government. Piquet had two brothers, Alexis and Geraldo, and a sister Genusa.
Nelson Piquet Wiki
| Name | Nelson Piquet |
| Date Of Birth | August 17, 1952 |
| Birth Place | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Height | 5′ 8″ |
| Weight | N/A |
| Zodiac Sign | Leo |
| Profession | Racing Driver |
| Net Worth | N/A |
| Car Collection | N/A |
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Nelson Piquet Career
In 1979, Piquet competed in Formula One for the first time. He drove for the Brabham team alongside two-time world champion Niki Lauda again. The season was challenging for the accustomedly successful team. Eleven of Piquet’s fifteen races this season ended in retirement. At the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires, he was engaged in a first-lap pileup and suffered injuries. At the Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos, he collided with Clay Regazzoni’s Williams. His first career points were earned at the Dutch Grand Prix, where he placed fourth. The rear section of his BT48 was entirely ripped off at Monza’s Curva Grande corner following another collision with Regazzoni; however, Piquet walked away safe.
Piquet qualified in the top five several times, often out-qualifying Lauda. However, he was involved in some accidents during the races or had to retire with a semi-competitive car with an unreliable engine. Two weeks after the Italian round, Lauda abruptly quit driving before the Canadian Grand Prix, leaving Piquet as the number one driver for Brabham & leaving him and recruit Ricardo Zunino to race the new BT49, which had a Ford-Cosworth DFV engine; Brabham ditched the Alfa Romeo V12’s in protest of Alfa Romeo entering as a whole works team. In the final race, the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Piquet started on the front row and completed the race’s fastest circuit, demonstrating the new BT49’s outstanding potential.
Piquet became a teammate of one of his most vicious competitors, Nigel Mansell, following his 1986 transfer to Williams. According to reports, Honda paid most of his $3.3 million contract. Piquet did not view Mansell as a significant threat when he signed with Williams at the 1985 Austrian Grand Prix, as the Briton had yet to win a race in his fifth year in Formula One. Piquet had underestimated Mansell, and the Englishman’s two victories in the final three races in 1985 boosted his confidence. Two elite drivers on the same team were a recipe for fireworks, and Mansell and Piquet duked it out for the championship.
Piquet desired to assume the role of the leading driver. According to Piquet, the verbal agreement with Frank Williams on this issue was clear, and Williams’ remark that he had “signed the best driver in the world” by signing Piquet appeared to support this. However, shortly before the start of the season, Frank Williams was involved in a severe car accident that kept him away from the team for an extended period and left him with a permanent physical impairment. The team was led by Patrick Head, Mansell’s race engineer and technical director.
