Nelson Piquet

"Piquet" redirects here. For other uses, see Piquet (disambiguation).

Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (Pronounced: PEE-kay; born August 17, 1952 in Rio de Janeirio), commonly known as Nelson Piquet is a former Formula One driver, and three-time World Champion, winning the title in 1981, 1983 and 1987. He is one of ten drivers to have won the title at least three times, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Sebastian Vettel (with four), Alain Prost (four), Juan Manuel Fangio (five), Michael Schumacher (seven), and Lewis Hamilton (seven). He is the only driver to win the championship in a BMW engined car.

He is the father of Nelson Piquet, Jr., who drove for Renault in 2008 and 2009.

He has also competed in the Indianapolis 500 twice (starting once), suffering a practice crash in 1992, and being classified 32nd in 1993 (crashed after 38 laps).

Formula One Career[]

1981[]

"Nelson Piquet has taken over from Emerson Fittipaldi in terms of being the best South American driver."

Murray Walker, 1981 United States Grand Prix West, BBC Commentary

Formula One Record[]

Year	Entrant	Team	WDC Points	WDC Pos.	Report
1978	Team Tissot Ensign	Ensign-Ford Cosworth	0	28th	Report
	BS Fabrications	McLaren-Ford Cosworth
	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham-Alfa Romeo
1979	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	3	16th	Report
1979	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	3	16th	Report
1980	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	54	2nd	Report
1981	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	50	1st	Report
1982	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham-BMW	20	11th	Report
1982	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	20	11th	Report
1983	Fila Sport	Brabham-BMW	59	1st	Report
1984	MRD International	Brabham-BMW	29	5th	Report
1985	Motor Racing Developments Ltd	Brabham-BMW	21	8th	Report
1986	Canon Williams Team	Williams-Honda	69	3rd	Report
1987	Canon Williams Team	Williams-Honda	73	1st	Report
1988	Camel Team Lotus Honda	Lotus-Honda	22	6th	Report
1989	Camel Team Lotus	Lotus-Judd	12	8th	Report
1990	Benetton Formula	Benetton-Ford Cosworth	43	3rd	Report
1991	Camel Benetton Formula	Benetton-Ford Cosworth	26.5	6th	Report

Career Statistics[]

Entries	208
Starts	203
Pole Positions	24
Front Row Starts	44
Race Wins	23
Podiums	60
Fastest Laps	23
Points	485.5
Laps Raced	9870
Distance Raced	45563.540 km (28312 mi)
Races Led	59
Laps Led	1624
Doubles	5
Hat-Tricks	3
Grand Chelems	3

Race Wins[]

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1980 United States Grand Prix West
2	1980 Dutch Grand Prix
3	1980 Italian Grand Prix
4	1981 Argentine Grand Prix
5	1981 San Marino Grand Prix
6	1981 German Grand Prix
7	1982 Canadian Grand Prix
8	1983 Brazilian Grand Prix
9	1983 Italian Grand Prix
10	1983 European Grand Prix
11	1984 Canadian Grand Prix
12	1984 United States Grand Prix
13	1985 French Grand Prix
14	1986 Brazilian Grand Prix
15	1986 German Grand Prix
16	1986 Hungarian Grand Prix
17	1986 Italian Grand Prix
18	1987 German Grand Prix
19	1987 Hunngarian Grand Prix
20	1987 Italian Grand Prix
21	1990 Japanese Grand Prix
22	1990 Australian Grand Prix
23	1991 Canadian Grand Prix

Career Results[]

Complete Formula One Results
Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pts	Pos
1978																	0	NC
1978											Ret	Ret	Ret	9th		11th	0	NC
1979																	3	15th
1979	Ret	Ret	7th	8th	Ret	Ret	7th	C	Ret	Ret	12th	Ret	4th	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	15th
1980																	54	2nd
1980	2nd	Ret	4th	1st	Ret	3rd	4th	2nd	4th	5th	1st	1st	Ret	Ret			54	2nd
1981																	50	1st
1981	3rd	12th	1st	1st	Ret	Ret	Ret	3rd	Ret	1st	3rd	2nd	6th	5th	5th		50	1st
1982																	20	11th
1982	Ret	DSQ	Ret		5th	Ret	DNQ	1st	2nd	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	4th	Ret	Ret	20	11th
1983																	59	1st
1983	1st	Ret	2nd	Ret	2nd	4th	4th	Ret	2nd	13th	3rd	Ret	1st	1st	3rd		59	1st
1984																	29	5th
1984	Ret	Ret	9th	Ret	Ret	Ret ^[1]	1st	1st	Ret	7th	Ret	2nd	Ret	Ret	3rd	6th	29	5th
1985																	21	8th
1985	Ret	Ret	8th	Ret	Ret	6th	1st	4th	Ret	Ret	8th	2nd	5th	Ret	Ret	Ret	21	8th
1986																	69	3rd
1986	1st	Ret	2nd	7th	Ret	3rd	Ret	3rd	2nd	1st	1st	Ret	1st	3rd	4th	2nd	69	3rd
1987																	73 (76)	1st
1987	2nd	DNS	Ret	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	1st	3rd	4th	2nd	15th	Ret	73 (76)	1st
1988																	22	6th
1988	3rd	3rd	Ret	Ret	4th	Ret	5th	5th	Ret	8th	4th	Ret	Ret	8th	Ret	3rd	22	6th
1989																	12	8th
1989	Ret	Ret	Ret	11th	Ret	4th	8th	4th	5th	6th	DNQ	Ret	Ret	8th	4th	Ret	12	8th
1990																	43 (44)	3rd
1990	4th	6th	5th	DSQ	2nd	6th	4th	5th	Ret	3rd	5th	7th	5th	Ret	1st	1st	43 (44)	3rd
1991																	26.5	6th
1991	3rd	5th	Ret	Ret	1st	Ret	8th	5th	Ret	Ret	3rd	6th	5th	11th	7th	4th ^[2]	26.5	6th

Key
Symbol	Meaning	Symbol	Meaning
1st	Winner	Ret	Retired
2nd	Podium finish	DSQ	Disqualified
3rd	Podium finish	DNQ	Did not qualify
5th	Points finish	DNPQ	Did not pre-qualify
14th	Non-points finish	TD	Test driver
Italics	Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap	DNS	Did not start
18th^†	Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance)	NC	Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4th^P	Qualified for pole position	[+] More Symbols

Notes[]

↑ Race stopped after 31/76 Laps. Half points awarded
↑ Race stopped after 14/81 Laps. Half points awarded

Quotes[]

"Confounding his critics, Nelson Piquet in the points at Phoenix and Brazil. Indeed, the three times champion could well return to the victory rostrum this season." - Andrew Marriott. Eurosport. 1990 San Marino Grand Prix Build-Up.

External links[]

V T E	Nelson Piquet
Seasons 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991
Season Reports 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991
Teams Ensign (1978) • McLaren (privateer) (1978) • Brabham (1978-1985) • Williams (1986–1987) • Lotus (1988–1989) • Benetton (1990-1991)
Teammates Harald Ertl (1978) • Brett Lunger (1978) • Niki Lauda (1978-1979) • John Watson (1978) • Ricardo Zunino (1979-1980) • Héctor Rebaque (1980-1981) • Riccardo Patrese (1982-1983, 1987) • Teo Fabi (1984) • Corrado Fabi (1984) • Manfred Winkelhock (1984) • François Hesnault (1985) • Marc Surer (1985) • Nigel Mansell (1986-1987) • Satoru Nakajima (1988-1989) • Alessandro Nannini (1990) • Roberto Moreno (1990-1991) • Michael Schumacher (1991)
Other pages Nelson, Jr. (son) • Statistics • Teammate comparison • Category

V T E	List of World Drivers' Champions
1950: Giuseppe Farina 1951: Juan Manuel Fangio 1952: Alberto Ascari 1953: Alberto Ascari 1954: Juan Manuel Fangio 1955: Juan Manuel Fangio 1956: Juan Manuel Fangio 1957: Juan Manuel Fangio 1958: Mike Hawthorn 1959: Jack Brabham 1960: Jack Brabham 1961: Phil Hill 1962: Graham Hill 1963: Jim Clark 1964: John Surtees 1965: Jim Clark 1966: Jack Brabham 1967: Denny Hulme 1968: Graham Hill 1969: Jackie Stewart		1970: Jochen Rindt 1971: Jackie Stewart 1972: Emerson Fittipaldi 1973: Jackie Stewart 1974: Emerson Fittipaldi 1975: Niki Lauda 1976: James Hunt 1977: Niki Lauda 1978: Mario Andretti 1979: Jody Scheckter 1980: Alan Jones 1981: Nelson Piquet 1982: Keke Rosberg 1983: Nelson Piquet 1984: Niki Lauda 1985: Alain Prost 1986: Alain Prost 1987: Nelson Piquet 1988: Ayrton Senna 1989: Alain Prost	1990: Ayrton Senna 1991: Ayrton Senna 1992: Nigel Mansell 1993: Alain Prost 1994: Michael Schumacher 1995: Michael Schumacher 1996: Damon Hill 1997: Jacques Villeneuve 1998: Mika Häkkinen 1999: Mika Häkkinen 2000: Michael Schumacher 2001: Michael Schumacher 2002: Michael Schumacher 2003: Michael Schumacher 2004: Michael Schumacher 2005: Fernando Alonso 2006: Fernando Alonso 2007: Kimi Räikkönen 2008: Lewis Hamilton 2009: Jenson Button	2010: Sebastian Vettel 2011: Sebastian Vettel 2012: Sebastian Vettel 2013: Sebastian Vettel 2014: Lewis Hamilton 2015: Lewis Hamilton 2016: Nico Rosberg 2017: Lewis Hamilton 2018: Lewis Hamilton 2019: Lewis Hamilton 2020: Lewis Hamilton 2021: Max Verstappen

V T E	List of World Drivers' Championship runners-up
1950: Juan Manuel Fangio 1951: Alberto Ascari 1952: Giuseppe Farina 1953: Juan Manuel Fangio 1954: José Froilán González 1955: Stirling Moss 1956: Stirling Moss 1957: Stirling Moss 1958: Stirling Moss 1959: Tony Brooks 1960: Bruce McLaren 1961: Wolfgang von Trips 1962: Jim Clark 1963: Graham Hill 1964: Graham Hill 1965: Graham Hill 1966: John Surtees 1967: Jack Brabham 1968: Jackie Stewart 1969: Jacky Ickx		1970: Jacky Ickx 1971: Ronnie Peterson 1972: Jackie Stewart 1973: Emerson Fittipaldi 1974: Clay Regazzoni 1975: Emerson Fittipaldi 1976: Niki Lauda 1977: Jody Scheckter 1978: Ronnie Peterson 1979: Gilles Villeneuve 1980: Nelson Piquet 1981: Carlos Reutemann 1982: Didier Pironi 1983: Alain Prost 1984: Alain Prost 1985: Michele Alboreto 1986: Nigel Mansell 1987: Nigel Mansell 1988: Alain Prost 1989: Ayrton Senna	1990: Alain Prost 1991: Nigel Mansell 1992: Riccardo Patrese 1993: Ayrton Senna 1994: Damon Hill 1995: Damon Hill 1996: Jacques Villeneuve 1997: Heinz-Harald Frentzen* 1998: Michael Schumacher 1999: Eddie Irvine 2000: Mika Häkkinen 2001: David Coulthard 2002: Rubens Barrichello 2003: Kimi Räikkönen 2004: Rubens Barrichello 2005: Kimi Räikkönen 2006: Michael Schumacher 2007: Lewis Hamilton 2008: Felipe Massa 2009: Sebastian Vettel	2010: Fernando Alonso 2011: Jenson Button 2012: Fernando Alonso 2013: Fernando Alonso 2014: Nico Rosberg 2015: Nico Rosberg 2016: Lewis Hamilton 2017: Sebastian Vettel 2018: Sebastian Vettel 2019: Valtteri Bottas 2020: Valtteri Bottas 2021: Lewis Hamilton
* Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 championship.

V T E
Drivers 6. Nicholas Latifi · 23. Alexander Albon
Personnel Frank Williams · Patrick Head · Pat Symonds · Mike Coughlan
World Champions Alan Jones (1980) · Keke Rosberg (1982) · Nelson Piquet (1987) · Nigel Mansell (1992) · Alain Prost (1993) · Damon Hill (1996) · Jacques Villeneuve (1997)
Cars March 761 · FW06 · FW07 · FW07B · FW07C · FW07D · FW08 · FW08C · FW09 · FW09B · FW10 · FW10B · FW11 · FW11B · FW12 · FW12C · FW13 · FW13B · FW14 · FW14B · FW15C · FW16 · FW16B · FW17 · FW17B · FW18 · FW19 · FW20 · FW21 · FW22 · FW23 · FW24 · FW25 · FW26 · FW27 · FW28 · FW29 · FW30 · FW31 · FW32 · FW33 · FW34 · FW35 · FW36 · FW37 · FW38 · FW40 · FW41 · FW42 · FW43 · FW43B · FW44