To say the least it has been a shaky start to Nelson Piquet Jr’s f1 career after finishing an impressive 2nd in the 2005-06 GP2 series.

His season started off badly in Australia with a 21st qualifying position and a first lap collision which ended his day on lap 31. He didn’t look comfortable in the Renault, but really should have had his feet under him being that he tested for Renault the previous year (although not much). I’ll give him Australia though because even the best fell flat on their faces in the first race without traction control.

Malaysia should have been better and it was. He started 13th on the grid and finished a fairly respectable 11th remaining on the lead lap. In Spain Piquet Jr had his best qualifying to date with a 10th grid start but sadly once again his race ended with an accident after only 6 laps. After running off track earlier, Piquet Jr, in trying hard to regain his position tried forcing his way past Bourdais in the Toro Rosso, the inevitable crash occurred and both went out. It was not a good pass opportunity, but rookie enthusiasm and lack of experience got the better of him when patience would have been the name of the game.

Turkey saw a poor qualifying for Piquet Jr in 17th at the start. His race was very uneventful eventually resulting in him being lapped. He brought the car home in a poor 15th. It really isn’t fair to compare Piquet Jr to team mate Alonso, but a 6th place for Alonso should easily have meant that somewhere around 10th would have been possible.

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Although last season wasn’t such a good one for Renault, at least it was more peaceful that it is now. Heikki Kovalainen was driving ok and was doing what he could to help the team improve. Giancarlo Fisichella was also doing the same but with limited years left in him. The R27 took a big step backward and they knew it, but complaints and driver issues were kept to a minimum.

With the availability of Alonso in the off season, Renault’s future looked bright and they sunk all their cards into signing him. Nelson Piquet Jr had brought fairly impressive stats with him to F1 and Renault grabbed him too. Heikki gone, Giancarlo gone and both quite surprised with Giancarlo pretty upset about it. So where did all this get Renault?

The R28 is a little better, but not much. Alonso clearly makes the car look better than it is and for the most part is driving very well. But….

From day one of the season after actually driving the R28, Alonso hasn’t been impressed and has brought on new rumors about his future with Renault. He has not played the ‘cool the media’ game by squashing any rumors, but has instead almost led the media on with his comments.

In the other garage you have Nelson Piquet Jr who has struggled all season, has been under pressure by Renault to improve and now seems to have a serious confidence issue. Rumors and speculation about his career with Renault and even F1 have not helped and he may be in a downward spiral he can’t recover from at least with Renault.

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How’s this for a rumor. Motorsport Aktuell of Switzerland has published what is so far a rumor suggesting a 3 driver swap is on the horizon following the Canadian Grand Prix. What they say is that the poor performing Nelson Piquet Jr. will be replaced at Renault with David Coulthard. Piquet Jr would then replace Sebastian Vettel at Toro Rosso who would then take David Coulthard’s vacant seat at Red Bull.

The reasons? Piquet Jr would be allowed to develop as an F1 driver at Toro Rosso, more or less out of the pressure of a big team like Renault and Sebastian Vettel who has been linked to Red Bull all season would remain at Red Bull. This would be the arrangement for the rest of this season and for 2009. At the end of this season, David Coulthard would drift into his impending retirement.

Now this sounds a little crazy especially in mid season, but rumor or not, it makes some sense. Nelson Piquet is going nowhere fast with Renault. His confidence may be at an all time low and the pressure just keeps building. Surely going to Toro Rosso and out of the heat would help him out if he is indeed cut out for F1. I’m not sure about the David Coulthad part, but at the very least he could grab a point of 2 here and there.

Sebastian Vettel was going to go to Red Bull Racing anyway so this part could also make sense although in the middle of the season makes it a little odd.

As they say, anything is possible in F1 and even though this is a rumor, stranger things have happened before.

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It’s not very often that I get down on one particular driver for long stretches of time. Now however I am. The object of my discontent is Nelson Piquet Jr. Yes I use the ‘jr’ because he simply isn’t his father. Piquet Jr. has been dreadful this his rookie season and I don’t see it getting any better. Rumors are flying around the paddock as everyone tries to get a feel for what Renault is going to do about him.

Forget the fact that his team mate is Fernando Alonso who will out drive him on any given day. Forget the fact that the Renault isn’t up to the pace of the lead teams. There are other rookies in F1 this year much better than Piquet Jr, Nakajima for example who continues to improve and does it without any frills, unlike Piquet Jr.

Shortly after he was signed to Renault, his attitude changed to what is usually reserved for those who’ve earned it. He dropped his father as an ‘adviser’ and also dropped the Jr from his name. He also proclaimed that he intends to become an F1 legend like his father (that was in 2005 actually). Add these together and I got an unsettling feeling about him. I said to myself, you need to be a rookie and leave the ‘fluff’ behind.

To date Piquet Jr. hasn’t really done anything in F1 for Renault and now he’s clearly losing confidence and the pressure is on from Flavio Briatore and so it should. Briatore wants to win as in the past and needs to have drivers who can get the most out of the car as it is. He has a top 10 car at best and top 10 points for Renault are achievable for Alonso at least, but for Piquet Jr., there is no points.

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Yesterday, the second last test session closed out leaving just Barcelona left before the start of the 2008 season. It is now pretty clear where teams will stack up come the season start and despite hours and hours of work some teams just haven’t accomplished their goals while others like say Ferrari have caused frustration for just about everyone.

[tag]Giancarlo Fisichella[/tag] echoes this with his stunning statement that Ferrari are the best and probably will dominate through the early part of the season with [tag]McLaren[/tag] close behind, and then the rest.

He is pleased with the progress and performance of his car and is predicting a faster car after a new update in Barcelona.

“At the beginning of the season it will be hard to stay out of the bottom (of the field), but we hope that we can gradually improve.”

[tag]Toyota[/tag] sat near the bottom of time sheets through most of testing, but pulled out something good in the last week with some pretty respectable times and are one of the few that have closed gaps to teams previously ahead of them. Their senior general chassis manager is now predicting serious gains between now and season start.

[tag]David Coulthard[/tag] has decided to lift spirits of [tag]Red Bull[/tag] fans by telling them not to believe too much in the test times Red Bull are pulling off. He says not to expect Red Bull to be front runners just yet.

[tag]Jenson Button[/tag], up and down with his feelings on his car says Honda made ‘good progress’ in Jerez, but more work is still needed and they are moving in the right direction.

Over 2 seconds off the pace with only a month to go? Yes, a lot more work is needed.

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3 posts in one day is a little off for me, but today, well…it happened.

Another good weather day at [tag]Jerez[/tag] except for the wind. 16 driver were out today and some because of wind ended their day early not expecting to get the data they needed. [tag]Lewis Hamilton[/tag] was one of them, quiting early at 15:00.

Even though wind was a factor, [tag]Mark Webber[/tag] in the [tag]Red Bull[/tag] came out on top with a 1:18.628 in 72 laps and had both [tag]Williams[/tag] right behind. Fuel loads were probably pretty good to achieve those times and clearly Williams has solved their wing mounting problem. [tag]Honda[/tag] continue to struggle with not much difference in their time from yesterday, but at least they weren’t last.
[tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] with [tag]Nick Heidfeld[/tag] and [tag]Robert Kubica[/tag] piled on the laps today, but initially had long runs scheduled, but again, wind prevented any clear results and they abandoned that idea.

A few incidents on trace disrupted things a little. Coulthard parked unexpectedly on track and Nelson Piquet jr. copied later with an engine failure, and then Sebastien Bourdais caused a stoppage right near the end of the session.

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1min 18.628secs 72 laps
2. Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1min 19.091secs 98 laps
3. Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1min 19.215secs 91 laps
4. Fernando Alonso Renault 1min 19.710secs 104 laps
5. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber 1min 19.829secs 116 laps
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1min 19.857secs 68 laps
7. David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1min 19.883secs 97 laps
8. Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 19.889secs 114 laps
9. Nelson Piquet Renault 1min 20.014secs 110 laps
10. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1min 20.152secs 84 laps
11. Nick Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1min 20.201secs 109 laps
12. Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 20.536secs 76 laps
13. Jenson Button Honda 1min 21.147secs 85 laps
14. Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1min 21.376secs 101 laps
15. Rubens Barrichello Honda 1min 21.710secs 58 laps
16. Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1min 22.244secs 86 laps

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Day 2 at Jerez is over and the times all in.

[tag]McLaren[/tag] are continuing to improve and are an easy 2nd behind Ferrari. It would have been cool to see Ferrari today so we could see what kind of gaps are left for Mclaren.

I see [tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] are finally coming to grips (literally) with their car and now posting some respectable times. [tag]Robert Kubica[/tag] up in 3rd, off 4 10ths, that’s 4 10ths behind Lewis in the McLaren, not Ferrari. [tag]Nick Heidfeld[/tag] quite a bit slower than Kubica.

[tag]Renault[/tag] not far off. A great fight is shaping up between BMW-Sauber and Renault.
[tag]Force India[/tag] behind [tag]Super Aguri[/tag]? They did evaluate a number of chassis set-ups in the SA07B interim car. I still expect more from Liuzzi.

[tag]Honda[/tag] Honda Honda, what is happening there. Ross Brawn must be tearing his hair out. Alex Wurz only pulling out a 1:21.950 in 86 laps.

Nick Fry:

“I’m very much enjoying myself, and going home with a sense of achievement as opposed to going home with a sense of frustration that no matter how hard we tried, progress was slow.”

Jenson Button

“The RA108 is completely new which means we are starting from zero in terms of developing the set-up,” he told the official Formula One website. “We are also working on driveability as we adapt to the new ECU.

“These challenges were reflected in our speed at our debut test in Barcelona, especially on single fast laps, but our long-run consistency improved. We have a good basic car with new opportunities for aerodynamics and other areas and a clear plan for addressing any issues in the coming tests.”

Basic car? Honda has so much experience in F1 it’s amazing they can’t come up better by now.

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Sir Jackie Stewart on Max Mosely

Jackie Stewart thinks Mosley is not well enough qualified to lead the governing body of a sport like formula one.

“This is a very heavily capital invested sport and presently the president of the FIA is not paid and therefore he is part time and an amateur.”

Heikki Kovalainen

“I heard many stories before I joined McLaren, but I have no idea where those comments are coming from.”

Nelson Piquet

Nelson Piquet was angry at the suggestion that he is surely the number 2 driver at Renault this year.

“That is an invention of journalists. In formula one there is no number one and number two. Both the cars are equal and here it will be the same way.”

Fernando Alonso

Interesting

“My fear is having a bad year and fighting for eighth position with no motivation.”

Kimi Raikkonen

Once again on TC ban

“For me it’s not [more dangerous].”

“And if anybody doesn’t like it they can always go and do something else.”

Timo Glock

Talking about the new Toyota

“It could be a little step back, but in the end it will pay off when we understand how the car works and make it quicker.”

Fernando Alonso

“I haven’t really got to know Nelsinho yet, but he seems to me to be a normal, nice guy who wants to enjoy his time in formula one: no different to Marques, Button, Trulli, Fisi, Montagny or McNish, all of whom were my teammates, all of whom I got on well with and who are still friends.”

“I said last year that too many false things were written, but I understand that is what sells newspapers.”

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Fernando Alonso will be donning his new/old colours next month when Renault does testing at Jerez January 14th to the 16th.  He will be climbing into the car for the first time since the Brazilian Grand Prix, but it will be last seasons R27.  Next seasons R28 won’t be ready for release until the following week.  This is what I hear anyway.

I am interested in both drivers lap times to compare with other teams that tested at Jerez earlier.  It should be interesting although not terribly important.

This video is from all the British Fernando Alonso fans out there. Sorry, but it’s funny!

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The pieces of the 2008 drivers lineup puzzle are fast falling into place now, a mere 4 days after Renault escaped penalty from the WMSC.  and as quickly as the weekend leaves us behind, Fernando Alonso has signed back with Renault.  After many weeks of speculation and frustration, a two year deal has been worked out between Fernando and Renault.

“I am delighted to be returning to Renault,” Alonso was quoted as saying. “This is the team where I grew up as a driver in Formula 1. Now it is time for us to begin a new chapter together. I am very excited about working with this great team once more, and confident that together we can move back to the front of the field. Renault had a difficult year in 2007, but I know that the team has real strength in depth. I am confident they can produce a fast and competitive car and be back at the top in 2008.”

Along with that bit of news from Renault, Nelson Piquet Jr. has also been named as Alonso’s team mate.  Piquet Jr has been a test driver for Renault this past season and has performed very well and has impressed Flavio Briatore to the point of giving him a seat.

Once again however, Fernando will have a rookie team mate who is unproven in the F1 circle and may give him a challenge.  Unlike at McLaren though, Piquet Jr will be second driver to Alonso, an arrangement that can only please Fernando.

“I am looking forward to teaming up with Fernando, and learning from him. As a rookie, there is no better way to start your career than to have a double World Champion as your reference point,” concluded Piquet.

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