Would you hire Nelsinho Piquet?

[karimbo]

I would never. He should have been excluded for life as well. Let us not forget that if Flavio wouldn't have fired him, he would still be driving for Renault and collecting big pay checks. The Piquets (Senior and Junior) had no problems "cheating" while being paid, but when Nelsinho lost his job, "cheating" became something wrong...

[jab]

I would

I like him. He's potentially a great driver who has a lot more to give in F1 if given another chance. I don't blame him for Singapore one bit - it's all well and good saying "I wouldn't have said I'd do it" but until you're actually in that position yourself, how can you say that for definite?

[BootsOntheSide]

Derek Warwich has suggested that Piquet should be banned for life. To sit on information like this and then blackmail the team (700-odd employees, many of whom were directly involved in repairing his frequent crashes) is one of the less savoury aspects of this fiasco.

Frankly I wouldn't hire him anyway. He coasted throught he junior formulae on name and funding - at every stage he and his dad ensured that he had the best machinery and subservient team-mates. He showed no real pace and made numerous errors in F1, and even had the chutzpah to criticise Buemi's 'rookie mistake' at Monaco this year. He's given the impression of being a whinger, arrogant and spoilt.

[jab]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Derek Warwich has suggested that Piquet should be banned for life.

Derek Warwick also said Flavio was a great character and was surprised he'd got himself into this, and that Pat Symonds has "very high standards and very high morals"...

[JackN]

The reason this whole scheme worked was because Piquet used to crash all the time anyway, so no one batted an eyelid when we saw his car in the wall. Undoubtedly he has been treated poorly by Renault and was off Fernando's pace, but this doesnt mean he has to drive into a wall every race.

And i cannot stand him as a person either unfortunatley. Very much a pre-madonna.

[bella]

i think i'd hire him.

people forget that if the kind of bullying and general nonsense flavio briatore put him through happened in your average workplace it'd be in the courts faster than you can say "tribunal". anyone who has suffered at the hands of a bully should at least be able to go some way towards understanding how much it hurt.

[Mr V]

No - simples!

[JamesRamone]

I wouldnt hire him and I can't see any other team going anywhere near him. Unless he dangles a massive sponsorship deal under a new teams nose !

Whilst he may not have had much luck at Renault, he made far too many mistakes and for me showed that he couldnt cut it at the top.

[Novice]

Any race driver with morals would not risk their fellow drivers by deliberately crashing as he did. The question that should be asked is would you want to be on the track at the same time as him?

Granting him immunity from punishment, is this an old pals act from Brabham days?

[Knowlesy]

I wouldn't hire him to deliver milk.

[bdwoody]

drive for me ..hell no , i wouldn't let drive a herd of cattle .

[429CJ]

No, but I would not hire Alonso either, he's bad news, a string of shady scams seems to follow his path...

[jab]

Originally Posted by Novice

Any race driver with morals would not risk their fellow drivers by deliberately crashing as he did.

Yeah, none of them would have crashed like that. They'd have taken someone else with them for good measure

[johntt]

I would.

Given the way Flav treated him he was never in the best state of mind pre-race.

He could probably be picked up for a fraction of the money now given the way people will be averse to hiring him, something that Gigawave did in the way they hired Nigel Stepney.

[strider]

Originally Posted by jab

I would

I like him. He's potentially a great driver who has a lot more to give in F1 if given another chance. I don't blame him for Singapore one bit - it's all well and good saying "I wouldn't have said I'd do it" but until you're actually in that position yourself, how can you say that for definite?

Originally Posted by bella

i think i'd hire him.

people forget that if the kind of bullying and general nonsense flavio briatore put him through happened in your average workplace it'd be in the courts faster than you can say "tribunal". anyone who has suffered at the hands of a bully should at least be able to go some way towards understanding how much it hurt.

Good for you both, so would I.

My only reservation would be to wonder how much he has been damaged by the last 18/20 months with Briatore. I'm sure they were hell.

Ron Dennis said that when they took on Heikki Kovalainen they had to rebuild his confidence and and self-belief, and that was after only one year with Renault. I expect some wag will say they still haven't managed it, but they seldom look for any reason beyond the obvious.

[gttouring]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Derek Warwich has suggested that Piquet should be banned for life. To sit on information like this and then blackmail the team (700-odd employees, many of whom were directly involved in repairing his frequent crashes) is one of the less savoury aspects of this fiasco.

Frankly I wouldn't hire him anyway. He coasted throught he junior formulae on name and funding - at every stage he and his dad ensured that he had the best machinery and subservient team-mates. He showed no real pace and made numerous errors in F1, and even had the chutzpah to criticise Buemi's 'rookie mistake' at Monaco this year. He's given the impression of being a whinger, arrogant and spoilt.

Truer words on this dope haven't been spoken...i just don't like what has transpired, in the wake of him being let go.
if i was the driver- crashing is not an option. What is wrong with him. he would have brought out a yellow anyway.

[Ralf's Girl]

I don't think I would hire him, but that's because his talent is questionable, irrespective of whatever scandal he's been caught up in. I do think that Briatore must be an extremely unpleasant man to work for because Piquet isn't the only driver to have a tough time with him, but Piquet hasn't done enough on the track for a team boss to overlook his misdemeanours.

[Chappelli]

Nope.

It doesn't matter who asked him to do what.. at the end of the day the crime was crashing on purpose.... while Flav and Symonds may have asked him to do that... he's the one that committed the crime and should be penalised as harshly as anyone else.

[Born Racer]

He's potentially a great driver

?

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by JackN

Very much a pre-madonna.

Prima donna even.

I'd give him a second chance. He was no slouch in the lower formulae and has had a tough time at Renault.

[jab]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

?

Go look at his GP2 performances. Took the fight to Lewis, who is generally considered one of the best young drivers in many years, in a poorer team

He's always been quick. You don't win SudAm and British F3, finish 2nd in GP2, and win races in A1 GP without being untalented. He's not just another second generation driver

Originally Posted by strider

My only reservation would be to wonder how much he has been damaged by the last 18/20 months with Briatore. I'm sure they were hell.

Indeed, this was a problem for Pizzonia. He hasn't recovered from being destroyed (on track and mentally) by the man in my avatar. Now he just posts videos of himself wearing a wig and sunglasses on YouTube

[Born Racer]

True jab, but some people just can't hack it in F1, however promising they were prior to it.

And besides this incident (which admittedly appears to have messed up his head a bit), why are people talking about his career under Briatore being so difficult? What else was there that I'm missing? Everyone ought to have an idea of what the number 2 seat at Benetton/Renault is like when going into it, and he was rather rubbish before Singapore.

A poor F1 driver by today's standards, regardless of being Alonso's number 2 and of what happened in Singapore.

[Knowlesy]

Well it was said Kovalainen needed his confidence rebuilt at McLaren by Ron, but how much of that was Ron scoring points off Flav?

Because, as far as I can see, leaving Renault hasn't exactly helped Heikki. He has apparently got worse. So if the same happened to Piquet, what we could potentially witness would be a driver attempting GP's in reverse gear.

The point being that Piquet showed very little in the way of promise. In terms of drives I truly rated last season, he came up with one real standout performance which was Fuji I believe. Please don't tell me Hockenheim was one, it wasn't. Heikki at Renault at least looked competent and quick and put in a few notable drives (unless it was Fisi making him look better).

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Heikki at Renault at least looked competent and quick and put in a few notable drives (unless it was Fisi making him look better).

I don't think it was quite that simple, but you're not far off. Being Fisichella's team-mate at Renault is different to being Alonso's team-mate at Renault. And not just because Alonso is better than Fisichella.

[Knowlesy]

I appreciate that, but you can still show something now and again rather than crashing every race and qualifying way down the grid.

If Heikki can deliver competent results with 'shattered' confidence then I'm sure Nelson could have at least stayed on the track now and again.

I know I am being somewhat harsh, but can anyone honestly say that the guy was F1 material? Some people just aren't cut out for (what purports to be) a top level series.