Nelson Piquet Jr is born

Nelson Piquet Jr inherited one of Formula 1’s most recognisable surnames, but his own career refused to follow a conventional line. It moved from junior-series success to a difficult Renault spell, a scandal that shook the paddock and, eventually, a world title in electric racing.

Born in Heidelberg, West Germany, on 25 July 1985, Piquet was the son of three-time Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet. The name created immediate expectations, but the younger Piquet built a substantial junior record of his own. He won the South American Formula Three title in 2002 and the British Formula Three championship in 2004, then finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in the 2006 GP2 Series.

That GP2 season established both drivers as obvious Formula 1 prospects. Piquet won races, took poles and became the first driver to complete a clean sweep of a GP2 weekend, but Hamilton’s greater consistency secured the title. Renault signed Piquet as a test driver for 2007 and promoted him to a race seat alongside Fernando Alonso in 2008.

A podium inside a difficult Renault spell

Piquet’s Formula 1 debut season began badly. He struggled with the car, qualifying and the pressure of being measured against Alonso, but the German Grand Prix produced an unlikely breakthrough. A well-timed safety car allowed him to jump from the midfield into contention, and he finished second behind Hamilton. It was his first podium and remained his only Formula 1 top-three result.

The greater consequence of 2008 emerged much later. At the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, Piquet crashed deliberately after being instructed to do so by senior Renault figures. The resulting safety car helped Alonso’s strategy and contributed to his victory. The plan stayed concealed until Renault dropped Piquet during the 2009 season and the circumstances were reported to the FIA.

The case became known as Crashgate. It led to sanctions, resignations and a public examination of how far a team could push a driver under pressure. Piquet’s role was both active and compromised: he had agreed to crash, then became the principal witness when the scheme was exposed. His Formula 1 career ended after 28 Grands Prix, with one podium and a reputation dominated by an incident that had little to do with ordinary racing failure.

A title beyond Formula 1

Piquet did not stop competing. He raced in NASCAR, rallycross, sports cars and Formula E, where the inaugural 2014-15 season offered a reset. Driving for China Racing, he won at Long Beach and Moscow and built his campaign around consistency rather than qualifying dominance.

The championship went to the final round in London. Piquet finished seventh in the race and secured the title by one point over Sébastien Buemi, becoming Formula E’s first champion. It was an achievement that stood independently of his surname and of Singapore, proof that a career can remain complicated without being reduced to a single chapter.