Nelson Piquet

Nelson Piquet is a Brazilian Formula 1 driver with 204 race starts from 1978 to 1991, 23 wins, 24 pole positions, 60 podiums and 485.5 championship points, and 3 drivers' championships (1981, 1983, 1987).

Piquet's first start was the 1978 German Grand Prix for Ensign, from 21st on the grid, ending in a retirement. The first win came at the 1980 United States Grand Prix West for Brabham, in the 24th start, from pole position. The most recent of the 23 wins was the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix. The best season was 1987: 1st in the championship with 76 points, 3 wins and 11 podiums, for Williams. The longest team-mate pairing was with Riccardo Patrese, 30 races: Piquet finished ahead 13 times to 7 when both were classified, and out-qualified Patrese 20 times to 10. All-time, that is the 13th-most wins of any driver, the 24th-most starts of any driver. 80 of the 204 starts ended in a retirement (39%), and Piquet led 1,198 laps in total.

Nationality

Brazilian

Born

17 Aug 1952

Active

1978 to 1991, 14 seasons

Teams

Ensign, McLaren, Brabham, Brabham-Alfa Romeo, Brabham-Ford, Williams, Team Lotus, Benetton

World titles

3 (1981, 1983, 1987)

First win: 1980 United States Grand Prix West. Most recent win: 1991 Canadian Grand Prix. Win rate 11.3% of starts.

Compare with team-mates: Riccardo Patrese, Nigel Mansell, Satoru Nakajima, Hector Rebaque, Alessandro Nannini, Niki Lauda, Roberto Moreno, Teo Fabi, Marc Surer, Ricardo Zunino, Michael Schumacher. Or anyone else.

Copy career summary

Season by season

Explained: how points and the championships work · how the points system changed since 1950 · the closest and most one-sided team-mate pairings.

By team

All 23 wins

Every race