Piquet Jr: The victory at Long Beach “means a lot”

Nelson Piquet Jr won the first victory of his Formula E career this Saturday. The former World Championship F1 driver, who left through the back door after being fired by Renault in the summer of 2009 before revealing the Crashgate scandal – his deliberate crash during the 2008 Singapore GP that handed victory to Fernando Alonso on the orders of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds – has since had various experiences, including NASCAR.

This success is therefore significant in his career both personally and family-wise since it came almost exactly 35 years after his father, Nelson Piquet’s, first victory in Formula 1 at the Long Beach circuit. For the occasion, he wore a helmet with the exact same design and colors as the triple World Champion’s during his career.

This victory means a lot. It’s my first win in Formula E and it’s where my father won his first race in Formula 1. This helmet means a lot – I’m not going to give it to him actually, I think I’ll keep it and do a few more races with it! he stated right after the race, as reported by our American colleagues at Motorsport.com.

Piquet Jr then reflected on his race, notably marked by a successful start that allowed him to take advantage over Prost and then Abt: « It’s hard to believe, everything worked out. I felt very comfortable, and I knew we were fast. We should have been on pole, but I encountered traffic. » The Brazilian was indeed hindered by Stéphane Sarrazin while he seemed capable of setting the best time during qualifying. « From the start, everything went well. I braked really late in the first corner—I had confidence in my brakes—and as soon as I took the lead, it was all about control and not making mistakes. »

The China Racing driver won with a 1.7s lead over Jean-Eric Vergne while keeping his closest rivals at bay by 3 seconds for most of the race. The end, however, could have been more intense due to a misunderstanding: « I had to monitor my battery temperature and energy consumption; I just made it to the finish. I had to be as consistent as possible. Six laps from the end, the team said “save more” and I thought they said “don’t save anymore,” so they shouted “maximum saving” which made me think “damn! ».

Recipient of one of the Fanboosts – the possibility, twice during the race (once per car), to use a button allowing for a temporary speed increase, with the allocation left to the discretion of fans who vote on the official website of the discipline – Piquet did not use it: « The batteries were overheating a bit and I didn’t want to strain them. »

With this victory, Nelson Piquet Jr moves up to second place in the overall standings, just one point behind Lucas di Grassi, who finished third at Long Beach. Nicolas Prost, the leader before the California round, is third, 6 points behind the ABT driver.