Piquet's F1 Drive Under Threat from Di Grassi
Renault Formula 1 Director Pat Symonds Praises Test Driver
Oct 4, 2008
Symonds Impressed by F1 Tester Di Grassi
The uncertainty over Nelson Piquet’s future in Formula 1 has increased following comments made by Pat Symonds of Renault, the team which the Brazilian drives for. Speaking to Autosport magazine, Symonds made it clear that current Renault Formula 1 test driver Lucas Di Grassi was in the frame for a race seat;
“I think Lucas deserved to be in F1… It’s great he got back to racing in GP2 as well, because if the championship had started when he came back, he would have walked it.”
Di Grassi's Path to F1
Di Grassi missed several races at the start of the 2008 GP2 season but, despite this, the Brazilian managed to reach third in the championship. He has been part of Renault’s Driver Development program since 2004, which was only his third year of car racing.
Di Grassi started karting in Brazil in 1997, claiming two titles in his first year. He continued in karts until the end of 2001 winning, among other awards, the FIA Junior Pan-American Championship.
The Brazilian Formula Renault Championship was contested in 2002, where Di Grassi impressed by finishing second overall. He repeated the feat the following year in the Brazilian Formula 3 championship.
It was in 2004 that Renault signed the young Brazilian and he also drove in the British Formula 3 series, finishing the season eighth. At the prestigious Macau Formula 3 race he was named best rookie and Renault gave him his first test drive in a Formula 1 car.
Di Grassi scored one victory in 2005 on his way to third in the Formula 3 Euroseries championship. Once again he impressed at Macau, winning the Formula 3 race around the daunting street circuit.
Di Grassi’s first GP2 season in 2006 presented a steep learning curve and he could only manage 16th in the championship driving for Durango, although he did record the fastest lap at Monaco. 2007 was much better and he narrowly lost out on the title to Timo Glock.
Piquet Under Pressure to Keep Renault F1 Seat
While Di Grassi has been quietly impressing Renault with his race results and Formula 1 test, Piquet has been enduring a disastrous season. He entered Formula 1 with high hopes and the weight of his triple World Championship winning father’s name. Over the course of the year he has been consistently outpaced by his team-mate Alonso and, last time out in Singapore, crashed out of the race. There are three races left in the 2008 season and Piquet will be desperate to prove to Renault that he deserves to retain his seat next year.
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