After Felipe Massa 'set the Formula 1 world on fire' by detailing his plans to try and claim the 2008 world title, in which he was runner-up for Ferrari, Nelsinho Piquet decided to comment on what happened. Speaking to the Track By Track Podcast, of which he is one of the presenters, the former Formula 1 driver opened up about what happened in that race.

Nelsinho Piquet arrived in Formula One in 2007 when at the age of 21 he became a test driver for Renault, which at that time included Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella. A year earlier, Piquet had been vice-champion in GP2 (now Formula 2), losing the title to Lewis Hamilton at the end of the championship.

Little training time

As Renault's reserve driver, Piquet said he didn't have much time to get used to the car and gain race pace. That year, according to him, teams had few days of practice before the start of the season.

"Of the 8 or 10 days (of practice), Kovalainen wanted to do all of them because he was the new driver, and the older driver, which was Fisichella, wanted to do all of them because he wanted to show service. There were three days left for me, you see? So, in 2007, I was 'doing nothing'. There were no simulators at that time, so you couldn't learn that steering wheel with '200 buttons' and learn the tracks, because there was none of that. There was no simulator. I practically didn't ride," he said.

Alonso as team-mate

The following year, Piquet won one of the vacancies in the team, becoming Fernando Alonso's teammate. "To make my situation a little bit more difficult, Alonso had his friction at McLaren in 2007 with Hamilton and then, in 2008, when I became the first driver in the team, they switched: it was going to be me and Kovalainen, but they put Kovalainen in Alonso's place at McLaren and Alonso came to race with me."

"He wanted to win more than anything, [...] because he had the mess with Hamilton, so he came back wanting to win anyway. And I was the rookie driver who hadn't trained. I knew it was going to be difficult, but I didn't know what I was going to face. And it was really very difficult, because I took a lot of tracks that I didn't know," Piquet continued.

"It was very difficult for me"

Nelsinho Piquet said that at that time, he did not have anyone close who would accompany him during the races or who could be close to give him advice (as with Jos Verstappen who usually accompanies his son during the season). Nelsinho's father, three-time world champion Nelson Piquet, did not accompany him, so the only people he had by his side were his manager and Flavio Briatore who, according to the Brazilian, had a 'grotesque manner' and who put a lot of pressure on him.

"Flavio's pressure was very big on me. Until it came that weekend (Singapore) and, summing up the story, they put me psychologically against the wall and I had no other choice," he said.

Nowadays, when people ask him if he would do it again, his answer is clear: "No, obviously not. But to go back at that age, at that pressure. You don't have anyone there with you, and I suffered a lot of bullying. He (Briatore) was always complaining, always putting pressure, always warning: 'It's your last chance'".

Supports Felipe Massa

Piquet concludes by saying he supports Felipe Massa's decision to try and claim the title that season. "I think Felipe and his team have to do what is best."