Piquet Jr makes shock European comeback with unexpected announcement

The Brazilian will be a part of Alumitec Racing for the upcoming campaign, getting behind the wheel of the #48 Mustang for the French team.

The 40-year-old will compete in Europe for the first time since taking part in the LMP2 Pro-Am class of the European Le Mans Series for United Autosports USA.

“I’m very excited to join Alumitec Racing,” said the 40-year-old after the announcement.

Piquet Jr. came onto the scene after an impressive 2006 GP2 series campaign, finishing second behind Lewis Hamilton. That led to his debut in F1 in 2008 with Renault.

However, his debut season was marred by the infamous 'Crashgate' scandal at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in which he deliberately crashed to aid teammate Fernando Alonso's win.

After leaving F1 after the 2009 season, the Brazilian had stints in the NASCAR Nationawide Series and Formula E before his final European racing series in 2024. He has continued to race to race in South America throughout 2025 and 2026.

He is also the brother of Kelly Piquet, the partner of four-time world champion Max Verstappen.