I recently heard - for the very first time - that Piquet allegedly was to return to Benetton for 1992 as MS' team mate, but his accident in the Indy series finally prevented this move. The reasoning behind this deal was to secure an experienced number two at the side of MS.
Hmm, imo NP didn't know anymore what he was doing since the very first day of his Lotus adventure, but a career move of that kind sounds to me strange even by Piquet's standards...
Any comments?
Piquet at Benetton for 1992?
Started by
holiday
, Jan 24 2002 17:53
6 replies to this topic
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#2
man
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Posted 24 January 2002 - 18:53
Thats news to me. As soon as TWR joined forces with Benetton in 1991, it was clear that Martin Brundle was going to be a target for 1992. Benetton had high hopes for '92 with the new barnard designed car with custom made Pirelli tyres. But Moreno and Piquet hardly set the world on fire. Flavio then signed Schumacher and Moreno's days were numbered. Piquet also looked average after Schumacher's arrival, but I heard the rumour that Ferrari were after Piquet for 1992. Certainly by the 1991 Italian GP, Brundle was all but signed and there were rumours that he was going to replace Piquet for the last few GP's of '91. By the way, didn't Piquet drive a Williams Honda a year or so back for a celebration Honda day at Japan a year or so back? Does anybody have any pics?
#3
Gary C
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Posted 24 January 2002 - 19:08
Don't know about Nelson demo-ing a Williams, but I did hear about 3-4 years ago a Williams he owned was being transported somewhere, when the truck was stopped and the nosecone pinched!!
OT : I have spoken to Nelson Piquet! Met him at Interlagos in 98. As he was coming towards me in the crowd I made up my mind that I would speak to him. As he got level with me I just said 'Nelson!'. He didn't break his stride but still managed a 'Hallo!' and carried straight on. See? I've spoken to Nelson Piquet............
OT : I have spoken to Nelson Piquet! Met him at Interlagos in 98. As he was coming towards me in the crowd I made up my mind that I would speak to him. As he got level with me I just said 'Nelson!'. He didn't break his stride but still managed a 'Hallo!' and carried straight on. See? I've spoken to Nelson Piquet............
#4
TODave2
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Posted 24 January 2002 - 19:21
As a Piquet fan in my youth I'd love to know if these stories are true about the Ferrari offers n stuff.
#5
FGV
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Posted 25 January 2002 - 18:42
There were rumours about Piquet going to Ferrari in 1992, but the "old guys" at Ferrari objected because they remembered that Piquet had criticized Ferrari in 1982 after Villeneuve's death
#6
Dave Ware
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Posted 25 January 2002 - 21:33
Walkinshaw's attitude toward Piquet was something to the effect that he looked good on paper, but he was paying his drivers in today's dollars...certainly didn't think that Nelson was worth the money.
At the Italian GP in '91 - perhaps that was MS's first for Benneton? - MS was fifth, Nelson sixth, and MS used less fuel.
They gave Moreno $500,000 to leave the team.
I seem to remember that Brundle was damn close to MS in terms of performance in '92. Dropping him because - according to Walkinshaw - he had a slow start to the season - didn't make much sense. He would have won Canada but the car failed him.
Dave
At the Italian GP in '91 - perhaps that was MS's first for Benneton? - MS was fifth, Nelson sixth, and MS used less fuel.
They gave Moreno $500,000 to leave the team.
I seem to remember that Brundle was damn close to MS in terms of performance in '92. Dropping him because - according to Walkinshaw - he had a slow start to the season - didn't make much sense. He would have won Canada but the car failed him.
Dave
#7
Zawed
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Posted 26 January 2002 - 11:27
For sure Brundle deserved to stay on at Bennetton as teammate to MS. I think he finished in the points for about 11 of his last 12GPs with Bennetton, scoring 38pts to Schumacher's 51. He did take a few races to settle into the team and had a couple of accidents as well. But, looking back at the teammates Michael has had, I think we can see that Brundle was the most competitive of MS's teammates, quite a few times out racing the "Wunderkind". But I do think some of that is down to the inexperience of MS. The move to replace him with Patrese was unfortunately a lot to do with Italian team politics, as well as the extensive knowledge of electronic systems that Patrese would bring.
