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GP2 Features & Interviews (2006)
GP2 Feature - Like Father Like Son
24/08/2006
Twenty years ago Nelson Piquet dominated the first ever Hungarian Grand Prix, pulling a stunning overtaking manoeuvre on Ayrton Senna at half distance to win the race by more than 17 seconds.
Piquet was at the Hungaroring again in 2006, this time watching another superb Piquet performance. His son, Nelson Jnr, dominated the GP2 race weekend like never before. He scored a perfect 20: ten points for winning race one, two for pole position and one for fastest lap; then six points for winning race two, plus one point for fastest lap.
"The first perfect weekend in GP2 history," said Piquet senior in parc ferme after race two. "Does that make me proud? I have no words."
What made Piquet Jnr's performance all the more impressive was his consistency in the appalling weather conditions of race two. The 23-lap sprint started behind the Safety Car, and for the first time this year every car was using Bridgestone's GP2 wet tyre.
When the race went green on lap two, Piquet managed the wear of his tyres better than any other driver by running through puddles to keep them cool after a dry line appeared, and he crossed the line 12 seconds ahead of his title rival Lewis Hamilton.
Not only had he annihilated the opposition, he had cut the points gap to Hamilton to 11 points.
"To have a weekend like that feels excellent," said Piquet Jnr. "I'm very relieved to have done what I have dreamt of doing since the beginning of last year. I now hope to have more weekends like that until the end of the season."
This being Piquet Jnr's second season in GP2, he has little option but to move on in 2007, hopefully to F1. To this end, his father was spotted doing the rounds in the Hungaroring paddock, talking to the F1 team bosses on behalf of his son.
"It's very hard to step up into F1," said Nelson Snr. "I think my son wants to do one year of testing to prepare him for racing. It's important to be with a good team. To get into F1 with any team is easy, but the important thing is to do a good year of testing and then to progress to racing. That's the key for a rookie these days."
Irrespective of his father's contract talks, next year will be far from Piquet Jnr’s thoughts - at least for the next three weeks. The Series ends at Monza on 10 September, and nothing except his complete focus will result in him wresting the title from Hamilton’s grip.
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