It would be easy to be fooled by Nelson Piquet’s famously irreverent manner that he wasn’t serious about the business of driving Formula 1 cars. But beneath the jokey exterior lurked one incredibly fast racing driver.
Piquet entered the sport in 1978, first with Ensign, then in a private McLaren entry and then with Brabham for the final race of that season. Kept on by Bernie Ecclestone’s team for 1979, within three seasons, the Brazilian had become a world champion with Brabham.
WATCH: Mansell vs Piquet vs Prost in our re-run of the 1986 Australian Grand Prix
He’d win two more championships after that, too, another for Brabham in 1983 before his final triumph with Williams in 1987, Piquet coming out on top in the famously fractious intra-team rivalry with Nigel Mansell – and becoming one of only 10 drivers in the sport’s history to claim three or more championship wins in the process.
With 23 races victories, and having played a part in some of the most iconic moments of his era, enjoy the video up top as we celebrate 10 moments of brilliance from Nelson Piquet.
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