Thursday, 23 July 2009

Piquet F1 future

Nelson Piquet says his position at the Renault team until the end of the season is not 100 percent secure following a difficult first half of the campaign.

The Brazilian, in his second full season in Formula 1, has struggled to make an impression with the Renault, which has not been among the fastest cars so far.

Piquet is yet to a score a point and there were rumours already last week that his position for the Hungarian Grand Prix was in doubt.

Although the 23-year-old was confirmed for the Hungaroring race, he admitted on Thursday he is unsure if he will complete the season.

When asked if the situation was settled for the rest of the season, he said: "No, it is not 100 percent settled for the rest. That is why I am going to do my job and let my father do the rest."

He added: "There was a bit of a mess at the last race, I knew there was a big chance for me to be here - there was just conflict, and contracts, and a conflict of egos between a few people. But, it ended up with everything working well.

"The problem is that these days a contract in F1 doesn't mean much, and we have seen several cases already of drivers and teams breaking contracts, and it just stays that way. So, the only thing I can do is drive, do my best and leave my father to do his job and see what he can do.

"I always have to try and do my best, and now that I have a better chance now that I have the same car, and not only that – but it also looks like the car is quite quick. Then it is an easier chance to show something.

The Renault driver, overshadowed by team-mate Fernando Alonso this year, says he is now used to dealing with the uncertainty about his future.

"I have been facing this kind of situation since last year," he said. "It is not something new for me. The level we are at motorsport, we need to know how to deal with it. We are in the top level of motorsport and drivers need to know how to deal with these pressures and that kind of thing.

"I would say dealing like Lewis was at the end of his first season, fighting for the championship, that must have been even harder than what I am going through.

"This is only part of the stress of motorsport – Lewis must have been through much more stress than I am at the moment. You need to know how to deal with these kind of things."

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