Nelson Piquet Junior
Formula E driver for Panasonic Jaguar 2017 – 2019
Nelson Piquet Junior, son of Formula One driver Nelson Piquet was born in Brazil and followed his father into motor racing, including racing in Formula One for two seasons and then NASCAR Racing in the USA.
He joined Formula E in its inaugural season in 2014-15 for the China Racing and then the NEXTEV team.
In 2017, Piquet joined the Panasonic Jaguar Racing after 2 frustrating seasons with NextEV.
Piquet was outmatched by his teammate Mitch Evans and only scored 1 point in the 2018-19 season. He left the Jaguar team after the Sanya ePrix in China and moved into Stock Car Racing
Jaguar’s Return to Racing – Formula E
Following Jaguar’s seven wins at Le Mans in the 1950s and 1988 and 1990, they re-entered racing with a team for the Formula 1 championship for the five seasons from 2000 to 2004. Having achieved very little, Jaguar’s then parent company, Ford, decided to sell the team which took the name of one of its main sponsors – Red Bull.
On 15 December 2015 Jaguar announced its return to global motorsport with plans to enter the third season of the exciting FIA Formula E Championship as a manufacturer with its own team. FIA Formula E is the world’s first global single-seater championship for electric powered cars and offered a unique opportunity for Jaguar Land Rover to further the development of EV powertrain including motor and battery technology.
Jaguar’s chosen Technical Partner was Williams Advanced Engineering who would provide extensive motorsport knowledge, combined with high performance EV Systems experience and success. Jaguar Land Rover had a long term relationship with Williams, who partnered with Jaguar on the development of the Jaguar C-X75 hybrid concept car. On 8 September 2016 Jaguar announced the team’s official name, with Panasonic as title sponsor, its driver line-up of Adam Carroll, Mitch Evans and Ho-Pin Tung, and launched their electric racing livery. Jaguar’s first all-electric racing car in history, the I-TYPE 1, was launched at the Jaguar Collections Centre at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, Warwickshire, making a dramatic debut driven by the team’s official reserve driver Ho-Pin Tung and outlining the brand’s commitment to ‘Race To Innovate’ – a mission to change the perception of electric vehicles, to develop new electric technology and to inspire future generations.
Nelson Piquet’s Early Career
Nelson Piquet Junior was born in Brazil in 1985, the son of three time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet. He lived in Monaco with his mother until he was eight before returning to Brazil with his father where he started karting in 1993.
He moved up through racing including GP2 Series for 2001 and 2002 before moving to the UK in 2003 and joining the British Formula 3 Championship finishing in third place.
In 2004 he became the youngest driver to win the Formula 3 Championship at 19 years and 2 months of age. Then in 2005 and 2006 he raced in GP2 winning his first race at Spa Francorchamps and finished the season second behind Lewis Hamilton.
He signed as test and reserve driver for the Renault Formula One team in 2007 and was promoted to the race team the following year. Following two fairly lacklustre seasons he was dropped by Renault in August 2009.
Following a NASCAR test drive in October 2009 he joined Red Horse Racing and raced Stock Cars and Trucks in the USA up until the 2014 racing season.
He then joined SH Racing to compete in the Global RallyCross Championship driving a Ford Fiesta ST, gaining four podiums out of his nine races and finishing fourth in the championship.
Formula E
In August 2014, Piquet tested at Donington Park with Formula E team China Racing, and was hired by them on 21 August. In the first five races of the 2014–15 season he achieved podium finishes in Punta del Este, and Buenos Aires. Piquet achieved his first Formula E victory in Long Beach, and his second in Moscow which, coupled with his consistent results across the season, meant Piquet won the inaugural Formula E Championship by a solitary point from Sébastien Buemi.
In September 2017 it was announced that Piquet would join Panasonic Jaguar Racing drivers Mitch Evans and Ho-Pin Tung for the team’s second season in Formula E. Piquet said: “It’s a great honour to join Panasonic Jaguar Racing. Jaguar has such a strong history in motorsport and it’s an exciting time to become part of the team. Their commitment to electric motorsport is inspiring and I’m looking forward to working with the team.”
James Barclay, Team Director of Panasonic Jaguar Racing, said: “We are hugely excited to have Nelson on board for season four. Mitch was one of the outstanding rookies of the season with some great qualifying and race performances. With our new driver line-up we are aiming to be a strong challenger on the grid, regularly competing for points. We have taken a lot of learnings from season three and the team have been working extremely hard throughout the off-season, focusing on the design and development of the new Jaguar I-TYPE 2.”
Despite a good start to his Formula E career at China Racing this did not translate into success at NextEV nor when he moved to the Panasonic Jaguar team.
In the 2017/18 season his best placing was fourth and he failed to finish in five of the twelve races. His 2018/19 season was no better with a highest place of tenth and then he failed to finish his next three races. Following the race in Sanya, China, Panasonic Jaguar Racing and Nelson Piquet Jr agreed to part ways with the following announcement.
James Barclay, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, Team Director said: “Following discussions after Sanya, Nelson and ourselves have reflected on the position of the team. Regrettably, it has been agreed that he will leave Panasonic Jaguar Racing and take up other opportunities he has been offered. We made a big step forward when Nelson joined us in season 4, and he achieved some strong results for the team, but recent results have not met his or the team’s expectations. We want to take this opportunity to thank Nelson for all the hard work he has put in since joining us ahead of season 4; he has contributed a significant amount into the development of the car and we wish him well in his future endeavours. We will announce his replacement shortly.”
Nelson Piquet Jr said: “I have enjoyed working with Panasonic Jaguar Racing over the past season and a half but results in season 5 have not met the collective expectations of myself and the team. I begin my Stock Car Brazil season in a week and a half and that will be my focus in 2019. I am still very passionate about Formula E having been involved since the start and winning the inaugural championship. I wish Jaguar Racing the very best for the rest of the season.”
Race Results – Mainly Jaguar Related
| Year | Date | Race | Result | Car | Team |
| 2014 | 13 September | Beijing, China Round 1 2014/15 Season | 8th | First Formula E race | China Racing |
| 4 April | Long Beach Round 6 | 1st | His First win | China Racing | |
| 2017 | 2 December | Hong Kong Round 1 2017/18 Season | 4th | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing |
| 3 December | Hong Kong Round 2 | 12th | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 2018 | 13 January | Marrakesh, Morocco Round 3 | 4th | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing |
| 3 February | Santiago, Chile Round 4 | 6th | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 3 March | Mexico City Round 5 | 4th | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 17 March | Punte Del Este, Uruguay Round 6 | DNF | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 14 April | Rome, Italy Round 7 | DNF | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 28 April | Paris, France Round 8 | DNF | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 10 May | Berlin, Germany Round 9 | 12th | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 10 June | Zurich, Switzerland Round 10 | DNF | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 14 July | New York Round 11 | DNF | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 15 July | New York Round 12 | 7th | Jaguar I-TYPE 2 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| Season 2017/18 | Total Points Scored | 51 | |||
| 15 December | Diriyah, Saudi Arabia Round 1 2018/19 Season | 10th | Jaguar I-TYPE 3 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 2019 | 12 January | Marrakesh, Morocco Round 2 | 14th | Jaguar I-TYPE 3 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing |
| 26 January | Santiago, Chile Round 3 | 11th | Jaguar I-TYPE 3 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 16 February | Mexico City Round 4 | DNF | Jaguar I-TYPE 3 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 10 March | Hong Kong Round 5 | DNF | Jaguar I-TYPE 3 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| 23 March | Sanya, China Round 6 – Last race for Jaguar | DNF | Jaguar I-TYPE 3 | Panasonic Jaguar Racing | |
| Season 2018/19 | Total Points Scored | 1 |
Authors: Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar Cars Media with additional information from Tony Merrygold.
Race results from www.FIAFormulaE.com/En/Results
© Text and Images – Jaguar Racing, Jaguar Cars and Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust
Sources and Further Reading:
Smith, Sam, Formula E Manual: Racing For The Future (Evro Publishing, 2021)
Miller, Chad, The History of Formula E – Race to Race (2021)