Quick Facts of Nelson Piquet
| Name | Nelson Piquet |
|---|---|
| Age | 70 Years Old |
| Nick Name | Nelson |
| Birth Name | Nelson Piquet Souto Maior |
| Birth Date | 1952-08-17 |
| Gender | Male |
| Profession | Former Racing Driver , Businessman |
| Place Of Birth | Rio de Janeiro |
| Birth Nation | Brazil |
| Famous For | Three-time Formula One World Champion racing driver |
| Father | Estacio Goncalves Souto Maior |
| Mother | Clotilde Piquet |
| Siblings | 3 |
| Brothers | Alexis and Geraldo |
| Sisters | Genusa |
| Education | Studied Engineering for two years before dropping out |
| Ethnicity | South American |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Horoscope | Leo |
| Career Start | Started Formula One career in 1978 |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife | Vivianne de Souza Leao (Ex-wives: Maria Clara, Sylvia Tamsma, Katerine Valentine {Ex-girlfriend}) |
| Children | 7 |
| Son | Geraldo, Nelson Piquet Jr., Laszlo, Pedro Estacio, and Marco |
| Daughter | Kelly and Julia |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | Around 70 kg |
| Body Type | Average |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Source of Wealth | Formerly as a racing driver, now as a businessman |
| Net Worth | Around $200 million |
Brazilian businessman and former race car racer Nelson Piquet. He is regarded as one of the best Formula One (F1) drivers and a three-time World Champion. He turned into a businessman after ending his racing career in 1992 and now owns a number of companies, most of which are situated in Brazil. Additionally, he oversees Pedro and Nelson Jr., his two racing-related kids.
How much is the net worth of Nelson Piquet?
Former racing driver Nelson Piquet is regarded as one of the all-time greats of Formula One. A three-time world champion amassed wealth through his involvement in racing. He launched various businesses after retiring, which increased his wealth. A $200 million estimate has been made for his net worth.
Early Years and Bio
In 1952, on August 17, Nelson Piquet was born. Nelson Piquet Souto Maior is his real name. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is the city where he was born. He is a citizen of Brazil. He was conceived by his parents, Clotilde Piquet and Estacio Goncalves Souto Maior. Alexis, Geraldo, and Genusa are his three sibling names. After two years of engineering study, he left the university in 1974.
What is the Professional Career of Nelson Piquet?
Tennis was Nelson Piquet’s first sport when he was just 11 years old. His father wanted him to play tennis professionally. He excelled in local junior competitions in Brazil. Also, He then made his way to America to put his abilities to the test. He was enrolled in an Atlanta institution on scholarship. But he stopped playing tennis after losing interest. In order to make ends meet, he worked in the garage. He had been intrigued by motorcycle racing. When he was 14 years old, he began kart racing. He originally pretended to be someone else by using the maiden name Piquet of his mother. His racing career was not supported by his father.
He started kart racing when he got back to Brazil. In 1971 and 1972, he won the title of national karting champion of Brazil. In 1976, he took home the Formula Vee title. After that, he took Emerson Fittipaldi’s advise and moved to Europe to consider a career in motorcycle racing. When Jackie Stewart’s record for most victories in a season was broken in 1978, he achieved success in Formula 3. In Germany in 1978, he made his Formula One debut for Ensign. With a damaged engine, he was forced to stop on lap 31. Then he competed briefly for BS Fabrications’ McLaren.
More on Career
From 1978 until 1985, he competed for Brabham. He walked away from eleven out of fifteen races in the 1979 season. In the 1980 season, he lost to champion Alan Jones and came in second. In 1981, he captured his first Formula One Championship of his career. Due to engine instability following Brabham’s partnership with BMW for turbocharged engines, his 1982 campaign was severely handicapped. In 1983, he captured his second Formula One Championship. It was BMW’s first and only Formula One championship. In 1984, he managed to place fifth. After seven seasons and two world titles, he made the decision to quit Brabham for financial reasons (poor income offered by Brabham).
In 1986, he joined Williams, where his contract was worth three times as much as it had been at Brabham. His former rival Nigel Mansell joined the squad as a teammate, but their relationship remained strained both on and off the track. In his debut year with Williams in 1986, he had a good chance of taking home the title. In Australia, he lost in the championship round. Also, In 1987, he went on to win his third and last world title. He rose to become the best driver in the entire globe. He joined Lotus to begin the 1988 campaign. Nelson was unable to carry on his productive campaign with the new squad, though. Also, He failed to win, but whole season he only managed three third-place results.
More on Career
In 1989, he had a season that was considerably worse. It was his first non-disqualification since the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix when he was unable to qualify for the 1989 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1990, he signed for Benetton after quitting Lotus. During the season, he was able to capture three victories. His final Formula One victory occurred at Montreal in 1991. He announced his retirement in January 1992, following the 1991 campaign. He tried his hand at the Indianapolis 500 for two years after leaving Formula One. Also, He got more deeply interested in his business endeavors. He oversees the professional racing career of his sons as well. 1994 saw the founding of Autotrac. His business offers consumers satellite truck tracking and mobile data communications (GPS tracking).
In 2000, he established the racing group Piquet Sports. He also oversees a number of unrelated businesses with a base in Brazil. Piquet stirred up controversy in 2022 due to a remark he made in a 2021 podcast interview in Brazil. When addressing an incident between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen during the 2021 British Grand Prix, he used the racially derogatory Portuguese epithet “neguinho.” In 2022, the remarks reappeared on social media. Piquet was expelled from the British Racing Drivers’ Club as an honorary member.
Later, he expressed regret for his words and said they weren’t meant to be offensive.
Who is the wife of Nelson Piqué?
In 1976, Nelson Piquet wed Maria Clara for the first time. Gerlado Piquet, their son, is also theirs. Their union only lasted one year. After that, he wed Sylvia Tamsma. Julia, Kelly, and Nelson Piquet Jr. are their three joint children. He dated Katerine Valentine, with whom he has a son named Laszlo, while they were momentarily divorced from Sylvia. He wed Vivianne Leao de Souza. Marco and Pedro Estacio are their two sons.
Body Stats: How tall is Nelson Piquet?
Nelson Piquet is 5.8 feet (1.73 meters) tall, or 1.73 meters. He weighs about 70 kg in total. He has a typical body type. His black hair contrasts with his dark brown eyes. Straight is the way he identifies sexually.
Trivia
- His physician father was the Minister for Health in Joao Goulart’s government from 1961 to 1964.
- His father wanted him to be a professional tennis player.
- His helmet is white and red with a thick line resembling the seam on a tennis ball and teardrop shapes filling in the round areas on the sides and top.
- Alongside his Formula One career, he also competed in the 1000km Nurburgring in 1980 and 1981 where he drove BMW M1.
- He physically attacked Eliseo Salazar at the side of the track on live television after their car collided during practice in 1982.
- His 1987 crash at Imola has left him with several health issues.
- In 1988 he called Nigel Mansell “an uneducated blockhead” and insulted Manell’s wife’s look.
- He also called fellow Brazilian driver, Ayrton Senna “the Sao Paulo taxi driver” and publicly referred Senna to be a gay.
- He suffered a helicopter crash in 1990 that led his right forearm to be surgically re-attached.
- He competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1996.
- In January 2006, he won the 50th editon of the Mil Milhas Brasileiras at the Interlagos circuit.
- He and his son were paid a six-figure sum for costs and libel damages related to the Crashgate scandal where his son had been ordered by the Renault team to crash deliberately during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
- He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2000.
- Two racing circuits in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia was named “Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet”.
- He was stripped of his civilian driving license in 2007 after repeated speeding and parking offenses.
- He underwent heart surgery in 2013.
