http://esporte.uol.com.br/f1/ultimas-not...massa.jhtm
Interesante entrevista con Piquet
Q: When you started racing, your ultimate goal was to reach F1. You been there, done it, quit and now what is the next step?
NP: Look, my goal was always to race. Of course I had a goal to reach F1 and be the best, but things didn’t work out right, I chose another path to try and succeed in Nascar the same way I had to do to arrive in F1. Now it is time to try another path starting off in the Truck Series and be the first Brazilian to win in Nascar. I want to open the doors for new Brazilian drivers how always think only about F1 and doesn’t have a chance to get there. Even when the path is well outlined for drivers to go to F1, even having the money, sometimes you are not involved with the right people.
Q: Travis Pastrana, X-Games star, went straight to the Nationwide, the second most important Nascar series. Do you think he is jumping the gun and running the risk of failure?
NP: His case is different altogether. It is more of a playground to him, let’s say… No, it is not a playground, of course, he works hard, but it is different, another story compared to me. I think Nascar needs a personality like his, because they need to attract as much audience as possible. It is Danica [Patrick, Indy driver]’s case. They are using her a lot to attract the female audience.
Q: If they use Pastrana and Danica in a marketing gimmick to popularize the series, why do you think the don’t use your name as well?
NP: Pastrana is the X-Games world champion and Danica is a girl. I’m only one more driver who succeeded and went to Nascar to reach the top. These two people are really different. One is crazy, sick, he jumps out of planes with no parachutes and is the first one who performed a mortal jump with a bike. And she is a girl who won a race in Indy, races well and is pretty. So I think it’s not possible to compare with me.
Q: But did you talk to someone to go straight to the main series or the secondary series?
NP: I had no business doing so. You do it and you are crucified. People will get you expelled from there. It is not how it works. You have to get in, head down, learn to do things right. Nobody get out of Nascar straight to F1. No one is crazy enough to do so.
Q: You said that in F1 you need to know the right people. Is the mafia very big?
NP: No, you are speaking in a way that it seems like it’s the Italian mafia, but it is not quite like it. All I’m saying is that it makes a huge difference to have a manager that is already in F1, because the results alone won’t get you there. In my case, I won F3, almost won GP2 and went there for this reason. Of course, I had a name that also helped, but even if I were a regular joe I could have chances because I won almost everything I raced prior to F1. Even then you saw what happened, unfortunately I got involved with the wrong people. It is all a matter of getting in at the right time. In the USA there is also some of it, but the difference is in that you have to get involved with the community of drivers and mechanics. You have to befriend everyone because the way you drive in Nascar, being so close to each other all the time, pushing each other, it is very easy to touch someone else at 300 km/h and spin out, hit the wall and it’s over, you know what I mean? So you have to have this relationship with them so that jealousy doesn’t come into play.
Q: Has Nascar a strong hierarchy then?
NP: Yes, you have to respect them. You’re coming from the ourside in an American sport almost 100% filled with Americans and you want to get into the main series upon high heels? It is not a smart thing to do. I could do it and run the risk, but it’s not smart at all.
Q: Do you think Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi got in at the wrong time?
NP: The problem to me is to get in by paying. If you get in with money, everyone expects you to keep paying. It was Bruno and Lucas’ case. They had to find sponsors, or whatever they did, and payed a good amount of money. And their second year is not depending on results. It’s only money. And that’s another reason why I didn’t want to stay there. I did not get in that way and even when they gave me that option I said no, no way whatsoever.
Q: You arrived in F1 through Flavio Briatore, who was your manager. Do you think that if your agent was somebody else you’d be there to this day?
NP: I think I would have a bigger chance, innit? My manager was him, and he was team boss at the same time, so there was a huge conflict of interests. There were days when he was my manager and others when he was the team boss. So, he wasn’t so much one thing as he was another. That really did not help because I was never comfortable. Manager is someone who you can really count on. I didn’t have that. It was promised to me, but it didn’t happen.
Q: But at the same time, didn’t he help you by promoting you from test driver to the main seat?
NP: Yes, but it was a deal. Like, you can get here if you give me 20%. And you can get here if I become your manager.
Q: And you disagreed about the Italian mafia...
NP: Yeah, well, whatever, there are some cases, but they exist. But I never had a manager. I was kind of forced to sign this manager term there because it was his way in Renault. It wasn’t the only reason why I got in, of course, I got in because of my results, but he said: “if he wants to come here, I will be his manager, I will help him, I have a good relationship with people, a good name and several drivers who are being managed by me”. So, I think it would have worked wonders if I was in another team, maybe. Despite everything that happened, he has plenty of influence, knows a lot of people and maybe he could help me, but in another team.
Q: What was it like to deal with Briatore and Fernando Alonso inside Renault?
NP: Between me and Alonso, it was normal, no problems, we were friends… Of course, he is a smart driver and would never open the door to me, but when I needed, he talked to me, he was never arrogant. Briatore has a different character, it is harder to deal with him, a man who loves to scream, so, I did my job there and didn’t get much involved.
Q: And you never blamed Alonso in this whole saga…
NP: I think it wasn’t his fault, I mean, if it was, if he asked, I don’t know anything. But I think it is unlikely, the team wanted to bring a result to keep him on the team for one more year because he wanted out, the car was bad, And Alonso, you know how it is with him, if he doesn’t have a good car, he want to get out after the best equipment. But I think he never got involved.
Q: And how is your relation with F1 today? You did not race Massa’s International Challenge of Go-Karts… did it affect your relationship with Felipe Massa?
NP: Yeah, Felipe was upset, he thought he lost the championship because of me, he has his tantrums. But he thinks whatever he likes, he can be mad, he has all the rights to be, but it’s not because of one race that he lost the championship. What happened to him in the pitlane, which had nothing to do with me, could have happened at any race, any time, but anyway, he has his reasons and I don’t think it’s bad, it’s his problem.
Q: Is there prejudice against you today?
NP: No, only ignorant people, I think. Because people need to understand that I got on the top of my career aged 22. Other sportsmen blew it because of lack of matureness, lack of psychological practice. You get to the top of your career so fast that it gets you by surprise and end up committing a mistake. That’s what happened to me. I think everyone deserves a second chance and I’m here trying to outline a new path in Nascar to try and get Brazil to the top again.
Q: Since you are already in the USA, do you think about trying to make it into Formula Indy as well?
NP: No, because Indy already has lots of Brazilians and I wouldn’t be something new in Indy. It’s a series to which you have to bring money to race, as if you were renting a car and I’m not keen to do it. I really want to go to a very competitive series and not only be paid to race. I wanted a bigger challenge. And to me Nascar is way bigger a challenge than Indy.
Q: So, in Nascar it is only about your talent?
NP: My talent, my will power, my ability to blend in with the people there, time dedication, to prove everyone I really want to do that, that I will take it seriously so they don’t think I’m only another F1 driver trying to make money. Because Nascar is the series in which you make the most money, more than F1. You work more but earn nore. But it is not the only reason. It is much harder a task to be champion in Nascar than in Indy.
Q: If you had a new chance in F1, would you go for it? If someone called…
NP: I don’t know, I keep my feet on the ground. This doesn’t exist. It is the same as asking: “Would you do a movie with Tom Cruise wherever in Brazil…” It is something that doesn’t happen. I will not be trying, knocking on doors, trying to find sponsors with 5, 10, 15 million to race for a team. If it went wrong, alright, next one. There are a million other things I can do. I am a driver. I drive anything. It is not only F1, not only the glamour.
Q: What were your influences in the past which motivated you to get into motorsports: Your father must’ve been one of them…
NP: Look, my father never gave us an easy life… I mean, sorry, we always had a wonderful life, but he never said: “do whatever you want, here’s the money. Go race”. It was never like that, we always had to proe to my father that we liked racing, we were dedicated and love it to bits, what we were doing. So, in this aspect, he was always very tough, very clear.
Q: Do you remember your father racing?
NP: No, I don’t unfortunately. First, I have an awful memory. I probably even have a memory issue I think because I barely remember my first race, I have very few memories of karting and even F3.
Q: Did you have friends in the paddock? With whom did you get along better?
NP: I did. I’m still friends with [Sebastian] Buemi, Rubinho… GP2 drivers were all my friends. When you get into F1, if you don’t get in already friends, it is very hard to make friends inside because everyone stays with their teams. Not Rubinho, because when I was in GP2 I already talked to him and he gave me tips and I got there and we stayed friends. But I didn’t know Massa and only got to actually know him when I got into F1.
Q: What about your relationship with Lewis Hamilton, Who won the title when you were runner-up in GP2?
NP: Never had anything against him, but he was always closed, I don’t know, a bit strange. It’s a different culture. I always got along well with Brazilians, as all Brazilians do. So my real friends were Brazilians in GP2, with whom I hang out together.
Q: What about Kimi Raikkonen, is there a relationship with him?
NP: He is a very different guy. I am very close to his manager. Sometimes his manager will say: “I can’t believe it, he is a door, always the same, no expression”. But he is funny, likes to hang out, likes to party, loves to party.
Q: Do F1 miss a playboy like this to attract attention?
NP: Look, this sport has turned into something very… it even ceased to be a sport to be business. For sponsors, sometimes, it is even better to have a little robot who will do its job and go home and does not feature in a picture drinking or anything like it. Today that’s their preference. Of course that, for the sport, the audience, it would be good to have someone like Raikkonen, a different guy. Everyone knows he loved to drink and didn’t give a damn.
Q: What about the girls?
NP: There are a lot of drivers who likes to show off, who likes to be a driver because of the girls. But you have to seize the moments you can. I had my moments, of course, but I’m quiet now. But there are several drivers spending their father’s money trying to be in a top series and take advantage of it.
Q: What is it like to watch F1 from the outside now? How do you rate last season?
NP: It was very good, I follow it and always will. I love the championship, I love F1. It was very tough and I was pretty anxious in the last race, tense, I couldn’t believe what was happening, but I follow it to this day and it is very cool. I send messages to people there every now and then…
Q: Were you rooting for Alonso in the last race?
NP: I was supporting Webber. I think he is an older guy that really battled this year. He maybe wasn’t the quickest, but he was a bit more intelligent than Vettel and I think he deserved it. I don’t know if he will have another opportunity to be champion, Red Bull was favouring Vettel and now, with this championship, even more. So, I wanted him to win at least one championship before retiring.
Q: What would you do if you were on Felipe Massa’s place in the last German GP?
NP: I had that at Renault. There was this race in Silverstone that I think Alonso made a mistake in the beginning and I passed him at the start of the race, I’m not sure, and he was really faster than me and I had to let him through. But this is a code present in every team. When your team mate is faster than you, you have to let him through not to ruin his race. I know it is hard for people to understand it, but sometimes team orders have to exist to help the whole team. Sometimes it is better to win with one car than not winning with both. The team makes more money and you have a bigger budget for the next year to develop the car.
Q: Did you see or take part in other team orders and is it more common that we imagine from the outside?
NP: Absolutely. In my case, it was my first year... who was I to say anything, you know what I mean? The guy tells me to open the door, alright, I will not argue with the guy who is employing me. In Massa’s case, he is in F1 for eight years now, but I don’t know… He was recovering from an accident, he was really far behind Alonso in the championship… if he really was in the championship race, closer in the standings, having the chance to finish ahead of him in the championship, that’s ok, I would not agree. But he realized Alonso was in another pace.
Q: Is it hard to be team mate to Alonso?
NP: Not only Alonso. It is hard being a rookie in F1. There’s not much practicing, the car is very hard to drive and very fast, lots of stuff happening on the steering wheel, you have to think about strategy, so it is hard. You have to have a very good preparation to get there relaxed, pressure free, which was Hamilton’s case. He got there feeling secure because Ron Dennis was supporting him since he was a small kid, so it would be the same think if I was racing in my father’s team. I would be a little more secure, protected, a bit more relaxes. So, nowadays, experienced drivers like Rubinho have a great advantage for the lack of practice, the car being so hard to drive and there being so many new things every yea
![[Imagen: corea2010.jpg]](http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/5070/corea2010.jpg)
