Piquet Keeps Hitting Briatore in Public

Although one might think Nelson Piquet's public attack on his manager Flavio Briatore last month was harsh enough, the Brazilian driver hasn't finished with the accuses towards the 59-year old Italian. Talking to Brazilian SportTV network, the 23-year old continued to slam his Renault boss for the way he treated him in the past.

“A manager, in his view, is someone who takes 20 per cent of the drivers' money. In our view, it would be someone trying their best for a good contract. Flavio never wanted to be in the role of finding a ride for me in F1, nor will he try,” said Piquet for the aforementioned TV station.

Shortly after the Hungarian Grand Prix, when Briatore left the Renault pit wall after Fernando Alonso's retirement despite the fact that Piquet was still in the race, the Brazilian couldn't take it anymore and burst at the Italian. Writing on his personal site, he named Briatore his “executioner” and fully explained the reason why he failed to live up to Renault's expectations in 2010.

It was quite clear, soon after that post, that his seat at Renault would cease to exist starting the very next day. Although the Enstone based team did not issue any official statements on the matter, it was reported they have already contacted GP2 driver Romain Grosjean for a potential drive. The Frenchman is reportedly on stand-by for the European GP, given Renault's pending suspension from the FIA.

While obviously out for the remainder of the 2009 season, Piquet confirmed he is currently in advanced talks to secure a racing seat with some of the new teams coming into the sport next year. However, none have materialized so far, which makes Piquet one of the highest-ranked drivers to be looking for a 2010 drive, alongside former Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais.