The Spaniard did cross the chequered flag in 10th place, but his quickest lap in Istanbul was under Piquet's fastest lap. For the first time this season, the Brazilian managed to prove himself ahead of his much more experienced teammate and showed his team that he has the pace to drive the Renault R29 this year.
According to Piquet Jr., the poor finishing position was caused by a long refueling pit stop late in the race (some additional 15 seconds to the initial time frame) and poor grid positioning. The latter was also caused, according to his sayings, by a braking problem with his R29 during the Saturday qualifying session.
“If I had not had the brake problem in qualifying, and then not lost 15 seconds with a pitstop refueling problem, the speed was there for a points finish,” insisted Piquet, according to German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.
In addition to all those issues, one cannot forget Piquet's magnificent overtaking maneuver over reigning F1 champion and former GP2 rival Lewis Hamilton a few laps before the Brazilian's second pit stop. Hailed by many as probably the most spectacular move of the season, Piquet's pass on the outside of Hamilton's MP4-24 was practically the main attraction of the race in its closing stages.
Given the facts, Piquet looks forward to the next race of the season, the Silverstone hosted British Grand Prix, where the Brazilian will target his first point finish of the season.
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