• Crashgate fallout

Piquet rules out Formula One future

ESPNF1 Staff
March 2, 2011 « HRT still waits on 2011 car | »
Nelson Piquet Junior in the USA where his future seems to lie © Getty Images
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Nelson Piquet Junior has admitted he has given up any hope of a return to Formula One following his involvement in the Crashgate scandal.

Picquet was dumped by Renault midway through the 2009 season and as a result revealed information that uncovered what became known as Crashgate.

Piquet admitted he tried to stay in Formula One after that but that he found all doors had closed.

"I talked to the guy who bought Toyota," said Piquet, referring to Serbian Zoran Stefanovic who attempted to set up a team with some of the assets of the departed Toyota. "Bernie [Ecclestone] was helping me too. I talked to [Stefanovic] until the new year, I thought he was serious.

"It was after that I said, 'Ok, I'm realistic, enough'. My dream was not to be just a part of F1, for the glamour. I wanted to do it right and be champion. It didn't happen."

As for returning to Formula One in the future, Piquet said it was "very complicated, even for such a guy as Michael Schumacher … so it's not so easy to think about it. Do I want to get back out there and face the same garbage and politics? No. F1 is spectacular to watch on TV, but now I'm only thinking about NASCAR."

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