http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_3617246,00.html



As unfortunate as that would be for Piquet, how great would it be to see Sato on a more competitive team? I honestly think that would be a great fit for the team and Alonso.

Phix and I were having this discussion in the IRC yesterday.

I certainly fall on Piquet's side in all this. First of all, it's clear that Alonso is struggling with the Renault, and he's a great driver, showing to me that the R28 is a really mediocre car. Thus, Piquet's a rookie in a mediocre car given less than a season to magically produce results.

Has Piquet made some driver errors? Yeah, but great drivers do that when they get started. Graham Hill took 4 years to get onto the podium and he's known as one of the best racing drivers in Formula 1 history. This extreme need for instant gratification in modern racing bugs the shit out of me...there's no tolerance for development, you have to be a winner out of the starting blocks, and it's so against what I consider the spirit of racing to be.

Problem is Piquet Jr is a COCK

I keep on hearing people saying that, but I don't know the story behind it. Whats the deal?

I totally support that argument.

Actually, the whole instant gratification is more exaggerated in F1 than any other series.

And Renault just happen to be on a really tight leash on the moment. It really comes down to the corporate side of F1 than anything and the manufacturers account. Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault, has said numerous times (even when Renault won their 2nd championship in a row) that the moment the Renault F1 team becomes a burden and results stop happening then he's pulling the plug. So the entire team is under pressure at the moment. Piquet, in particular, was hyped up quite a bit and did spend a year just testing so it's not like he's not intimate with the car at all.

It's so much as the R28 being mediocre either. A lot of Piquet's mistakes have been driver errors. However, Kovalainen was in the same spot as Piquet is this year. Pretty much at the same time, too. And, hell, Kovalainen even had it much worse... Flavio Briatore, F1 team manager, went to the press saying all sorts of shit about his performance while Piquet is actually being supported and encouraged to find some self-confidence in himself. But, once again, Renault really can't afford to allow this performance to go on... it's a huge, huge, HUGE waste of money every time a team fails to score a point as they don't exactly get prize money.

So, my belief is... if Piquet Jr. doesn't turn things around in Canada and France... then he most likely will be replaced with one of the two former Super Aguri drivers.

Would Sato really be any better though? He's more experienced, and proven to be decently quick, but he's horrifically inconsistent.

.... if you don't think his tenure spent at Super Aguri was anything but consistent then I have no idea what to say to you.

Do you think every driver has to be as consistent as a Michael Schumacher in order to be called, well, consistent?

And why are people only talking about Sato? Anthony Davidson proved more than enough that he was capable of racing and is quite a cherished test driver as well from his time spent at HondaF1.

The problem with Piquet for me, is that when he started out he got a lot of places because of his name and then when he started winning he became a real big head, as if he was instantly as great as his father.

I think Renault will stay for a long time, they said not so long ago that they were committed for the long term.

Being a Brit, I would like to see Anthony get another chance, being in the worst car on the grid is not a fair chance for someone who's been around as long as he has. But I also have a soft spot for Sato, he's a nice bloke and tries hard, albeit too hard sometimes.