Nelson Piquet Jr. says his situation at Renault will be made easier because no-one expects him to beat team-mate Fernando Alonso.
Brazilian rookie content to learn from Alonso
Ahead of a rookie season at Renault, Nelson Piquet Jr. says his situation will be made easier because no-one expects him to beat team-mate Fernando Alonso.
The 2008 F1 season is the second in a row in which Renault have signed a rookie driver, with last year's debutant, Heikki Kovalainen, having now left for McLaren-Mercedes.
However, according to Piquet, because he is paired with double world champion Alonso, expectations of a rookie challenge at Renault are lower than in 2007, when Kovalainen partnered Giancarlo Fisichella.
"It is going to be tough for me as it was for Heikki last year," he told the
Sunday Express.
"With Fernando, this is not a team-mate I need to beat, so there is a bit less pressure than Heikki had last season, when he had a team-mate at near the end of his career, Giancarlo Fisichella.
"(Team boss) Flavio (Briatore) wanted him to beat Giancarlo because he thought Heikki was much better than him, and he is, but it just doesn't always happen like that.
"I just need to follow and learn from this guy, not try to beat him at the start. I need to listen, follow, occasionally get a chance to be in front if I have a better strategy or better car."
And, with Alonso returning to Renault following his fraught year alongside rookie nemesis Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, Piquet seems content not to antagonise the Spaniard.
"If I try to fight, push, be in front, wheel-to-wheel for the championship I will get myself lost and make him against me and make everything crazy," he added.
