Nelson Piquet, Jr. Breaks the Ice

Young Brazilian Nelson Piquet finally scored his first points in Formula One at the French Grand Prix earlier today.

The son of three time world champion Nelson Piquet Snr. beat his Renault team mate Fernando Alonso to seventh place to score two world championship points.

Piquet survived pressure from McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton in the opening stages of the Grand Prix. The Briton pushed Piquet hard but could not find a way past the supposedly slower Renault. Piquet was eventually given room to breathe when Hamilton had been handed a drive through penalty for cutting the chicane whilst overtaking Sebastian Vettel's Toro Rosso.

Piquet and second McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen both pitted at the same time, yet for some reason Piquet was slow exiting the pit lane and Kovalainen was able to sneak past.

On lap 69, Piquet was running in 8th place, which would earn him just the single point. However, his more experienced team mate in the shape of two time world champion Fernando Alonso, gets stuck in traffic and runs a tiny bit wide at the Adelaide hairpin, allowing Piquet to slip through and steal P7.

Hopefully this marks a beginning of a turnaround for Piquet who had fininshed no higher than 11th before the Grand Prix today. He said, "It’s the first time that everything has gone without any problems for me. The car and the team’s strategy worked well and I was able to score my first couple of points today. I am happy and I hope that we can continue like this for the rest of the season."

Renault team boss and recently married Flavio Briatore praised Piquet on his performance. "Nelson had a remarkable race, very consistent and aggressive, and I am very pleased to see him score his first points today."

The next race on the F1 calender is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a circuit that Piquet is fond of. Can he continue his run of form and score some more points?