I believe that Piquet should retry F1. Two huge issues he had imo were Flavio and his dad always barking down his neck and not letting him be his own racer.
If he can't handle the pressure, which he obviously couldn't, then F1 isn't the place for him imo.
The reasons I eluded too have nothing to do with him not being able to handle the pressure of F1 itself.
I agree with you here. Pressure to live up to a standard set by a father who is pushy and on his back all the time. And team manager who is known for breaking the confidence of drivers. This isnt the same as normal F1 pressure. He did show promise before and I think he could be way better than his F1 carreer showed.
The pressure from his father isn't going to disappear unfortunately and there would be further scrutiny from the press because of his reputation if he was to come back to F1. But I'll grant that Briatore was a horrible team manager, especially when it came to Piquet.
However, I personally don't believe that someone who crumbled under the pressure has the right temperament for the F1 environment. Perhaps, given a few years and a chance to mature, he might be ready for a come back but if I was a team boss I'd be looking elsewhere.
Ah the taste of sweet sweet validation, it kinda taste like chicken
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Seriously though you hit the nail on the head and thanks for saying what I previously failed to express properly.
I don't entirely disagree with you Tex, the pressure on him was definitely unusual and extreme but I also don't consider that an excuse.