Piquet was born in Heidelberg, West Germany. His parents separated soon after his birth, and he lived in Monaco with his Dutch mother, Sylvia Tamsma, until he was eight years old, then moved to live in Brazil with his father. He has two sisters, Kelly and Julia, and four half-brothers, Geraldo, Laszlo, Pedro, and Marco. He lived in Brasília and attended the American School of Brasília until he was sixteen, when he decided to pursue his racing career full-time. In December 2023, Piquet married Brazilian model and professional equestrian Patsy Zurita.
Piquet's racing career began in 1993 in Brazilian karting, continuing until 2001 when he moved to Formula Three Sudamericana. His father's wealth enabled him to race for his own team, a practice he continued until he left the GP2 Series. He raced part of the 2001 season and stayed for 2002, winning the championship with four races to go. He also raced one Brazilian Formula Renault race in 2002.
In 2003, Piquet moved to the United Kingdom to join the British Formula 3 Championship, forming the Piquet Sports team. He finished third overall with six wins, five podiums, and eight pole positions, and subsequently tested with the Williams Formula One team. In 2004, Piquet won the British Formula 3 Championship, becoming the youngest driver to have done so at nineteen years and two months. He did further running for Williams that year.
In 2005, Piquet took part in the A1 Grand Prix for A1 Team Brazil, winning both the Sprint and Main races at the first event of the season at Brands Hatch, and also scoring a point for fastest lap. He drove for Hitech Piquet Sports in the GP2 Series, winning his first race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, and tested for the BAR-Honda Formula One team.
In 2006, Piquet finished second in the GP2 Series championship behind British driver Lewis Hamilton.
During the 2007 season, Piquet was the official test and reserve driver for the Renault Formula One team.
For 2008, Piquet was promoted to the Renault race team alongside returning double World Champion Fernando Alonso. It was reported that he gained preference for the seat over Heikki Kovalainen because Kovalainen was seen as a potential rival to Alonso. Piquet's first race, in Australia, saw him start 21st, damage his car in a collision on the opening lap, and retire on lap 31 — the same result as his father had achieved in his own first race at the 1978 German Grand Prix.
Piquet scored his first Formula One points with a seventh place finish at the 2008 French Grand Prix, passing his teammate Alonso in the final laps. At the German Grand Prix he finished second to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, having been the only driver on a one-stop strategy; a safety car period gained him several positions and it was his first podium. He finished fourth at the Japanese Grand Prix.
For 2009, Renault signed Piquet to a one-year contract, with Alonso continuing as his teammate. Piquet had a difficult season, failing to advance past the first qualifying session in any of the first three races. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, he had scored no points and on 3 August 2009 Piquet confirmed he had been dropped by Renault. He described team boss Flavio Briatore as his "executioner" and alleged Briatore favoured Alonso. Test and reserve driver Romain Grosjean replaced Piquet for the remainder of the season.
In August 2009, after Piquet left Renault, allegations surfaced that he had deliberately crashed his car at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to benefit Alonso, who went on to win that race. Piquet had initially characterised the crash as a simple mistake. He later made statements to the FIA that it was deliberate and that he had been asked by Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and engineer Pat Symonds to stage it. In return for his evidence, Piquet was granted blanket immunity by the FIA.
On 4 September 2009, Renault F1 principals were charged with conspiracy and race rigging, and called to face the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009. On 16 September, Renault announced they would not contest the charges, and that both Briatore and Symonds had left the team. Piquet, who was 23 at the time of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, stated: "I bitterly regret my actions to follow the orders I was given... My situation at Renault turned into a nightmare." He described how Briatore — who was simultaneously his manager and team boss — had isolated him and driven him to the lowest point he had ever reached.
Renault accused Piquet of false allegations and produced an anonymous "Witness X" who supposedly provided first-hand details backing Pat Symonds's claim that the idea for the crash came from Piquet himself. However, in December 2010, the Piquets won a libel case against Renault. Renault apologised to Piquet for defaming him and paid substantial damages, issuing a statement: "The team accepts that the allegations made by Nelson Piquet Jr. were not false. It also accepts that Piquet Jr. and his father did not invent these allegations in order to blackmail the team."
On 15 October 2009, Felipe Massa said he was "certain" Alonso was involved in the scandal. The Crashgate affair permanently ended Piquet Jr.'s career in Formula 1.
Piquet moved to NASCAR for 2010. He drove in the Camping World Truck Series with Red Horse Racing and made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Daytona International Speedway in the No. 6 Toyota for Eddie Sharp Racing. In his first truck race, Piquet finished sixth — the first Brazilian driver to finish in the top ten in the series' history.
On December 13, 2010, Kevin Harvick Inc. announced that Piquet would drive a third truck for the team for the full 2011 Truck Series season, the No. 8 Chevrolet with Chris Carrier as crew chief. Piquet finished tenth in points and was a finalist for Most Popular Driver and runner-up to Joey Coulter for Rookie of the Year.
Piquet signed with Turner Motorsports for 2012 after KHI folded, driving the No. 30 Chevrolet for the full Camping World Truck Series season and part-time in the Nationwide Series. He scored his first win in a NASCAR-sanctioned series in March at Bristol Motor Speedway, winning his first-ever K&N Pro Series East start. On 23 June 2012, Piquet won the Nationwide Series Sargento 200 at Road America — the first Brazilian driver to win a NASCAR national touring series event. On 18 August 2012, he won his first Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan. On 29 September 2012, Piquet won his second Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a last-lap pass on Matt Crafton.
In 2013, Piquet moved to full-time competition in the Nationwide Series, driving the No. 30 for Turner Scott Motorsports. Late in the season he was fined $10,000 by NASCAR and placed on probation for remarks described as "homophobic" made over social media.
In 2014, Piquet drove the No. 77 Ford for Randy Humphrey Racing in the Sprint Cup Series' Cheez-It 355 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International — his debut in the series. Two years later he returned to the Nationwide Series (now the Xfinity Series), driving the No. 98 Ford for Biagi-DenBeste Racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
In April 2014, following the end of his Turner Scott Motorsports tenure due to lack of sponsorship, Piquet contested the 2014 Global RallyCross Championship with SH Racing, driving the No. 07 Ford Fiesta ST. He collected four podiums in nine races and finished fourth in the championship standings.
In August 2014, Piquet tested at Donington Park with Formula E team China Racing and was hired on 21 August. In the first five races of the 2014–15 season, Piquet achieved podium finishes in Punta del Este and Buenos Aires. He took his first Formula E victory in Long Beach and his second in Moscow, and those results, combined with consistent finishes across the season, earned him the inaugural Formula E Championship by a single point from Sébastien Buemi.
In 2017, Piquet joined Panasonic Jaguar Racing after two frustrating seasons with NextEV. In 2018–19 he was outmatched by his teammate Mitch Evans in every ePrix, scoring only one point. He left the Jaguar team after the Sanya ePrix and was replaced by Alex Lynn for the remainder of the season.
Piquet currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 33 Toyota Corolla E210 for Motul TMG Racing. He also races an ORECA 07 in the LMP2 Pro/Am class of the European Le Mans Series for Team Virage.
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