If you were asked to pick three drivers from F1 as the quickest at the moment, it is likely that several candidates would present themselves to you immediately; these would probably include Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, Felipe Massa and Heikki Kovalainen. The more adventurous amongst us might include such names as Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. But one name would almost certainly be present in everyone's final top three - Fernando Alonso.
Nelsinho at Monaco
There can be little doubt that Fernando deserves this assessment. He is probably the best combination of speed, consistency and racecraft of them all at this time and he remains the measure that assures us of Hamilton's talent. What he has been doing in the Renault R28 this year is ample proof that he has lost nothing of his ability and will to win after his McLaren adventure. The man achieves wonders with what is essentially a dog of a car.
He also provides a daunting yardstick for his team mate this year, the disappointing Nelsinho Piquet (I will start calling him by the name he prefers, Nelson, when he lives up to his father's achievements). Before the season began, there were suggestions that Nelsinho might challenge Alonso in the same way that Hamilton did - but those dreams are long forgotten now, a third of the way through the season. It seems that Nelson's boy is falling flat on his face in spectacular style.
Flavio Braitore has been much kinder in his public pronouncements on Piquet than he was to Kovalainen last year. While there are rumors that Nelsinho has been given three more races to prove himself (or what?), the Flav laid into Heikki quite severely after only his first GP. Briatore has gone so far as to reiterate his support for Nelsinho and Pat Symonds has said that the lad is just lacking in confidence.
It was that last that made me sit up and take notice. Lacking in confidence? Are we talking of the same guy who was all braggadocio and swagger last year? Unless that was overcompensation, I would say that confidence is the least of Nelsinho's problems.
I will admit that I am particularly hard on Nelsinho since I was a fan of his father's from the beginning. Nelson was in much the same position in his first full year in F1, teamed with a double world champion who expected special treatment and proper respect, even when the rookie Piquet started to outqualify and outrace him. If Nelsinho cannot do the same, then away with him.
To be fair, it must be admitted that much of Renault's effort is probably going into Alonso. Their star driver will have insisted on that after his experience at McLaren and Papa Briatore has made no secret of his preference for Fernando. So it is very unlikely that Nelsinho benefits from any of Alonso's settings and perhaps we should not be surprised that he was so much slower than his lead driver in the early races of the season. Nelsinho is gradually getting faster so he may be learning the game; the question of whether it will ever be enough remains, however.
If the rumor of three races to make his mark is true, the likelihood is that Nelsinho will fail. Somehow I doubt that he will be replaced before the end of the season, even so - it is still true that he brings a lot of money into the team. It is more likely that the Flav has recognized his own failings in regard to his second driver and is prepared to give him a bit more attention for a while. But, if Nelsinho does not improve during that period, he will be a spare part for the rest of the year.
It is an unenviable position to be in and few rookies would have been able to succeed in such circumstances. Formula One is a pitiless taskmaster, however, and will have no regrets if Nelsinho is ejected summarily at the end of the season. For he can expect no offers from more sympathetic team managers if he cannot hack it at Renault; the sport is over-subscribed with talented hopefuls and Nelsinho's disadvantages will not be taken into account (gone are the Ken Tyrrells and Eddie Jordans of this world who could see beyond a driver's apparent failure).
To be honest, I think that F1 will be right in this case. Nelsinho is not the talent that his father was and there are brighter stars in the ascendancy. It would be nice if he were to prove me wrong, however.