Renault have announced that their drivers will remain the same for next season. This was largely as expected for Fernando Alonso, whose options became very limited after Ferrari and BMW confirmed their teams for 2009, the only surprise being that Alonso has signed for two more years. Many suggested that he would stay for a year and then hope to get a Ferrari drive in 2010 but Fernando's view is probably more realistic; the Scuderia is happy with Raikkonen and Massa and the Finn is contracted until 2011 anyway.
Celebration for Nelson Piquet Jr
The big question has been answered, however: Nelson Piquet Jr survives to put his first year's experience to better use next season. That shows commendable good sense on the part of Flavio Briatore and leaves Lucas di Grassi hoping that Honda see fit to put him in Barrichello's seat for 2009. It seems a little unlikely to me, given the ambition of the Japanese team, and I think Rubens can start breathing a little easier now.
Nelsinho has been most people's pick of rookie most likely to be dumped all year and his results, apart from a lucky second in Germany, have been unimpressive, to say the least. He did improve as the season wore on, however, and was getting close to Alonso's lap times towards the end. Whether that will be enough to justify his retention remains to be seen and he must work hard to ensure that he spends much less time off the circuit in future.
He must be grateful, too, that competition for his seat has not been intense. Although Renault has been interested in di Grassi and Romain Grosjean, their track records are not suggestive of any lurking and undiscovered talent. The likelihood is that, given the chance, they would go through the same learning (and humbling) process that Piquet has already experienced and the team would have to continue as effectively a one-car effort.
To give Piquet his due, he has had a difficult role to play. With Alonso returning to the team as the bright hope for the future, it was always clear that Piquet would be very much the number two driver only. The extent to which this was true was evidenced by Briatore's rather shame-faced admission mid-season that he would be giving Nelson a bit more support for a few races; the inference was that Piquet had been left to sink or swim until then and it is no surprise that his results were so poor to begin with.
From that time onwards, Piquet improved greatly and began to provide more credible back-up to his team mate's efforts. Alonso's dismissal of Nelson's second place in Germany as luck was indicative of how much more of a threat Piquet was becoming. Fernando really does not like to be beaten by his team mate!
Nelson's ignominious exit from the last race of the season must have come close to wiping out the memory of his improvement, however, and it may well have been a very close thing as to who won the seat for next year. I have no doubt that it was his experience that swung the balance in the end and Nelson is going to have to put in some very strong performances in 2009 to satisfy his boss that he made the right decision. After all, it is not unknown for a driver to be substituted halfway through the year.
Curiously, I think he will manage it. Although he is never going to beat Alonso consistently, he showed considerable talent in some of the races this season and is beginning to curb his wilder instincts. This time, too, we see none of the braggadocio that made him appear arrogant before his 2008 debut. He seems to have learned his lesson and may have a more realistic view of his abilities now.
So I am glad that he is getting another chance and I hope he does well. It is the right decision for the team from the stability aspect and I can see no available drivers that would be likely to do a better job. Good luck to Nelsinho.