OCTOBER 17, 2006

Piquet confirms Briatore management

Nelson Piquet Jr has admitted that he is now managed by Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore.

"Briatore and I are partners," Piquet told Reuters. "He helped me negotiate my entry in Formula 1 and has a share in everything we achieve together. He had an interest, and I needed someone who was involved, because I'm too young and my father doesn't have time for that. He is also the director of Renault, and said that he wanted to get me to drive."

Piquet's aim is to replace Giancarlo Fisichella at the end of 2007 - although there are many in F1 who feel that this could happen before that unless Fisichella ups his level of competitiveness.