Nelson Piquet Jr. admits he had luck on his side in finishing second at the German Grand Prix.
Brazilian says safety car played into his hands
Nelson Piquet Jr. admits he had luck on his side in finishing second in Sunday's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
The Brazilian has been under pressure to perform after a poor start to his Formula One career which yielded just two points in the first half of the season.
Qualifying on Saturday appeared to bring little prospect of change with Piquet knocked out after the first session, his time only good enough for 17th on the grid.
Team-mate Fernando Alonso played down his chances of picking up points at Hockenheim, saying: "I will do my best and Nelsinho will do his best, but today it will be difficult for him to score any points."
However, as Alonso fell from fifth on the grid to a lowly 11th-place finish, Piquet finished second thanks to a one-stop strategy and a huge slice of good fortune.
He pitted just before the violent accident suffered by Toyota's Timo Glock which brought out the safety car on lap 36, with Piquet admitting the incident played right into his hands.
"I got quite lucky, but I was on the perfect strategy and the team called me in at the right time," he said.
Piquet was third upon resumption of racing but inherited the lead when the drivers ahead of him, Lewis Hamilton and Nick Heidfeld, both pitted.
However, Hamilton passed him with seven laps remaining, Piquet nevertheless finishing comfortably ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa at the chequered flag.
"I knew I was leading the race at one point, but Lewis (Hamilton) was much quicker than me and I decided to make it a safe second place rather than a third or fourth."
