Nelson Piquet Souto Maior is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman who won the World Drivers' Championship three times in the years 1981, 1983 and 1987.
Piquet in 2022
Piquet driving for Brabham at the 1980 Dutch Grand Prix
Piquet driving the Cosworth powered Brabham BT49C at the 1981 Monaco Grand Prix.
Piquet at Monza in 1983
1981 Formula One World Championship
The 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 35th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1981 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1981 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, which were contested over a fifteen-race series that commenced on 15 March and ended on 17 October. The 1981 South African Grand Prix, as a non-championship race due to difficulties from the ongoing FISA–FOCA war, was open to Formula One entrants but was not part of the World Championship.
Nelson Piquet won the first of his 3 drivers' championships driving for the Brabham team
Carlos Reutemann, driving for Williams, placed second in the Drivers' Championship by just one point
Reutemann's teammate Alan Jones placed third in the Drivers' Championship
During the 1981-82 seasons, Ligier were sponsored by Talbot.