The United States Grand Prix West was a race held at Long Beach , California , as a Formula 5000 race in 1975 and a Formula One World Championship event from 1976 to 1983 held in the same location throughout those years.
144-665: The name of the Grand Prix came from the fact ithe race was held in the Western United States and also because the United States Grand Prix title was already on the calendar as a race at Watkins Glen for most of the event's history. There had been an attempt to bring about a second American Formula One Grand Prix, specifically to Southern California in 1972, with the United States Grand Prix West at
288-586: A BMW M1 . He won the 1981 race alongside the German Hans-Joachim Stuck . However, the race had to be stopped roughly two hours in because of the fatal crash of Herbert Müller after 17 laps of the 14-mile (23 km) course. In 1996, Piquet competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours driving a McLaren F1 GTR alongside Johnny Cecotto and Danny Sullivan , finishing eighth overall. In the following year, Piquet took part alongside JJ Lehto and Steve Soper , but
432-506: A Williams, and the Finn battled fiercely with Villeneuve in his more powerful turbo-charged Ferrari; Villeneuve finished 3rd but was disqualified because of the two wings mounted on the back of his car. The race itself was beset by a few organizational problems (even though the US GP West was known to be one of the best organized races of the year), including a crash truck dangerously putting itself on
576-529: A Wolf and American Mario Andretti in a Lotus. After being stuck behind Scheckter for most of the race, Andretti outbraked the South African into Queen's Hairpin and took a popular victory; Lauda also passed Scheckter and took 2nd; and the Wolf driver completed the podium with 3rd place. In 1978 the start/finish line was moved to the long sweeping Shoreline Drive at the bottom of the circuit, rather than starting where
720-512: A dead stop, with his Alfa's nose mere feet away from the apex of the corner. In a rather impatient attempt to get out of this precarious situation he had put himself in, Giacomelli had put his Alfa in reverse, and as a result, a number of oncoming cars, all attempting to avoid Giacomelli, who had reversed onto the racing line, had to come to a dead stop in order to avoid hitting Giacomelli. This created an accordion-effect accident, which led to 4 other cars also crashing, including Jarier, who had crashed
864-641: A disappointing 1989 season, driving a Judd V8-powered Lotus which had 125 less hp than the Honda V10s used by McLaren. He did, however, have an excellent (considering the Lotus car’s limitations) fourth place in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone where he overtook theoretically faster cars and was running third until Alessandro Nannini overtook him in the last few laps. He (and teammate Satoru Nakajima ) once again had no wins and they both even failed to qualify for
1008-596: A fauna resembling its position in the dry deserts with temperature extremes. The western continental coast of the U.S., just as the East Coast, varies from a colder-to-warmer climate from north to south. Few species live throughout the entire West Coast, however, there are some, including the bald eagle that inhabits both the Alaskan Aleutian Islands and the California Channel Islands . In most of
1152-452: A full works team. In the final race, the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen , Piquet started from the front row and took the fastest lap in the race, clearly showing the new BT49's considerable potential. In 1980, Piquet finished a hard-fought 2nd in Argentina behind Alan Jones; the race was held in very hot conditions on a disintegrating track. There were doubts about the legality of
1296-442: A good player but not thought sufficiently exciting for the sport, which led him to devote his career to motor racing. Piquet started kart racing at the age of 14, but because his father did not approve of his racing career, he used his mother's maiden name Piquet (of French origin and pronounced as "Pee-Ké") misspelt as Piket to hide his identity. Piquet dropped out of a University two years into an engineering course in 1974. He
1440-524: A handful of lacklustre performances and sometimes being outperformed by fast Italian teammate Alessandro Nannini who was forced into retirement before the Spanish Grand Prix (after his right forearm had to be surgically re-attached following a helicopter crash) Piquet scored two wins in the last two races of the season. The first in Japan was somewhat inherited after Senna had taken out Prost's Ferrari at
1584-450: A lot heavier than any of the other drivers by hitting Italian Elio de Angelis's Lotus with some force. But the worst accident was yet to come- Clay Regazzoni in an Ensign crashed appallingly when his brakes failed at 180 mph at the end of Shoreline Drive. While going off the course, the Swiss driver hit Ricardo Zunino's crashed and stationary Brabham at full speed. He then hit the wall next to
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#17328523660521728-671: A minimum ground clearance, excluding the tyres, of 6 cm. After a third place in the United States Grand Prix West , Piquet qualified on pole position in his home race, the Brazilian Grand Prix in his birth city of Rio de Janeiro , but quickly faded from contention after starting the race on slick tyres on a soaking wet track. At the next race, the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires , Brabham got around
1872-495: A mistake at one of the turns on Pine Avenue so Jones slipped by to take the lead, which he held until the checkered flag. For 1982, there were more changes to the circuit, which removed Queen's Hairpin and most of Pine Avenue. A whole new section of road was used for the race; the Clos esses were changed and there was a chicane placed on Shoreline Drive. Thus, the race distance was shortened from 79.5 to 75.5 laps. This race saw Ferrari take
2016-414: A myth of the west which has shaped much of American popular culture since the late 19th century. Writers as diverse as Bret Harte and Zane Grey celebrated or derided cowboy culture, while artists such as Frederic Remington created western art as a method of recording the expansion into the west. The American cinema , in particular, created the genre of the western movie , which, in many cases, use
2160-852: A national issue, agencies of the federal government own and manage vast areas of land. (The most important among these are the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management within the Interior Department , and the U.S. Forest Service within the Agriculture Department .) National parks are reserved for recreational activities such as fishing , camping , hiking , and boating , but other government lands also allow commercial activities like ranching , logging , and mining . In recent years, some local residents who earn their livelihoods on federal land have come into conflict with
2304-486: A neutral stance on the FISA–FOCA war by mounting 2 differently sized wings on the back of their cars. As a symbol of where the conflict would go, these 2 wings exploited a loophole in the regulations; there was no rule saying how many wings could be on an F1 car at a championship event at that time. Niki Lauda won this race, his 3rd race since his temporary retirement and his first victory since 1978, from Finn Keke Rosberg in
2448-648: A nose dive despite the Camel sponsored Lotus 100T having the same specification Honda V6 turbo that powered the almost totally dominant McLarens of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost - the 100T was a very poor chassis that was riddled with aerodynamic issues, was constantly flexing and was not properly compatible with the engine. Piquet, who had 20 wins and three World Championships following the 1987 season, began to lose his reputation when he had no wins in 1988, losing his number one status to fellow Brazilian Senna, who won eight races and
2592-459: A possible shift in the popular understanding of the West as a region in the early 1990s, historian Walter Nugent conducted a survey of three groups of professionals with ties to the region: a large group of Western historians (187 respondents), and two smaller groups, 25 journalists and publishers and 39 Western authors. A majority of the historian respondents placed the eastern boundary of the West east of
2736-465: A reputation for being a grueling race that was very punishing on the car and driver; typical for a city street circuit the race was an intense test of brakes, suspensions, and transmissions. The circuit was an immediate success from its first race in 1976, and it became the U.S.'s answer to the Monaco Grand Prix —it was just as popular an event as the most important of Formula One Grand Prix races—and
2880-547: A seventeen-point lead in the standings while Piquet suffered tyre failure and crashed on the straight between Stowe and Club corners. Piquet won the championship with a great comeback that began when he won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim while Reutemann was enduring internal conflict with his teammate Alan Jones. After stringing together a series of decent results (even after losing second in Italy due to engine failure on
3024-564: A sharp decline in citrus production in Arizona. Many varieties of chile peppers are grown in the valleys of New Mexico . Starting in 1902, Congress passed a series of acts authorizing the establishment of the United States Bureau of Reclamation to oversee water development projects in seventeen western states. During the first half of the 20th century, dams and irrigation projects provided water for rapid agricultural growth throughout
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#17328523660523168-629: A single race, the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard Circuit with summer conditions similar to those experienced in testing suiting the tyres, and the powerful BMW turbo engine propelling the Brabham BT54 (of teammate Marc Surer ) to the then F1 speed record of 338 km/h (210 mph) on the 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long Mistral Straight during qualifying. It was Pirelli's first victory since returning to Formula One. However, Piquet
3312-644: A sister Genusa. Piquet was the youngest of the children. His father wanted Piquet to be a professional tennis player and was given a scholarship at a school in the United States , in Atlanta . Piquet started playing tennis at the age of 11. He won tournaments in Brazil and eventually took a trip to California to test his skill against tougher American players. During his time, he had learned to speak English and greatly matured. His short tennis career saw Piquet to be prized as
3456-457: A total 2020 population of 78,588,572. The West is one of the most sparsely settled areas in the United States with 49.5 inhabitants per square mile (19.1 inhabitants/km ). Only Texas with 78.0 inhabitants/sq mi (30.1 inhabitants/km ), Washington with 86.0 inhabitants/sq mi (33.2 inhabitants/km ), and California with 213.4 inhabitants/sq mi (82.4 inhabitants/km ) exceed
3600-737: A volcano in Washington , is also over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). Mount St. Helens , a volcano in the Cascades , erupted explosively in 1980 . A major volcanic eruption at Mount Mazama around 4860 BC formed Crater Lake . These mountain ranges see heavy precipitation, capturing most of the moisture that remains after the Coast Ranges, and creating a rain shadow to the east forming vast stretches of arid land. These dry areas encompass much of Nevada , Utah , and Arizona . The Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert along with other deserts are found here. Beyond
3744-464: A year working for Marlboro... I lost interest. I won't waste my life talking to people who don't understand racing. " Williams offered him a contract worth three times his Brabham contract, and with the turbocharged Honda engine quickly becoming one of the best on the grid, it was an offer too good to refuse. After some thought, he reluctantly left Brabham after seven seasons and two world championships. A move in 1986 to Williams saw Piquet becoming
3888-497: Is a Brazilian former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from 1978 to 1991 . Piquet won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles , which he won in 1981 , 1983 and 1987 , and won 23 Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Piquet had a brief career in tennis before losing interest in the sport and subsequently took up karting and hid his identity to prevent his father discovering his hobby. He became
4032-484: Is in the Western states. Public lands account for 25 to 75 percent of the total land area in these states. The climate of the West is semi-arid , yet parts of the region get high amounts of rain or snow. Other parts are true desert which receive less than 5 inches (130 mm) of rain per year. The climate is increasingly unstable, and subject to periods of severe drought. The seasonal temperatures vary greatly throughout
4176-684: Is predicted to experience drought-like conditions for much of the 21st century. Violent thunderstorms occur east of the Rockies . Tornadoes occur every spring on the southern plains, with the most common and most destructive centered on Tornado Alley , which covers eastern portions of the West, ( Texas to North Dakota ), and all states in between and to the east. Agriculture varies depending on rainfall, irrigation, soil, elevation, and temperature extremes. The arid regions generally support only livestock grazing, chiefly beef cattle. The wheat belt extends from Texas through The Dakotas , producing most of
4320-702: Is the largest region of the country, covering nearly half the land area of the contiguous United States . It is also the most geographically diverse, incorporating geographic regions such as the temperate rainforests of the Northwest , the highest mountain ranges, including the Rocky Mountains , the Sierra Nevada , and the Cascade Range , numerous glaciers , and the western edge of the Great Plains . It also contains
4464-482: The 1989 Belgian Grand Prix , Piquet's first non-qualification since the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix . On what was his last attempt to qualify at Spa , Piquet lost his chance when he was slowed by rookie Frenchman Olivier Grouillard , who had gained a reputation throughout the season as a blocker. When Lotus informed Piquet during 1989 that they would be using the Lamborghini V12 engine for 1990 , he decided to leave
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4608-772: The American West , the Western States , the Far West , the Western territories , and the West ) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau . As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward , the meaning of the term the West changed. Before around 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier . The frontier moved westward and eventually
4752-561: The Benetton team had a seat become available when they decided not to retain fill-in driver Emanuele Pirro . After two lacklustre seasons at Lotus, Piquet was forced to sign an incentive based payment-by-results deal with Benetton, who had acquired the services of John Barnard for their 1990 car, the B190 and had exclusive use of the factory Ford-Cosworth HB4 V8 engine. This saw Piquet return to something like his former top form in 1990 . Despite
4896-561: The Cenozoic era. Salt flats and salt lakes reveal a time when the great inland seas covered much of what is now the West. The Pacific states are the most geologically active areas in the United States. Earthquakes cause damage every few to several years in California . While the Pacific states are the most volcanically active areas, extinct volcanoes and lava flows are found throughout most of
5040-547: The Dutch Grand Prix , where he finished fourth. He had a huge accident at the Italian Grand Prix ; the rear section of his BT48 was completely ripped off at Monza's Curva Grande corner after another incident with Regazzoni; Piquet walked away uninjured. But even though the races saw him crash a few times, or retire with a semi-competitive car that had an unreliable engine, in qualifying Piquet performed well, qualifying in
5184-578: The East . During the latter half of the 20th century, several transcontinental interstate highways crossed the West bringing more trade and tourists from the East. Oil boom towns in Texas and Oklahoma rivaled the old mining camps for their rawness and wealth. The Dust Bowl forced children of the original homesteaders even further west. The movies became America's chief entertainment source featuring western fiction , later
5328-665: The Grand Canyon . The Colorado River is a major source of water in the Southwest and many dams, such as the Hoover Dam , form reservoirs along it. So much water is drawn for drinking water throughout the West and irrigation in California that in most years, water from the Colorado River no longer reaches the Gulf of California . The Columbia River , the largest river in volume flowing into
5472-533: The Gulf of Mexico . The Mississippi River forms the easternmost possible boundary for the West today. The Missouri River , a tributary of the Mississippi , flows from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains eastward across the Great Plains , a vast grassy plateau, before sloping gradually down to the forests and hence to the Mississippi . The Colorado River snakes through the Mountain states , at one point forming
5616-460: The Indianapolis 500 for two years. He also had a go at sports car racing at various points during and after his Formula One career. Piquet is currently retired and runs several businesses in Brazil. He also manages his sons Nelson Jr. and Pedro , who are also professional racing drivers. Piquet has faced several controversies since the 1980s—predominantly for his use of homophobic language—and
5760-449: The Indy car series and was hired by Team Menard to drive in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 . He had taken to the track well, and appeared comfortable driving at high speeds despite never before racing on an oval . During practice, Piquet's car ran over a metallic piece of debris and drove through turn 3 at full speed. When driving through turn 4, Piquet abruptly took his foot off the pedal to enter
5904-672: The Las Vegas Valley and Los Angeles . Plains make up much of the eastern portion of the West, underlain with sedimentary rock from the Upper Paleozoic , Mesozoic , and Cenozoic eras. The Rocky Mountains expose igneous and metamorphic rock both from the Precambrian and from the Phanerozoic eon. The Inter-mountain States and Pacific Northwest have huge expanses of volcanic rock from
United States Grand Prix West - Misplaced Pages Continue
6048-413: The Mississippi , Ohio , Missouri , Illinois , Tennessee , Cumberland , Arkansas , and White Rivers and their tributaries, and certain other rivers that flow towards the Gulf of Mexico ." The Ohio River portion of the system includes parts of several Atlantic coastal states, from Georgia to New York. Most of the public land held by the U.S. National Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
6192-518: The Mormon Trail , made its fortunes on outfitting settlers; St. Louis built itself upon the vast fur trade in the West before its settlement. The 1850s were marked by political battles over the expansion of slavery into the western territories, issues leading to the Civil War . Between 1863 and 1869, North America's first transcontinental railroad was constructed to connect the eastern US with
6336-573: The Mountain States include Denver , Colorado Springs , Phoenix , Tucson , Albuquerque , Las Vegas , Reno , Salt Lake City , Boise , El Paso , and Billings . Along the Pacific Ocean coast lie the Coast Ranges , which, while not approaching the scale of the Rocky Mountains , are formidable nevertheless. They collect a large part of the airborne moisture moving in from the ocean. East of
6480-832: The Northern Mariana Islands ) are sometimes considered part of the Western United States. American Samoa is in Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean , while Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are in the Mariana Islands in the western North Pacific Ocean . Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have district courts within the 9th Circuit , which includes western states such as California and Nevada. (See District Court of Guam and District Court for
6624-624: The Oklahoma panhandle are typically considered to be the Southwest states. Meanwhile, the states of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington can be considered part of the Northwest or Pacific Northwest . The term West Coast is commonly used to refer to just California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, whereas Hawaii is more geographically isolated from the continental U.S. and does not necessarily fit in any of these subregions . The three inhabited Pacific U.S. territories ( American Samoa , Guam and
6768-443: The Pacific Ocean from North America , and its tributary, the Snake River , water the Pacific Northwest. The Platte runs through Nebraska and was known for being a mile (2 km) wide but only a half-inch (1 cm) deep. The Rio Grande forms the border between Texas and Mexico before turning due north and splitting New Mexico in half. According to the United States Coast Guard , "The Western Rivers System consists of
6912-473: The Pacific coast . The resulting railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West by making the transportation of passengers and freight quicker, safer, and cheaper. The history of the American West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries has acquired a cultural mythos in the literature and cinema of the United States. The image of the cowboy , the homesteader , and westward expansion took real events and transmuted them into
7056-510: The Renault team to crash deliberately during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix . He and his son were eventually paid a six-figure sum for costs and libel damages. Piquet's helmet is white and red with a thick line resembling the seam on a tennis ball (possibly due to his father wanting him to be a tennis player), and teardrop shapes filling in the round areas on the sides and top. The seam and teardrops were usually red or orange with black trim, but some parts were yellow during his Lotus years due to
7200-446: The Virginia opossum , which occurs throughout California and coastal areas in Oregon and Washington. The North American beaver and mountain beaver live in forested areas of Washington, Oregon and Northern California. The kit fox lives throughout Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, while the gray fox occurs throughout the Western U.S. The Western United States has been populated by Native Americans since at least 11,000 years ago, when
7344-428: The BMW-engined BT50 until Belgium, and the low point of the season was Detroit where he failed to qualify due to an engine failure in qualifying. The ruling of Piquet's disqualification led to a political attack on the lowering of the minimum weight against Ferrari and Renault who used turbo engines. Ferrari's changes to the rear wing at the United States Grand Prix West and the disqualification of Gilles Villeneuve after
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#17328523660527488-414: The Brabham team and finished the runner-up in 1980 before winning the championship in 1981. Piquet in 1982 was hampered by severe engine unreliability, but he saw a resurgence for 1983 and his second world championship. For 1984–85, Piquet had once again lost chances to win the championship but managed to score three wins during that period. He moved to the Williams team in 1986 and was a title contender until
7632-467: The Brabham team, alongside double world champion, Niki Lauda . The season was difficult for the team, which was accustomed to success. Piquet retired from eleven of the fifteen races in the season. He started off his season being involved in a first-lap pile up and getting injured at the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires and crashing into Clay Regazzoni 's Williams car at the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos . The first points of his career came at
7776-420: The Brazilian national karting champion in 1971–72 and won the Formula Vee Brazil championship in 1976. With advice from Emerson Fittipaldi , Piquet went to Europe to further success by taking the record number of wins in Formula Three in 1978, beating Jackie Stewart 's all-time record. In the same year, he made his Formula One debut with the Ensign team and drove for McLaren and Brabham. In 1979, Piquet moved to
7920-457: The Camel sponsorship, and reverted to a deep red when he left Lotus for Benetton. His sons Nelson Jr. and Pedro followed his helmet design. Upon leaving motor sport, he founded Autotrac in 1992, a company that provides mobile data messaging and tracking of customers' trucks by satellite ( GPS tracking ). This business concluded quite successfully as the pioneer because the freight transportation of Brazil depended on trucks. Piquet founded
8064-405: The Census definition out on the eastern edge of the Great Plains or on the Mississippi River . The survey respondents as a whole showed just how little agreement there was on the boundaries of the West. The region is split into two smaller units or divisions, by the U.S. Census Bureau: Other classifications distinguish between Southwest and Northwest . Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas , and
8208-433: The Coast Ranges lie several cultivated fertile valleys , notably the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys of California and the Willamette Valley of Oregon . Beyond the valleys lie the Sierra Nevada in the south and the Cascade Range in the north. Mount Whitney , at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) the tallest peak in the contiguous 48 states, is in the Sierra Nevada . The Cascades are also volcanic. Mount Rainier ,
8352-443: The Englishman came out of 1985 on a confidence high after winning 2 of the last 3 races in 1985. Both were regarded as high-strung characters with delicate temperaments, and two top drivers in the same team was a recipe for fireworks – and sure enough Mansell and Piquet went head to head for the title. Piquet had wanted to play the role as the number one driver. According to Piquet, the verbal agreement with Frank Williams on this point
8496-513: The Long Beach City Council informed the race's organizer that the IndyCar Series had been granted a three-year extension, through the 2018 season. See also Grand Prix of Long Beach Constructors in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season. Manufacturers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season. * Built by Cosworth , engine program funded by Ford Western United States The Western United States (also called
8640-427: The Northern Mariana Islands ). American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands are also considered part of the western U.S. by the U.S. National Park Service , the Federal Reserve Bank system, FEMA , and the USGS . The population distribution by race in the Western United States (2022): As defined by the United States Census Bureau , the Western region of the United States includes 13 states, with
8784-516: The Pacific Coast where it increases again. In fact, the greatest annual rainfall in the United States falls in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest . Drought is much more common in the West than the rest of the United States. The driest place recorded in the U.S. is Death Valley , California. In Western states, drought is closely associated with fire risk, and there have been a number of notable wildfires causing extensive property damage and wildlife habitat destruction . The Western United States
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#17328523660528928-402: The Rockies , 54 of which are over 14,000 feet (4,300 m), are found in central and western Colorado . East of the Rocky Mountains is the Great Plains, the western portions (for example, the eastern half of Colorado) of which are generally considered to be part of the western United States. The West has several long rivers that empty into the Pacific Ocean , while the eastern rivers run into
9072-401: The United States, so the costs could not be cut. Pook had been approached by CART and announced after the 1983 F1 race that he planned to run an IndyCar race at Long Beach in 1984 instead of F1. Despite tremendous success since the race's inception in 1976, and the observable impact of the global exposure it brought to the city and to the Los Angeles area in general, the organizers believed that
9216-429: The West and California , whites and blacks together are less than half the population because of the preference for the region by Hispanics and Asians . African and European Americans, however, continue to wield a stronger political influence because of the lower rates of citizenship and voting among Asians and Hispanics . According to 2022 estimates from the Census Bureau, the largest ancestries reported in
9360-440: The West and brought prosperity for several states, where agriculture had previously only been subsistence level. Following World War II , the West's cities experienced an economic and population boom. The population growth, mostly in the Southwest states of New Mexico , Utah , Colorado , Arizona , and Nevada , has strained water and power resources, with water diverted from agricultural uses to major population centers, such as
9504-517: The West are Mexican (24.2%), German (10.1%), English (9.5%), Irish (7.2%), Italian (3.5%), Filipino (3.4%), and Chinese (3.3%). The West also contains much of the Native American population in the U.S., particularly in the large reservations in the Mountain and Desert States . As of 2022, the West is home to 365,351 Navajo , 109,208 Apache , and 78,364 Blackfeet , as well as 276,082 people identifying as Indigenous Mexican . The largest concentrations for African-Americans in
9648-453: The West as a metaphor for the virtue of self-reliance and an American ethos. The contrast between the romanticism of culture about the West and the actuality of the history of the westward expansion has been a theme of late 20th and early 21st century scholarship about the West. Cowboy culture has become embedded in the American experience as a common cultural touchstone, and modern forms as diverse as country and western music have celebrated
9792-409: The West can be found in San Diego , Los Angeles , Oakland , Sacramento , Fresno , San Francisco , Seattle , Tacoma , Phoenix , Las Vegas , Denver , and Colorado Springs . The Western United States has a higher sex ratio (more males than females ) than any other region in the United States. Because the tide of development had not yet reached most of the West when conservation became
9936-662: The West. The ecoregions and ecology found in the Western United States are extremely varied. For instance, large areas of land are made up of everything from sand dunes in the Central Basin and Range ecoregion , which makes up much of the State of Nevada , to the ecology of the North Cascades in Washington state , which has the largest concentration of active alpine glaciers in the lower 48 . The densely forested areas found in Northern California , Oregon , Washington, Idaho , and Montana have mostly species adapted to living in temperate climates , while Southern California , Nevada , Arizona , southern Utah , and New Mexico have
10080-444: The West. Low elevations on the West Coast have warm summers and mild winters with little to no snow. The desert southwest has very hot summers and mild winters. While the mountains in the southwest receive generally large amounts of snow. The Inland Northwest has a continental climate of warm to hot summers and cold to bitterly cold winters. Annual rainfall is greater in the eastern portions, gradually tapering off until reaching
10224-418: The additional radiator heated to the point that Piquet suffered burns on his right foot when pushing the accelerator pedal down; The heat had actually burnt a hole through his boots and he went to the podium barefoot after receiving first aid. He managed take a back-to-back win at Detroit after driving his backup car due to an accident that occurred at the start of the race. These were his only two victories of
10368-530: The car as it was believed to be underweight. Jones went to see the car which gave the suspicion that ballast had been added to bring the car within the regulations to make it legal. Piquet took his first win at the United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach, California by over 50 seconds from Riccardo Patrese . 5 months later, Piquet scored back to back wins in the Netherlands and Italy. He finished second in
10512-750: The car was retired due to an accident that occurred while Lehto was driving. That same year, in December, he won the Mil Milhas Brasileiras driving the McLaren F1 GTR with Johnny Cecotto and Steve Soper . On 20 January 2006, Piquet won the 50th edition of the Mil Milhas Brasileiras (Brazilian 1,000 miles) at the Interlagos circuit. He drove an Aston Martin DBR9 alongside his son, Nelson Piquet Jr. , and drivers Christophe Bouchut and Hélio Castroneves . At
10656-596: The championship for McLaren (Prost won seven races, while Piquet could only manage three third-place finishes for the season). In early 1988 he resorted to using the media to attack his rivals and gained a reputation as an outspoken "loose cannon," such as attacking Mansell and his wife, calling Mansell "an uneducated blockhead" (and insulting his wife's looks), and calling fellow Senna "the São Paulo taxi driver" and stating that he "doesn't like women." Piquet retracted his comments when both threatened legal action. He also earned
10800-592: The chassis for the Brazilian Formula Vee champion car with his brother , he arrived in European motor sports hailed as a prodigy. In the 1978 British Formula 3 season he broke Jackie Stewart's record of the most wins in a season. Piquet made his Formula One debut for Ensign in Germany , starting 21st only to retire on lap 31 with a broken engine. After the race, Piquet drove a McLaren of BS Fabrications in
10944-628: The community of Hollywood in Los Angeles became the headquarters of the mass media such as radio and television production. California has emerged as the most populous state and one of the top 10 economies in the world. Massive late 19th–20th century population and settlement booms created two megalopolis areas of the Greater Los Angeles / Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area / Northern California regions, one of
11088-531: The concussion he suffered when his Williams hit the wall at high speed at the Tamburello curve. He was offered by RAI to join Mario Poltronieri and Clay Regazzoni to comment on the race. Piquet, who had maintained friendly relations within the commentary box, sent Ezio Zermiani . Piquet accepted improvising as a commentator, but beyond the short journalistic experience, Piquet complained at year-end about
11232-629: The contiguous Western U.S. are mule deer , white-tailed antelope squirrels , cougars , American badgers , coyotes , hawks and several species of snakes and lizards are common. While the American black bear lives throughout the U.S., the brown bears and grizzly bears are more common in the northwest and in Alaska. Along the West Coast there are several species of whales, sea otters , California sea lions , eared seals and northern elephant seals . In
11376-560: The deserts lie the Rocky Mountains . In the north, they run almost immediately east of the Cascade Range , so that the desert region is only a few miles wide by the time one reaches the Canada–US border. The Rockies are hundreds of miles wide and run uninterrupted from New Mexico to Alaska . The Rocky Mountain Region is the highest overall area of the United States, with an average elevation of above 4,000 feet (1,200 m). The tallest peaks of
11520-777: The distance, so Piquet retired and Jones won the race and the World Championship from Piquet. The season began with the revocation of the South African Grand Prix 's status as an FIA-sanctioned event due to the ongoing FISA–FOCA war . With the FISA teams boycotting the race, the FOCA teams staged a non-championship race there in South Africa held in wet conditions which was won by Carlos Reutemann with Piquet second. FISA and FOCA reached an agreement banning movable skirts and requiring
11664-401: The drivers' standings, 13 points behind title winner Alan Jones . In Canada, Piquet and Jones had contact off the start and Piquet's car was damaged and caused a major crash resulting in the race being red flagged. Jones, his Championship rival, continued in the race and joined the restart in the same car. Piquet switched to his qualifying car which had a special engine that was not set up to go
11808-560: The dry, inland desert areas of states such as California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico there are some of the world's most venomous lizards, snakes and scorpions. The most notorious might be the Gila monster and Mohave rattlesnake , both found in deserts in the Southwest . The Sonoran Desert has eleven species of rattlesnakes - more than anywhere else in the world. Along the southwestern border there are jaguars and ocelots . Other mammals include
11952-571: The end of the race, an exhausted Piquet was quoted saying to a friend he would "never sit in a cockpit again." Since 2000, he has supported the career of his son, Nelson Piquet Jr. , who drove in the F1-feeder category GP2 for 2 seasons, achieving a best championship result of second with four race wins, and was a test driver for Renault F1 in 2007. During the Crashgate scandal, Piquet pledged to use his wealth to find out why his son had been ordered by
12096-567: The expense of longtime rival Mansell, whose Williams - Renault stalled past the old pits on the last lap while leading. In late 1991, Piquet's teammate Roberto Moreno was replaced by Michael Schumacher , who remained for the rest of the season. He had talked to the Ligier and Ferrari teams about securing a drive, but Piquet then announced his retirement from Formula One in January 1992 to concentrate on his business activities. Piquet attempted to race in
12240-484: The fact that the incident had left strong psychological effects in its aftermath which had caused insomnia. It became obvious that the continued development of the FW11 meant that it was clearly the best car that year, and the 1987 championship was going to be disputed between Piquet and Mansell. Despite winning fewer races than Mansell in 1987, Piquet emerged as world champion. From Detroit to Portugal , he never finished off
12384-537: The final round in Australia. Piquet took his third and final championship in 1987 during a heated battle with teammate Nigel Mansell which left the pair's relationship sour. Piquet subsequently moved to Lotus for 1988–89 where he experienced his third drop in form. He eventually went to the Benetton team for 1990–91 where he managed to win three races before retiring. After retiring from Formula One, Piquet tried his hand at
12528-585: The first Paleo-Indians arrived. Pre-Columbian trade routes to kingdoms and empires such as the Mound Builders existed in places such as Yellowstone National Park since around 1000 AD. Major settlement of the western territories developed rapidly in the 1840s, largely through the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush of 1849. California experienced such a rapid growth in a few short months that it
12672-520: The first turn, and both Gerhard Berger (McLaren) and Mansell (Ferrari) retired. It was his first win since the 1987 Italian Grand Prix. The second was just two weeks later at the last race of the season in Australia when after a great drive, Piquet survived a spirited, but fair, challenge from the V12 Ferrari of Mansell to win what was the 500th World Championship Formula One Grand Prix. His 18 points from
12816-426: The grid, the farthest back from which a modern Grand Prix driver had ever come to win a race, taking advantage of the front runners retiring and an incident between Rosberg and Frenchman Patrick Tambay . Watson's teammate Lauda finished 2nd after starting from 23rd on the grid. After the 1983 event, the event was deemed too expensive to run. Rumors persisted during the whole 1983 weekend that race organizer Chris Pook,
12960-438: The ground-clearance rule by devising a suspension system that kept the car at the required height during technical inspection but lowered it onto the ground at speed, allowing it to race once again as a wing car. The superiority of the car was such that Piquet easily swept to victory and even his less experienced Mexican teammate Héctor Rebaque , who could usually be found well down the order, managed to retain second place until he
13104-525: The ire of the Tifosi at the San Marino Grand Prix when he said in an interview with Playboy that Scuderia Ferrari might do better as a team if the boss ( Enzo Ferrari ) was a younger man instead of the 90-year-old one who rarely attended races due to his age and failing health. Piquet claims he was badly misquoted in the interview, which also had him questioning Prost's standing as the best driver in
13248-433: The land's managers, who are required to keep land use within environmentally acceptable limits. The largest city in the region is Los Angeles , located on the West Coast . Other West Coast cities include San Diego , San Bernardino , San Jose , San Francisco , Oakland , Bakersfield , Fresno , Sacramento , Seattle , Tacoma , Anchorage , and Portland – some of which are dozens of miles inland. Prominent cities in
13392-706: The lands west of the Mississippi River were considered the West . The U.S. Census Bureau's definition of the 13 westernmost states includes the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin to the Pacific Coast , and the mid-Pacific islands state, Hawaii. To the east of the Western United States is the Midwestern United States and the Southern United States , with Canada to the north and Mexico to
13536-528: The last lap) whilst Reutemann only scored a few times, Piquet went into the last race of the season only a point behind Reutemann. At the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas , Piquet finished fifth to clinch the championship as Reutemann finished out of the points. Piquet was so dehydrated from the desert heat and exhausted from the anti-clockwise nature of the track that he vomited on himself during
13680-418: The last two races saw him move from seven in the standings (26 points) to finishing third in the championship with 43. Piquet and Gerhard Berger both scored 43 points (Piquet had scored 44 but was forced to drop one point under the "Best 11" rule of the time), but Piquet's two wins, where Berger won none, saw him finish third. This was followed by the final win of his F1 career at Montreal in 1991 – again at
13824-433: The less expensive and domestically more popular CART championship, having mostly American drivers such as Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, and Al Unser, would be a more promising investment. The IndyCar race proved to be a mainstay and is still being run. It is one of the most popular and well-attended races on that calendar. Part of the interior of the circuit is the 13,600 seat Long Beach Convention Center which also doubled as
13968-590: The main figure in the attempt to create a "Monte Carlo of the United States" in Long Beach, had decided that Formula One was too expensive and risky. Shipping the F1 equipment all the way over from Europe and Brazil and increased FOCA fees had made the race financially unfeasible, particularly in a country where the financial culture meant that short-term returns on business investments were paramount, and Long Beach had never been paired with any other nearby race in Mexico or elsewhere in
14112-450: The majority of the desert areas located in the United States. The Mojave and the Great Basin deserts lie entirely within the Western region, along with parts of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts (the latter extends significantly into Texas, while both extend into Mexico ). Given this expansive and diverse geography it is no wonder that the region is difficult to define precisely. Sensing
14256-647: The nation's largest metropolitan areas and in the top 25 largest urban areas in the world. Five more metropolitan areas of San Bernardino - Riverside , San Diego , Denver , Phoenix , and Seattle have over a million residents, while the three fastest growing metro areas were the Salt Lake City metropolitan area , the Las Vegas metropolitan area ; and the Portland metropolitan area . Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior ( Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈnɛwsõ piˈke] , born 17 August 1952)
14400-574: The national average of 77.98 inhabitants/sq mi (30.11 inhabitants/km ). As of 2022, just under half of the 78.7 million residents of the West live in California . The entire Western region has also been strongly influenced by European , Hispanic or Latino , Asian and Native Americans ; it contains the largest number of minorities in the U.S. While most of the studies of racial dynamics in America such as riots in Los Angeles have been written about European and African-Americans , in many cities in
14544-585: The next three races, where he left good impressions. The deal was negotiated when BS Fabrications employees met Piquet when he was driving at Brands Hatch . His best finish was ninth in Italy . For the last race in 1978, Piquet moved to the Brabham team; he qualified in 14th and finished 11th. Piquet stayed with Brabham until 1985 . In 1979, Piquet competed in his first full season in Formula One. He once again drove for
14688-540: The others; he retired with gearbox problems. The race saw a spirited drive from Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jarier in the Tyrrell. He climbed up to 2nd behind Villeneuve in a Ferrari, although he had to drop back to finish 6th. Villeneuve won from his teammate Scheckter. In 1980 there was a number of incidents, including a messy pile-up at the Le Gasomet hairpin. Alfa Romeo driver Bruno Giacomelli spun entering that corner and came to
14832-422: The pit lane, which resulted in the car spinning and hitting the wall. Piquet suffered serious foot and ankle injuries and was forced to sit out the race. He returned after rehabilitation in 1993 and managed to qualify. He started in 13th position, but finished in 32nd, dropping out with engine problems after only 38 laps. Alongside Formula One, Piquet took part in the 1000km Nürburgring in 1980 and 1981 driving
14976-460: The pit paddock for the Formula One teams when in Long Beach. In 2013, there was some media speculation that Formula One could replace IndyCar at Long Beach in 2016, as IndyCar's contract with the City of Long Beach was to expire in 2015 and Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone had expressed interest in having his series return to the highly populated Los Angeles metropolitan area. However, on April 1, 2014,
15120-431: The pits were on Ocean Boulevard. So the race distance was 79.5 laps, and the parade lap went from the pits to the start on Shoreline Drive rather than completing a whole lap. That race was won by Argentine Carlos Reutemann , and Australian Alan Jones finished a great 2nd place for the new Williams team, their first ever podium position. 1979 saw Queen's Hairpin narrowed in order to create a more consistent track width for
15264-413: The podium, racking up points in what he called his "percentage driving policy" in his successful bid to win his third championship. Piquet announced during practice for the 1987 Hungarian Grand Prix that he had signed with Lotus as the undisputed number one driver, a position he claimed was promised at Williams from 1986, but was never honored following Frank Williams ' car crash. It was also believed this
15408-492: The race and had to be lifted out of his car when he returned to the pits. The following year, Piquet was fast but his car proved to be unreliable despite Brabham entering into an alliance with BMW to supply the team with turbocharged engines that although were powerful, were also very unreliable and were the main reason why the car retired from so many races. Aside from the first Grand Prix in South Africa Brabham started
15552-464: The race caused the FOCA teams to boycott the San Marino Grand Prix . His only win was in the Canadian Grand Prix which was also BMW 's first win in Formula One. In Germany , Piquet arrived to help Didier Pironi after he suffered a career-ending high-speed crash during practice. In the race, Piquet was leading until he collided with Eliseo Salazar whom he physically attacked at the side of
15696-484: The racing line at the end of a blind corner and then driving in front of Lauda's McLaren while it was carrying Nelson Piquet's damaged Brabham, and track breakup over the newer parts of the course. American Mario Andretti made a one-off appearance for the Williams team; he crashed on the 20th lap. The final event in 1983 brought more track modifications and the organizational issues eliminated. The elevated Ocean Boulevard and
15840-402: The rain stopped to continue the race. At the restart 45 minutes later, Alain Prost appeared much more competitive after putting on slicks on a drying track, with some mechanical work performed during the break, and won his first Grand Prix with Piquet relegated to third place, behind Prost and McLaren's John Watson. In the next race, the British Grand Prix , Reutemann finished second to open up
15984-501: The season using the Ford-Cosworth engined BT49D. Piquet won the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro; the extreme heat and immense adhesion of the cars meant that Piquet and other drivers suffered from exhaustion; Piquet fainted while collecting his trophy on the podium. Piquet was later disqualified for his car being underweight from a protest from Renault and Ferrari. Piquet did not drive
16128-514: The season when he was judged as the best driver in the field. Piquet (and reportedly Honda) left Adelaide following the Australian Grand Prix , fuming that Williams had not honoured their contract and had allowed Mansell to win races instead of ordering him to let the Brazilian by. Had Mansell let Piquet pass to take some extra wins, Piquet could have easily won the championship, instead of
16272-450: The season-ending South African Grand Prix , Prost retired on lap 35 and Piquet cruised to a third-place finish, winning his second world title. It also was the first time a turbocharged car won the championship, and was BMW's first and only championship in Formula 1. With the new rule that limited the capacity of the tanks of the cars to 220 liters and forbade race refueling, Piquet started as
16416-497: The sense of isolation and independence of spirit inspired by the frontiersmen on "virgin land". The advent of the automobile enabled the average American to tour the West. Western businessmen promoted Route 66 as a means to bring tourism and industry to the West. In the 1950s, representatives from all the western states built the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center to showcase western culture and greet travelers from
16560-641: The south. The West contains several major biomes , including arid and semi-arid plateaus and plains , particularly in the American Southwest ; forested mountains , including three major ranges, the Sierra Nevada , the Cascades , and Rocky Mountains; the long coastal shoreline of the American Pacific Coast ; and the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest . The Western United States
16704-411: The start, and it got off to a confused start in which Reutemann was prevented from joining the start after trouble with his Lotus during the warm-up. The field was not stopped under orders, so Canadian pole-sitter Gilles Villeneuve continued and the field followed him back to the pits. Frenchman Jacques Laffite 's engine seized and he hopped into the spare car. Reutemann went out anyway half a lap behind
16848-519: The steep runs up to and down from it were no longer used; and Seaside Way, a road (level with the rest of the circuit) that runs parallel to Ocean Boulevard was used instead. The revised circuit also included a number of tight turns built around the Convention Center and a slightly shortened Le Gasomet hairpin so that Ocean Boulevard could still be used by everyday traffic. The pits were moved down to Shoreline Drive. John Watson won from 22nd place on
16992-511: The team claiming that there had not been enough development of the V12 during its debut year with Larrousse in 1989 and that the team would be uncompetitive using the Italian engine. The late season announcement by Lotus meant that there were almost no seats left with one of the top teams (McLaren, Ferrari and Williams), leaving Piquet with the unenviable possibility of not having a drive for 1990. However,
17136-462: The teammate of one of his fiercest rivals, Nigel Mansell . It was reported that Honda were paying the bulk of his US$ 3.3 million contract. When Piquet had signed for Williams at 1985 Austrian Grand Prix, Piquet did not regard Mansell as a serious threat, as the Briton had not won a race yet in his fifth year in Formula One (and would win his first race a month later). Piquet had underestimated Mansell, and
17280-450: The title favorite because it was thought that the 4-cylinder BMW would suffer less from the new fuel economy requirement than the 6-cylinder competition. The winter tests seemed to confirm the expectations, and in fact the car showed promise, but the expected results never materialised. The only good thing that came from the tests was the creation of special qualifying engines, which produced more than 900 hp and allowed Piquet to match what
17424-460: The top five several times – often out-qualifying Lauda. Two weeks after the Italian round, Lauda abruptly quit driving before the start of the Canadian Grand Prix , leaving Piquet as the number one driver for Brabham, and leaving him and new recruit Ricardo Zunino to debut the new BT49, which had a Ford-Cosworth DFV engine; Brabham ditched the Alfa Romeo V12's in protest to Alfa Romeo entering as
17568-470: The track and went straight-on past Queen's Hairpin and crashed into retaining tire barriers head-on, still moving extremely quickly. This devastating accident did not seem to be survivable. Regazzoni did survive, but with severe spinal injuries, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down; he never raced in F1 again but did race again in other forms of motorsports, albeit with hand controls rather than pedals. Brazilian Nelson Piquet dominated that race weekend, it
17712-454: The track at the start to restart Patrese's stalled car, Piquet went off again in the lead only to have Jones make contact on lap 10 forcing him to retire, with the race being won by Reutemann. After crashing in Monaco and Spain, Piquet was able to recover at the French Grand Prix at Dijon where he dominated until lap 58, when a sudden storm led to a red flag and the organizers decided to wait until
17856-563: The track on live television. Piquet won the opening race in Brazil in the arrow-shaped BT52 and followed this up with a retirement in the United States West Grand Prix. He scored a second place in France and took another second at Monaco also taking the fastest lap. He was 14 points behind Alain Prost with three races left in the season but took back-to-back victories at Monza and Brands Hatch to close to within two points. At
18000-547: The two drove what were clearly the best cars on the grid, their rivalry caused each to deprive the other of points, allowing Alain Prost to win one of the closest and most fiercely disputed championships ever in Formula One. The season began well with Piquet dominating the Brazilian Grand Prix and at the next the race, the San Marino Grand Prix , Piquet finished second behind Prost. During the season, fellow Brazilian and former dual-World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi estimated that Piquet could not commit more driving errors early in
18144-408: The two of them being beaten by Prost in what was an inferior car (though Prost did manage 11 podium finishes, including 4 wins). In this season Piquet won more races (a total of four) than he would in any of his championship-winning campaigns. Piquet made amends in 1987 , using political maneuvering and technical skill to gain the upper hand. He was also a very good testing and development driver, and
18288-406: The typically sunny and excellent Southern California weather made for a very pleasant setting. The 1976 event was won by Swiss Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari with his teammate Niki Lauda finishing 2nd and Patrick Depailler finishing 3rd while furiously charging through the field after an incident he had early in the race. 1977 saw a race-long battle between Lauda, South African Jody Scheckter in
18432-466: The tyre compounds they would use during the season. Unfortunately, unlike the hot conditions in South Africa, most of the European part of the season took place in unseasonably cold weather. This, and the Brabham BT54 's weight distribution towards the back of the car saw the Pirelli tyres (especially the fronts) largely ineffective and left Piquet often fast, but ultimately uncompetitive. In 1985, Piquet won
18576-594: The ultra modern Ontario Motor Speedway after the success of the Questor Grand Prix in 1971, but this was unsuccessful. With the east coast Watkins Glen track on the downslope after two fatalities in successive years and a politically charged 1975 event, the USGP West was created for the 1976 season on a tight circuit made up of city streets in Long Beach, California , located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area on
18720-521: The west coast. A Formula 5000 race was held there in 1975, and the US was just the second country (after Italy in 1957) to host two Championship F1 events in the same season. Southern California had seen a championship Formula One race before; the 1960 United States Grand Prix was held at the famed Riverside Raceway , which was just an hour's drive from Long Beach. Like most street circuits used in Formula One and other disciplines of motor racing, Long Beach gained
18864-534: The wheat and soybeans in the U.S. and exporting more to the rest of the world. Irrigation in the Southwest allows the growth of great quantities of fruits, nuts, and vegetables as well as grain, hay, and flowers. Texas is a major cattle and sheep raising area, as well as the nation's largest producer of cotton. Washington is famous for its apples, and Idaho for its potatoes. California and Arizona are major producers of citrus crops, however, declining supplies of water, as well as urban sprawl have contributed to
19008-496: The world. On the official FIA video review of the 1988 season, Piquet left no doubts that the article got it wrong in his comments about Ferrari (saying that at 90, Enzo Ferrari had to be a strong man to run a Formula One team), and that he considered Prost to be the world's best driver. Before the start of the 1988 season, the Rio de Janeiro circuit was renamed in Piquet's honor. Piquet had
19152-529: The year. In Spielberg he could have won as the car of leading Niki Lauda suffered a loss of gears, but Piquet was unaware and did not attack. Piquet finished in 5th place in the championship. Prior to the 1985 season, Piquet and Brabham conducted their winter testing at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa , along with the team's new tyre supplier Pirelli . It was through this testing that Pirelli came up with
19296-508: Was a big factor in Honda dropping Williams and moving to McLaren for 1988, despite another year left in the contract. The Japanese company, who paid most of Piquet's salary, considered him to be the number one and were privately fuming that Williams management did not rein in Mansell and allow Piquet an easier time. Piquet and the number 1 went to a stagnating Lotus team in 1988 , and his career took
19440-403: Was able to develop the Williams car further to make it even more competitive. At times during the season, the rift between himself and Mansell was evident, as Mansell was showing superior speed in qualifying and races. Piquet had also admitted to "not ever being quite right" after his qualifying crash for Round 2 at Imola . He was ordered by FISA's medical chief, Sid Watkins , not to race due to
19584-694: Was admitted to statehood in 1850 without the normal transitory phase of becoming an official territory. One of the largest migrations in American history occurred in the 1840s as the Latter Day Saints left the Midwest to build a theocracy in Utah . Both Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri laid claim to the title, "Gateway to the West" during this period. Omaha , home to the Union Pacific Railroad and
19728-509: Was also concerned about financial security when he retired, citing the difficulties faced by Brazilian footballers Pelé and Garrincha after their professional careers ended. However, he was well integrated with the team and enjoyed close relationships with Gordon Murray and his mechanics, making him reluctant to leave. He had been in contact with McLaren , but was discouraged by the PR duties that came with it: "(Ron Dennis) mentioned so many days
19872-454: Was banned from the Formula One paddock in 2022. Piquet was born 17 August 1952, in Rio de Janeiro , then the capital of Brazil, the son of Estácio Gonçalves Souto Maior (1913–1974), a Brazilian physician. His father moved his family to the new capital, Brasília , in 1960 and became Minister for Health in João Goulart 's government (1961–64). Piquet had two brothers, Alexis and Geraldo, and
20016-399: Was becoming frustrated. He felt as if his loyalty to Brabham was being taken advantage of - his salary was lower than other drivers despite his success with the team - and he was not being informed of some team decisions. The switch to Pirelli tyres had been particularly upsetting: he felt it had been done purely for financial reasons and placed inordinate commitments on him for tyre testing. He
20160-426: Was clear, and Williams's comment that in signing Piquet he had "signed the best driver in the world" seemed to back that up. However, shortly before the beginning of the season, Frank Williams suffered a serious car accident that kept him away from the team for a long time and caused a permanent physical disability. The team was then led by technical director Patrick Head , who was also Mansell's race engineer. Though
20304-401: Was forced to retire. At the San Marino Grand Prix , almost all the teams adopted the innovation brought to Argentina by Brabham. Piquet won the race despite being caught out by rain. In the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, after an initial start which was aborted due to an accident involving Siegfried Stohr , his teammate Riccardo Patrese and mechanic Dave Luckett who inexplicably remained on
20448-454: Was subsequently employed in a garage to finance his career, since he had no financial support from his family. Upon returning to Brazil, Piquet and three friends bought a 20 hp cart and participated in Brazilian go-karting (1971 and 1972 national champion) and in the local Formula Super Vee 1976 championship, in which he easily won that season. On the advice of Emerson Fittipaldi , the first Brazilian Formula One world champion who sold
20592-432: Was the first of his twenty-three F1 victories, with his countryman Emerson Fittipaldi taking 3rd. 1981 brought a slight change to the course, with one of the left handers at Pine Avenue being re-made from two corners to one corner. This race saw Italian Riccardo Patrese take pole position from the dominant Williams duo of Alan Jones and Reutemann; Patrese eventually dropped back with mechanical problems and Reutemann made
20736-436: Was then the record for pole positions in a year: nine, already held by Lauda and Ronnie Peterson . The season was dominated by the McLaren team who were using TAG-Porsche engines. In Canada, the Brabham team introduced a curious additional radiator on the nose that was mounted on the car that improved reliability. Piquet won the race (after having retired from the previous 6 races, mostly through engine or turbo failure), but
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