Piquet would welcome Alonso to Formula E

LONDON: Brazilian Nelson Piquet junior says he would welcome former teammate Fernando Alonso in Formula E, should the double Formula One world champion be lured to electric racing in the future.

“I think it would be great,” the 33-year-old told Reuters at the launch of his Jaguar team’s new race car on Wednesday when asked about recent overtures by Formula E founder Alejandro Agag.

“It would be good not just for Formula E but good for Fernando to show people that he’s a true racer and he doesn’t care what he’s racing.”Agag, always willing to provide an eye-catching headline, has spoken of his eagerness to bring fellow-Spaniard Alonso to his series in 2020.

“I think he’s going to America this season, but definitely for the season after we are going after him,” Agag said at the weekend. McLaren driver Alonso, 37, is leaving Formula One with a return to the Indianapolis 500 likely after winning Le Mans with Toyota this year.

Piquet and Alonso were teammates at Renault when the Brazilian triggered a major scandal in 2009 with the revelation that he crashed deliberately at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to bring out a safety car that helped the Spaniard win.

Since then, Piquet has raced in a variety of series and secured his place in the history books as Formula E’s first champion in 2014-15.Brazilian Felipe Massa, Alonso’s former Ferrari teammate, is Formula E’s big name rookie this year after retiring from Formula One.

Speaking before flying to Sao Paulo for the latest round of the Brazilian touring car championship, Piquet said Formula E was now drawing some serious attention from fans and drivers as well as manufacturers.