the first race of the 2008 season in australia saw piquet start 21st and damage his car in a collision on the opening lap. he finally retired on lap 31. this was exactly the same result as his father achieved in his first race at the german grand prix. piquet qualified in 10th for the spanish grand prix his first top 10 qualifying position of his career. piquet scored his first points in f1 with a 7th-place finish at the french grand prix. he passed his team mate alonso in the last few laps. at the german grand prix, finished in second place and his first podium finish.