Piquet Jr downplays Hamilton's success

Hamilton, last year's GP2 champion ahead of Piquet, has made a sensational Formula One debut with McLaren, leading the championship after seven podium finishes, including two race victories.

Kovalainen, in contrast, has endured a tough debut as Renault struggled for pace in the opening races of the year. The Finn has showed improved form recently, however, finishing fourth in Canada and fifth in Indianapolis.

And while Piquet admits Hamilton's showing bodes well for GP2 drivers, he reckons the Briton's success has come thanks to McLaren being so competitive.

"It is good (for GP2 drivers), yes," Piquet told his country's O Globo newspaper in a telephone interview on Thursday. "But if Lewis was in Heikki's position he would be doing the same, making a mistake here and there.

"He would be in a car that's not the quickest and he would have to push more to obtain results. It is a lot easier to drive a car that's already fast and that allows you to grab pole or finish second."

He added: "Consistency is achieved through the car. He has never broken down in a race, he has never had problems, and his car is always one of the quickest. Then he doesn't need to do much.

"If he continues working the same way, he is going to finish on the podium in every race. The McLaren is half a second quicker than the rest of the teams."

Piquet battled for the GP2 title with Hamilton until the final race of the season last year, but the Brazilian lost out by 12 points in the end.

The Renault driver reckons he would need the same opportunities to asses just how good he is in comparison with the Briton.

"To know if I'm better than Hamilton I would have to be in the same team with the same car," he added. "But there are things that are easier for him than for anybody else."