Surprise : Nelson Piquet's Podium

For wannabe grand prix drivers, winning the junior categories seems like the be-all and end-all. The multiple stepping stones to formula one - GP2, Euro F3, British F3, WSR, Formula Renault, Formula BMW - are not just a chance to develop and hone race skills, but important milestones to put on the CV - if young drivers win them outright that is. A clutch of titles can, for the fortunate ones, secure the best seat on the grid. It doesn't always work that way - there's a long list of champions who never got their F1 chance - so even those struggling in machinery at the tail end of the grid are deemed fortunate.

Look at the men who claimed the top two spots in today's German grand prix and you're reminded about the fantastic battle they had in GP2 in 2006. It was less than two years ago but it has almost been forgotten as the careers of Lewis Hamilton and Nelson Piquet Jr diverged at speed. After the first half of this formula one season, there's not been cause to mutter their names in the same breath. Until this afternoon.

Piquet has been racing with an axe hovering over his neck. His performances have, on occasion, been shocking for the driver who almost pipped Hamilton - the most successful rookie in the history of formula one - to the GP2 crown. Memories of his complete domination of British F3 in 2004 are even more distant and there have been rumours that he may be replaced by another Renault development driver such as Lucas di Grassi or Romain Grosjean. Yesterday, Piquet failed to make it into the second qualifying session and lined up 17th on the grid - an embarassing 12 places behind team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Today, Piquet should have banished much of that speculation. It could be the turning point that propels his season in a more positive direction (as Heikki Kovalainen found during the middle of his spell with Renault last year). Piquet wouldn't have found himself at the head of the field were it not for the chain reaction of Timo Glock's pit-straight shunt. Had the safety car not come out and presented the opportunity of free pit stops, and had the strategies of the frontrunners not changed, then Piquet would have been recording another lacklustre result. But, unlike for Glock, luck was on his side. He was given the opportunity to perform calmly and skilfully at the head of the field. Yes, his old foe Hamilton got past in the much quicker McLaren. Piquet, though, need not blush at the way he conceded the place - unlike Massa, who defended atrociously for a would-be world champion.

All that was left was for Piquet to hold his nerve. Massa put forward no challenge and so the Brazilian crossed the line to record Renault's first podium of the season. Earlier in the weekend Alonso had said it would be difficult for his younger team-mate to score any points. That's showed him. It may also have convinced Flavio Briatore to keep investing in the Brazilian with the famous dad. He might not have a GP2 title to his name - and he might not be in the same class as the man who beat him to it - but it wouldn't be wrong to suggest that Piquet Jr was the driver of the day at Hockenheim.