The Brazilian has had a difficult start to the 2008 campaign and, in particular, has struggled to make an impact in the past two races.
And after slumping to 17th in qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix, Renault's sporting director Steve Nielsen has said it is vital Piquet turns his season around - just as Heikki Kovalainen did last year.
"Well, it is obviously his first season in F1," said Nielsen in Renault's official podcast. "We saw last year with Heikki, he had a difficult start to the season and then he was able to turn it around and I think Nelson has to do the same.
"Nelson had a good race in Barcelona, unfortunately he made a mistake, but the Friday, (and) Saturday in qualifying, certainly, he did an excellent job and then made a mistake in the race.
"So I think rather than say he's had a disastrous start to the season, it's a bit of a curate's egg - there are good bits and bad bits.
"But he needs to start having more good bits than the bad bits, and he needs to start doing that as soon as he can because F1 is a business, it's a very cut-throat business, and if people don't deliver they go the obvious way."
He added: "But I'm sure Nelson can turn it around. We have seen in testing and in Barcelona he has got the speed, he just needs to concentrate and focus and make sure he turns it into results."
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