WATCH: 10 moments of brilliance from three-time world champion Nelson Piquet

It would be easy to be fooled by Nelson Piquet’s famously irreverent manner that he wasn’t serious about the business of driving Formula 1 cars. But beneath the jokey exterior lurked one incredibly fast racing driver.

Piquet entered the sport in 1978, first with Ensign, then in a private McLaren entry and then with Brabham for the final race of that season. Kept on by Bernie Ecclestone’s team for 1979, within three seasons, the Brazilian had become a world champion with Brabham.

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He’d win two more championships after that, too, another for Brabham in 1983 before his final triumph with Williams in 1987, Piquet coming out on top in the famously fractious intra-team rivalry with Nigel Mansell – and becoming one of only 10 drivers in the sport’s history to claim three or more championship wins in the process.

With 23 races victories, and having played a part in some of the most iconic moments of his era, enjoy the video up top as we celebrate 10 moments of brilliance from Nelson Piquet.