Piquet to get 'Heikki treatment'.

Renault F1 engineering head Pat Symonds reckons that it will only take one decent result for Nelson Piquet Jr to 'turn the corner' in his Formula One career, despite the Brazilian struggling to make the grade so far this season.

Referring to the similar situation in which Piquet's predecessor at Enstone, Heikki Kovalainen, found himself in during the 2007 campaign, Symonds reckons that it is merely a matter of boosting the beleaguered Brazilian's confidence.

Although Friday's practice sessions in Montreal did not bode well for the weekend ahead, Symonds pointed to Kovalainen's similar travails at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - and the surprising outcome of the Canadian Grand Prix a year ago - as a reason for Piquet to keep his head together despite being under fire from all quarters after failing to live up to the reputation that he brought to the grid in Melbourne.

The Brazilian, a rival of Lewis Hamilton's in the second season of GP2, has so far failed to score a single point in 2007, and has struggled to make the cut in the first phase of qualifying on more than one occasion. Kovalainen, meanwhile, similarly struggled on his elevation from the role of test driver and was under pressure to perform as the F1 circus arrived in Canada. Even after qualifying, the Finn did not appear to be on course to salvage his seat, but produced a fourth place finish from the back of the grid and was a different character after that.

"I think we need to support [Nelson]," Symonds said, in contrast to those calling for the Brazilian's head, "It is very easy to be critical of drivers in a situation like that and I think people have very short memories in motor racing.

"Of course, you can look back exactly a year, to this very event, to the problems Heikki Kovalainen was having. He was having a dreadful season and really finding it difficult. I think, on the Saturday in Montreal last year, it was very hard to imagine a driver having a worse day. He had two big accidents, one in qualifying, [but] he finished fourth in the race and he never looked back from that Sunday onwards.

"So much is in a driver's psyche that, once they break through, there is no stopping them. What we have got to do with Nelson is help him break through that barrier. Just one good result and it will come on from there."

Various names have been linked to Piquet's seat should the Brazilian not improve, including both Super Aguri refugees - Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson - as well as reigning GP2 Asia Series champion - and Renault development driver - Romain Grosjean. Only this week, the rumour mill suggested that F1 veteran David Coulthard could be ushered into the car, with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel replacing the Scot at Red Bull, but Fernando Alonso - not renowned as the greatest of respecters of team-mates - has also called for Piquet to be given time.

"As Pat said, I think we can support him as much as we can, as these things can change very quickly from one race to another if you have a good result," the Spaniard echoed, "I have been with Nelson now for a couple of months, and I have a huge respect for him and know that he has a great talent.

"Testing in the winter and in the races, some races have been difficult because they have been new tracks for him. Barcelona was one of the tracks he knew and he was easy to feel free and he showed his potential there. I am pretty sure that he will have had a good season at the end of the championship when we look back. It has been a difficult start, but we need him and he will get there."