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First there was Damon Hill, then Jacques Villeneuve, later followed by Nico Rosberg, Christian Jones and Matthias Lauda… all sons of legendary racers, even though Gilles (Villeneuve) never got to win the World Championship.
The latest 'son of a famous father' is Nelson Piquet Jr, son of three-time World Champion, and (seemingly) last of the playboy racers, Nelson Piquet.
Born in Germany, and raised by his Dutch mother in Monaco, at the age of 8, young Nelson was sent to Brazil in order that he might bond with his father and learn the language. His mother also felt that Junior would enjoy a better quality of life, certainly as a child.
Virtually from the moment he arrived in Brazil, young Nelson was racing, his father's wealth, and good contacts, allowing 'Junior' the best equipment and the luxury of running his own team.
He continued Karting for the next few years, enjoying success, before switching to single-seaters in 2001, when, aged 16, he finished fifth in the South American F3 Championship, despite only contesting half the season.
The following year he contested the full season, this time winning the prestigious championship with four races remaining.
Being 'king pin' in Brazil is one thing, however, if Nelson Junior was to really prove himself he would need to follow the example of so many other great Brazilian drivers, including Ayrton Senna and his own father, he would have to compete at the highest level, in the British F3 Championship.
As in Karting and his Brazilian F3 venture, young Nelson, under the guidance of his father, decided that only one team would have his interest entirely at heart, therefore he established his own F3 team (Piquet Sports) in Britain in order to contest the 2003 Championship.
Despite eight trips to the podium, including five visits to the very top step, Nelson could only manage third, behind Alan van der Merwe and Jamie Green. Later that year, thanks, no doubt, to his father's connection with the team, Nelson Jr got his first taste of F1, when he tested for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team.
In 2004, he remained in British F3, this time winning the series, at 19 years 2 months the youngest driver to do so, courtesy of six wins, seven podiums and five pole positions. He completed his year of victory with further outings in the BMW WilliamsF1 car.
Having 'done the business' in British F3, the next move was obvious, consequently 'Junior' and his Piquet Sports Team contested the inaugural GP2 Series championship.
Despite a win and three further trips to the podium, Nelson could only manage eighth in the championship, losing out to Heikki Kovalainen, Scott Speed, Alexandre Premat, Adam Carroll, Giorgio Pantano and Neel Jani, not to mention inaugural GP2 champion, and another son of a famous father, Nico Rosberg.
However, to make up for the disappointment of GP2, Nelson had a test with the BAR-Honda F1 Team, and took two wins for his country in the inaugural A1 GP Championship.
In the early part of 2006, Nelson continued in A1 GP, however, once the second season of GP2 kicked off it was clear where his attention was really focussed.
The Brazilian fought a season-long duel with Lewis Hamilton, however, despite seizing the initiative, courtesy of a win in the opening round (Valencia), it was the English driver who ultimately came out on top, though the Brazilian gave him a good run for his money.
For 2007, Nelson signed up as test driver for World Champions Renault, a move that many assumed to be his passport to a full race seat in 2008.
The new test rules meant he didn't get that much mileage in the R27, however, when he was needed he was there.
It was clear long before the end of the season that the French team wouldn't be retaining either of its 2007 drivers, though Nelson had to wait until mid-December before being confirmed as teammate to Fernando Alonso, who was returning 'home' following his eventful stint with McLaren.
Ahead of his F1 race debut, Pitpass wrote: "Without doubt, Nelson is fast, he also has World Championship winning blood in his veins. However, there are a couple of question marks against him which Nelson must address.
"Firstly, on a number of occasions in 2006 he seemed to 'fall asleep', to lose concentration, thereby losing positions and, ultimately, the championship. Secondly, some have said that though he has yet to prove himself at the highest level, he is already showing signs of the kind of arrogance that only really befits a World Champion, maybe triple World Champion."
We also warned that Nelson had to get to grips with the car from the outset and not repeat Heikki Kovalainen's nightmare GP debut… sadly he didn't take our advice.
Nelson's debut was a disaster, starting from 21st on the grid, he was involved in a collision on the opening lap subsequently retiring with accident damage on lap 31. As it happens, this was almost exactly what happened to his father on his F1 race debut (Germany 1978).
It was Spain when Nelson finally qualified in the Top Ten, however, he was only to repeat the feat twice more over the course of the season. Indeed, the Brazilian is the only driver to be out-qualified by his teammate at every race over the course of 2008.
The R28 wasn't a good car, however, it has to be said that Piquet was a major disappointment, the Brazilian making far too many needless mistakes.
Having been quick to criticise Kovalainen following his disappointing start to the 2007 season, it wasn't long before Flavio Briatore was dishing out the same treatment to Nelson. After a poor race in Monaco, the youngster was accused of lacking confidence, while in Turkey he was publicly urged to improve.
In Spain he collided with Sebastien Bourdais, while the wet conditions in Monaco clearly made him uncomfortable. In Canada he spun off while trying to keep pace with his teammate.
The first points came in France where Nelson was fairly impressive, overtaking his illustrious teammate in the closing laps. Another points finish was on the cards at Silverstone until he spun when the conditions deteriorated.
Ironically, it was in Germany, the scene of Fernando Alonso's worst race of the season, where Nelson was most impressive, bringing the Renault home in second place… albeit with the aid of a one-stop strategy and a perfectly timed appearance by the Safety Car.
In Singapore, it was Nelson's crash which resulted in the Safety Car being brought out, a move that was to prove fortuitous for his teammate, while in Japan the youngster added a further 5 points to his tally, enough to secure 12th place in the championship.
Despite the improvement in the second half of the season, many were surprised, possibly even the Brazilian himself, when Renault confirmed Nelson for 2009.
Given the global financial crisis which had led to Honda withdrawing, many believed it was only a matter of time before at least one more manufacturer followed, and warnings from the parent company that it would only support an F1 programme while the team was winning placed further doubts on the future of Renault.
These doubts were further highlighted when sponsor, Dutch banking group ING, announced that it was to terminate its contract at the end of the season. Consequently, ahead of the new season we wrote: "In 2009, Nelson must make a significant step forward, thing is, is he up to it?"
The simple answer was "no", however nobody could have predicted how bad the Brazilian's fall from grace was to be.
Nelson's season got off to a poor start with the Brazilian failing to make it past Q1 in two of the first four races.
His Australian GP lasted just 24 laps before he retired due to brake failure while in China Flavio Briatore described the youngster's performance as "very, very bad" after Nelson finished sixteenth having spun a number of times and stopped twice for new nose cones.
He did well in Spain, holding off a determined Mark Webber, however in Monaco Red Bull was to get its own back, Sebastian Vettel initially compromising Nelson's pit strategy and then subsequently colliding with the Brazilian, who later described the German as a "fool".
In Germany he out-qualified his Spanish teammate for the first time all season however, it was after the next race (Hungary) that team boss Flavio Briatore finally ran out of patience and dropped Nelson.
What happened next has gone down in sporting history, for in the wake of the Belgian Grand Prix, Nelson revealed to the Brazilian media that one year earlier he had been ordered to crash out of the Singapore race effectively handing the win to his teammate.
While Renault was handed a two-year suspended sentence - effectively a sweetener to keep the manufacturer from leaving the sport - and Briatore was to leave the team and find himself banned from motorsport for life, Nelson escaped punishment for agreeing to give evidence to the FIA.
It is not the first time that a driver has impressed in junior formula only to fail at the final hurdle, one only has to think back to Jan Magnussen. Piquet is clearly a gifted driver, though some would say that his father's name and money has helped ease the youngster's path.
However, his actions in agreeing to deliberately crash during a race, no matter what pressure was being put on him, is unforgivable, he has brought his sport into disrepute.
Bernie Ecclestone has since said that there is still a place in F1 for Nelson, which probably tells you all you need to know about the sport and indeed Ecclestone, however, it remains to be seen if any one in the F1 paddock would employ a driver who not only proved unable to make it in the big league but is a self-confessed cheat.
Statistics - at the end of 2009 Season
Drivers' Titles: 0
Seasons in F1: 2
Grand Prix: 27
Wins: 0
Points: 19
Poles: 0
Fastest Laps: 0
Best result in 2009: 10th (Bahrain)
Best qualifying 2009: 10th (Germany)
Worst qualifying 2009: 17th (3 times)
2009: Out-qualified Fernando Alonso 1 time
2009: Out-qualified by Fernando Alonso 9 times
2009: Completed: 487 out of 594 laps (82%)
2009: Finished 8 times from 10 starts (80%)
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