Heinz-Harald Frentzen
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Official Website: Official Website
Place of Birth: Monchengladbach
Resides: Monte Carlo
Status: Married
Height: 1.78m
Weight: 64.5kg
Career previous to F1: 1989 German GM Lotus Euroseries Champion
Races: 142
Wins: 3 (2.1%)
Podiums: 17 (12.0%)
Pole Positions: 2 (1.4%)
Retirements: 56 (39.4%)
Points Accumulated: 164.000
Debut: 27 Mar 1994
Last Race: 09 Mar 2003
First Win: 27 Apr 1997
Last Win: 12 Sep 1999
First Pole: 11 May 1997
Last Pole: 26 Sep 1999 |
View a complete listing of Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Formula 1 results
Driver History
When Heinz-Harald came into F1 it was said that he was the one man
who could match Michael Schumacher for speed. Without doubt, Sauber
had obtained the seervices of one of F1's hottest new properties.
In 1994, he grabbed a fifth position in only his second race (Pacific
GP at Aida), and went on to record points in three further races
that season. It's a mark of the German's character that he turned
down a move to Williams following the death of Ayrton Senna, opting
to see out his contractual obligations with Sauber for two more
seasons.
Before the start of the 1997 season, Frentzen eventually secured
a drive with the Williams team, replacing reigning world champion
Damon Hill.
Despite some encouraging qualifying sessions and his first GP win
at Imola in 1997, Frentzen struggled for much of the season, his
problems highlighted by Jacques Villeneuve's Championship win. Despite
pit-lane rumours, Frentzen retained the drive for 1998 although
it proved to be a very disappointing time for both driver and team
with only one podium finish.
For 1999, Frentzen moved to Jordan, and from the outset it was
clear that the German had finally found a team that would bring
out the best in him. In the opinion of many, Heinz-Harald was the
star of the '99 season, and following a fine win at Monza, came
within ten points of winning the championship.
2000 came as a nasty shock for the German, as mechanical failures
continually wrecked his chances of following on from his previous
season. He did take two podiums, but was bitterly disappointed with
the team's performance.
For 2001 Jordan had access to Honda engines but it was a long difficult
season with the yellow and black regularly cars failing to impress.
Following accidents in the Spanish and Monaco races, Frentzen pulled
out of the Canadian GP after the opening practice sessions to be
replaced by Ricardo Zonta.
Following the British GP the whole of F1 was shocked to hear that
the German had been sacked by the Silverstone based outfit just
days before his home GP. The reason for the sacking was believed
to be HHF's insistence that he knew how to modify his car to make
it go quicker. Eddie Jordan was having none of it (he eventially
sttled for £900,000 compenation).
Jean Alesi moved to Jordan and Heinz-Harald filled the vacant seat
at Prost for the remainder of 2001. He finished 12th with six points.
2002 wasn't much better. The Prost team went bust before the season
started and the Arrows team gave up halfway through. Despite a lack
of testing Heinz-Harry scored two 6th place finishes in Barcelona
and Monte Carlo (and had the team continued, he would have surely
humbled the huge investment of Toyota, who also scored two points...
over 17 races)
Before season end he had secured a one-year deal with his old team
Sauber for 2003 and managed to squeeze himself into the midget-friendly
C21 at Indianapolis and put the frighteners on Nick Heidfeld.
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