Heinz-Harald Frentzen

Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Born 18 May 1967
Mönchengladbach, West Germany
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Germany German
Active years 1994–2003
Teams Sauber, Williams, Jordan, Prost, Arrows
Races 160 (156 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 3
Podiums 18
Career points 174
Pole positions 2
Fastest laps 6
First race 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win 1997 San Marino Grand Prix
Last win 1999 Italian Grand Prix
Last race 2003 Japanese Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years 1992, 2008
Teams Euro Racing
Aston Martin Racing
Best finish 13th (1992)
Class wins 0

Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967), also known as 'HHF', is a German professional racing driver. He was the runner-up in the 1997 Formula One World Drivers' Championship, driving for Williams.

Early career

Frentzen was born on 18 May 1967 in the West German city of Mönchengladbach (North Rhine-Westphalia) to Heinrich-Harald Frentzen, a German undertaker and his wife Angela, a Spanish mother. He has two sisters, Sylvia, a theologian, Sonia, a teacher and two half-sisters Samantha, a former student and Nicole-Nadine. His family was connected to motorsport; his father raced between 1950 and 1957. Frentzen's parents divorced when he was eight years old and his father subsequently married Mexican-born Arazelli while Angela returned to Spain.[1]

Frentzen began karting at the age of twelve, after his father brought him his first kart, and made an extraordinarily successful start.[2] In 1981, aged fourteen, Frentzen won the German Junior Kart Championship. Two years later, Frentzen entered the CIK Asia Pacific Championships in Australia driving a Dino although he did not finish.[3] In 1984, he finished runner-up in the 100cc class.[4] He was funded and supported by his father—a funeral director—who also acted as both team boss and head mechanic.

In 1986, Frentzen moved into car racing by entering the German Formula Ford 2000 series. After two seasons in Formula Ford he was runner-up in the 1987 series, despite not participating in all races. Frentzen progressed to German Formula Opel Lotus in 1988 in the Junior Team of former Formula One driver Jochen Mass, who had been impressed by Frentzen's performances in Formula Ford. Frentzen was champion of the German series in his first year and his team-mate Marco Werner finished third in the championship. He also participated in the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries, where he finished 6th in the championship, scoring 56 points.

The next step was the German Formula 3 Championship in 1989, where Frentzen competed against many future stars including Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger. At the time, there was a big push by Bernie Ecclestone to have a German driver in the Formula One World Championship, so the ONS (the German National Motorsports committee) decided to support both Frentzen and Schumacher. The ONS put up the reward of a Formula One test to the driver who first would take a victory in a Formula 3 race. This ultimately ended up being Schumacher, in a controversial race at Zeltweg, Austria in which Frentzen claimed Schumacher had forced him off the track. However, Schumacher did not get the Formula One test drive anyway; Karl Wendlinger won the German Formula 3 Championship and Frentzen became joint runner-up with Schumacher (the two finishing on identical points totals).

In 1990, Frentzen entered the International Formula 3000 series driving for Eddie Jordan Racing and was partnered by Eddie Irvine. Frentzen finished the season 16th in the championship, scoring 3 points. In the same year, he also participated in the World Sports Prototype Championship driving a Mercedes-Benz C11 scoring one podium and six points. In 1991, Frentzen continued to drive in International Formula 3000 moving to Vortex Motorsport and scored five points.

Formula One

Sauber (1994–1996)

Frentzen driving for Sauber at the 1995 British Grand Prix.

In 1994 Frentzen was given a Formula One drive by Peter Sauber in a Mercedes powered car, as team mate to Wendlinger. So impressive was he that Frank Williams asked him to replace Ayrton Senna at Williams after the Brazilian's death, but Frentzen chose to remain with Sauber and his performances helped to maintain the team's momentum after Karl Wendlinger was seriously injured at Monaco. The following year in the now Ford-powered Sauber he got his first podium finish at the Italian Grand Prix and ended the year 9th in the Drivers Championship. However, the 1996 Sauber was unreliable, with many races ending in retirements and Frentzen dropping down the order, though he was one of only four drivers running at the end of that year's chaotic, rain-soaked Monaco Grand Prix. The race was won by Olivier Panis.

Williams (1997–1998)

Frentzen at the 1998 British Grand Prix.

For the 1997 season, Frentzen replaced Damon Hill at the Williams-Renault team that had won the drivers' championship three times since 1992. At the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, Frentzen went into the lead at the first corner and remained there until his first pit stop. He was running third late in the race when a brake disc exploded, throwing him off the circuit and into retirement.[5] He came back strongly in round four to take his first win at San Marino but the season was disappointing; after the family-atmosphere at Sauber Frentzen found life at Williams difficult, in particular having a troubled relationship with Patrick Head. Despite qualifying for many races on the front row he had a tendency to drift back in the race, usually finishing well behind team mate Jacques Villeneuve. However, because of Michael Schumacher's disqualification from the driver's championship Frentzen ended up second in the championship with 42 points to team mate Villeneuve's 81 having scored just a single win to Villeneuve's seven.

The next year Williams lost the Renault engine instead using a rebranded version called Mecachrome, they also lost Adrian Newey to McLaren and found themselves on the back foot. Nevertheless Frentzen started well finishing third in the opening race. However the might of McLaren and Ferrari shone through and it was obvious that Williams would struggle to keep pace.

The Australian Grand Prix was the highlight of Frentzen's year as the Williams lost pace. He ended up with just 17 points for his efforts, his team mate on just four more. Frentzen and Villeneuve were replaced by Alex Zanardi and Ralf Schumacher for 1999.

Jordan (1999–2001) and Prost (2001)

Frentzen driving for Jordan at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix, during his most successful season in F1.

In 1999 Frentzen moved to Jordan in a straight swap with Ralf Schumacher and enjoyed probably the best season of his career in the Mugen-Honda powered car, with two race wins including a memorable French Grand Prix and scoring points in the majority of races. Frentzen finished third in the Driver Championship and was regarded by many as the driver of the year.

Frentzen driving for Arrows at the 2002 French Grand Prix.

2000 and 2001 were critical years as Honda also began to supply the BAR team, resulting in a race between the teams as to who would secure the regular engine supply. In 2000 Frentzen managed two podiums, which were the best results for the team, but Jordan still finished down the grid and, crucially, behind BAR. After some low points finishes, injury, disagreements about the technical direction of the team (Frentzen reportedly offered to pay for the changes to fix the car, out of his own pocket) and then a string of retirements half way through the 2001 season, Jordan sacked Frentzen and replaced him with Jean Alesi. Frentzen took Alesi's place at the struggling Prost team, and managed to qualify a brilliant fourth at Spa, before the outfit collapsed financially at the end of the season.

Arrows (2002) and Sauber (2003)

Frentzen driving for Sauber at the 2003 French Grand Prix.

2002 saw Frentzen drive for the Arrows team. He put in some impressive performances, scoring points on two occasions and outpacing both the Jaguars who ran the same engine. But the team went bankrupt in August and Frentzen was released from his contract. Back with Sauber for 2003, after a one-off drive replacing Felipe Massa at the 2002 United States Grand Prix, Frentzen managed a mini-renaissance, proving himself more than a match for his highly rated team mate Nick Heidfeld and even scoring a podium finish in the penultimate race of the year in the United States.

DTM

Frentzen driving for Audi (Abt) in the 2006 DTM season.

For 2004, Frentzen moved to the German Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters saloon car series to drive for Opel, encouraged by the success achieved in the series by fellow F1 refugee Jean Alesi. Unfortunately his Opel Vectra was not a competitive car, and he was regularly outpaced by not only the Audi and Mercedes drivers but also by his Opel teammates, eventually finishing the season 14th in the championship standings. However he remained in the DTM with Opel for the 2005 season and finished the year in 8th as best-placed Opel driver, with his best result a 3rd place from pole position at Brno in the Czech Republic.

After Opel withdrew after the 2005 season, Frentzen joined Audi for 2006. He would finish 3rd at the first race of the season at Hockenheim and again at the 8th race of the season at Barcelona. Frentzen finished the season 7th in the final standings and quit the team stating he had "no support from the team".

Recent activity

HHF Hybrid Concept Car (Gumpert Apollo)

In April 2008, Frentzen drove the Bahrain race in the Speedcar Series of the 2007/2008 season and later on joined the Speedcar Series for the complete 2008/2009 season.

He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Aston Martin Racing driving one of the two factory Aston Martin DBR9s with Karl Wendlinger and Andrea Piccini in the GT1 class. His team finished 4th in class and 16th overall.

Also in 2008, Frentzen built the HHF Hybrid Concept Car which he entered in the 24 Hours Nürburgring with his own Team. The chassis was a bought Gumpert Apollo road car with a 3.3 litre V8 bi-turbo with 520 hp and an electric motor with approximately 136 hp. Frentzen finished the race but was not classified due to two conventional gearbox failures.

In 2011, Frentzen won a special one-off 'ROC Legends' race against Hans-Joachim Stuck, Marc Duez and Stig Blomqvist as part of the 2011 Race of Champions.

In 2012, Frentzen competed in the ADAC GT Masters season with a Callaway Competition Corvette Z06, and returned to the series in 2014 with a HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1990 Eddie Jordan Racing Reynard 90D Mugen DON
Ret		 SIL
Ret		 PAU
Ret		 JER
17		 MNZ
Ret		 PER
5		 HOC
6		 BRH
7		 BIR
Ret		 BUG
Ret		 NOG
DNQ		 18th 3
1991 Vortex Motorsport Lola T91/50 Mugen VAL
Ret		 PAU
Ret		 JER
12		 MUG
6		 PER
5		 HOC
DNQ		 BRH
12		 SPA
5		 BUG
Ret		 NOG
Ret		 14th 5

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1992 Team Nova Lola T92/50 Mugen SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ AUT SUG FUJ FUJ SUZ
6		 FUJ
7		 SUZ
3		 14th 5
1993 Team Nova Lola T93/50 Mugen SUZ
Ret		 FUJ
Ret		 MIN
Ret		 SUZ
8		 SUG
14		 FUJ
2		 SUZ
10		 FUJ
12		 SUZ
5		 9th 8

Complete Formula One results

(key) (races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Pts.
1994 Sauber Mercedes Sauber C13 Mercedes 2175B 3.5 V10 BRA
Ret		 PAC
5		 SMR
7		 MON
DNS		 ESP
Ret		 CAN
Ret		 FRA
4		 GBR
7		 GER
Ret		 HUN
Ret		 BEL
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 POR
Ret		 EUR
6		 JPN
6		 AUS
7		 13th 7
1995 Red Bull Sauber Ford Sauber C14 Ford ECA Zetec-R 3.0 V8 BRA
Ret		 ARG
5		 SMR
6		 ESP
8		 MON
6		 CAN
Ret		 FRA
10		 GBR
6		 GER
Ret		 HUN
5		 BEL
4		 ITA
3		 POR
6		 EUR
Ret		 PAC
7		 JPN
8		 AUS
Ret		 9th 15
1996 Red Bull Sauber Ford Sauber C15 Ford JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10 AUS
8		 BRA
Ret		 ARG
Ret		 EUR
Ret		 SMR
Ret		 MON
4		 ESP
4		 CAN
Ret		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
8		 GER
8		 HUN
Ret		 BEL
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 POR
7		 JPN
6		 12th 7
1997 Rothmans Williams Renault Williams FW19 Renault RS9 3.0 V10 AUS
8		 BRA
9		 ARG
Ret		 SMR
1		 MON
Ret		 ESP
8		 CAN
4		 FRA
2		 GBR
Ret		 GER
Ret		 HUN
Ret		 BEL
3		 ITA
3		 AUT
3		 LUX
3		 JPN
2		 EUR
6		 2nd 42
1998 Winfield Williams Williams FW20 Mecachrome GC37-01 V10 AUS
3		 BRA
5		 ARG
9		 SMR
5		 ESP
8		 MON
Ret		 CAN
Ret		 FRA
15		 GBR
Ret		 AUT
Ret		 GER
9		 HUN
5		 BEL
4		 ITA
7		 LUX
5		 JPN
5		 7th 17
1999 Benson & Hedges Jordan Jordan 199 Mugen Honda MF-301 HD 3.0 V10 AUS
2		 BRA
3		 SMR
Ret		 MON
4		 ESP
Ret		 CAN
11		 FRA
1		 GBR
4		 AUT
4		 GER
3		 HUN
4		 BEL
3		 ITA
1		 EUR
Ret		 MAL
6		 JPN
4		 3rd 54
2000 Benson & Hedges Jordan Jordan EJ10 Mugen Honda MF-301 HD 3.0 V10 AUS
Ret		 BRA
3		 SMR
Ret		 GBR
17		 ESP
6		 EUR
Ret		 MON
10		 CAN
Ret		 FRA
7		 AUT
Ret		 9th 11
Jordan EJ10B Mugen Honda MF-301 HE 3.0 V10 GER
Ret		 HUN
6		 BEL
6		 ITA
Ret		 USA
3		 JPN
Ret		 MAL
Ret
2001 Benson & Hedges Jordan Honda Jordan EJ11 Honda RA001E 3.0 V10 AUS
5		 MAL
4		 BRA
11		 SMR
6		 ESP
Ret		 AUT
Ret		 MON
Ret		 CAN EUR
Ret		 FRA
8		 GBR
7		 GER 13th 6
Prost Acer Prost AP04 Acer 3.0 V10 HUN
Ret		 BEL
9		 ITA
Ret		 USA
10		 JPN
12
2002 Orange Arrows Arrows A23 Cosworth CR-3 3.0 V10 AUS
DSQ		 MAL
11		 BRA
Ret		 SMR
Ret		 ESP
6		 AUT
11		 MON
6		 CAN
13		 EUR
13		 GBR
Ret		 FRA
DNQ		 GER
Ret		 HUN BEL ITA 18th 2
Sauber Petronas Sauber C21 Petronas 02A 3.0 V10 USA
13		 JPN
2003 Sauber Petronas Sauber C22 Petronas 03A 3.0 V10 AUS
6		 MAL
9		 BRA
5		 SMR
11		 ESP
Ret		 AUT
DNS		 MON
Ret		 CAN
Ret		 EUR
9		 FRA
12		 GBR
12		 GER
Ret		 HUN
Ret		 ITA
13		 USA
3		 JPN
Ret		 11th 13

Complete DTM results

(key)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Points
2004 OPC Team Holzer Opel Vectra GTS V8 2004 HOC
11		 EST
12		 ADR
12		 LAU
Ret		 NOR
Ret		 SHA
7‡		 NÜR
Ret		 OSC
14		 ZAN
Ret		 BRN
6		 HOC
12		 14th 3
2005 OPC Team Holzer Opel Vectra GTS V8 2005 HOC
Ret		 LAU
14		 SPA
15		 BRN
3		 OSC
14		 NOR
6		 NÜR
12		 ZAN
3		 LAU
7		 IST
Ret		 HOC
18		 8th 17
2006 Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2006 HOC
3		 LAU
13		 OSC
4		 BRA
17		 NOR
11		 NÜR
6		 ZAN
5		 CAT
3		 BUG
10		 HOC
14		 7th 24

‡ A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of Shanghai, China.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1992 Netherlands Euro Racing Netherlands Charles Zwolsman, Sr.
Japan Shunji Kasuya		 Lola T92/10-Judd C1 271 13th 6th
2008 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Italy Andrea Piccini
Austria Karl Wendlinger		 Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 339 16th 4th

References

  1. ↑ von Lorentz, Frank (4 April 2004). "Ein Mädchen gibt Vollgas" [A girl goes full throttle] (in German). Die Welt. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Frentzen: The man behind the wheel". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 25 July 2001. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Phillips, Sean (10 December 2013). "The 1983 CIK Asia Pacific Championships". KartSportNews.com. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Вице Чемпионы формулы 1: Хайнц-Харальд Френтцен [Vice champion of Formula 1: Heinz-Harald Frentzen] (in Russian). avtosport.com. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Grand Prix Results: Australia 1997 Grandprix.com Retrieved 13 May 2010

External links

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