Unoff. HHF Fan Site: HHF News Archive 1998

Sun, 01-Nov-1998

After taking the fifth position in the qualifying session Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a perfect start into the race. He could overtake Irvine and Coulthard and held the third position until the first pitstop. But during the pitstop service something went wrong and he lost the third position to Coulthard. Frentzen said that for most part of the race he was battling with someone, first it was Coulthard in the first 18 laps of the race and then he had to face Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve for the remainder of the laps. Frentzen explained why he considers the race on Sunday as one of the toughest he had drove so far: «On the first lap, I lost my power steering, which made the car tougher to drive than if it had normal steering - it was like driving a truck around the circuit. I was driving every lap as if I was qualifying». Unfortunately the problem persisted after being reset during his first pit stop, and this was the reason why he lost out on fourth place overall to Damon Hill when Hill passed him in the closing stages of the race. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished the Japanese GP in fifth position and this enabled him to gain two places in the world championship to finish seventh, equal on points with Alexander Wurz. Mika Hakkinen claimed his first Formula One title on Sunday after rival Michael Schumacher was forced out the Japanese Grand Prix when the right rear tyre exploded on his Ferrari. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 27-Sep-1998

It was a good race start without the mess in the first corner as last year. Heinz-Harald Frentzen maintained his 7th position but had to defend it against Ralf Schumacher during the first laps. His first pitstop brought him in front of both Benetton drivers who had been on position 5 and 6. So HHF had to keep his 5th position. Once Fisichella overtook him, but then he made a mistake and Frentzen could catch him. As the Goodyear tyre went worse he had to struggle to keep both Benettons behind and he finished on 5th position finally. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 26-Sep-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen's qualifying time was just about 1 second slower than Michael Schumacher's pole position time. But HHF was 7th on the starting grid after the session. Jacques Villeneuve was 9th fastest. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 25-Sep-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was 8th fastest of the free practice sessions for the Grand Prix of Luxembourg at the Nürburgring track. His teammate Jacques Villeneuve was 3rd fastest. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 13-Sep-1998

The race was very difficult for Heinz-Harald Frentzen who almost failed to finish the race. He explained: «I missed my pit signals and board so ran out of fuel just after Ascari but managed to reach my pit. This, plus having to re-start the engine, cost me too much time. The brake wear was high in the race so I had to drive accordingly in the closing stages, which probably cost me a championship point.» Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished on 7th position behind Damon Hill. His team mate Jacques Villeneuve who had started from 2nd position made a mistake and spun off. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 12-Sep-1998

In the qualifying session a long time no car showed up on the track. In the closing stages of the session all 22 cars were on the track. So Heinz-Harald Frentzen could not find a clear lap and ended up 12th on the grid although he had been on 2nd position for a long time. But the times were really close. Villeneuve had more luck and was 2nd behind Michael Schumacher and in front of both McLaren drivers. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 11-Sep-1998

Former world champion Damon Hill was stunned when the Jordan Team announced that Heinz-Harald Frentzen will drive for them next season. He said, «At first I was surprised by the news about Harald. But I now think it's a smart move». Hill explains: «I fully expected Eddie to take a driver who would be new to Formula One or a younger driver». «We've now got two drivers who have won grand prix's, guys with experience who can bring home the points and boost the constructors' chances for the team», said Hill. Hill added, «But I don't want people thinking Jordan is a retirement home for ex-Williams drivers!» Team owner Eddie Jordan made it clear on Thursday that Jordan is not a kindergarten anymore. He said, «Unless you have institutional money behind you, you will be delayed, and the fact is that I don't want this team to be regarded as a kindergarten anymore». Heinz-Harald Frentzen looked almost sure not to find a drive for the 1999 season at a certain stage, but on Thursday the official announcement was made of his contract with the Jordan team for next year. Jordan has shown a visible improvement during the last few races and they also have additional improvements in the pipeline for the 1999 season. With this in mind it is not difficult to understand Frentzen's enthusiasm about driving for the Jordan team next year. For Frentzen the move from Williams to Jordan can be viewed as extremely smart, in light of the fact that Williams will have to make do without their new BMW engines for the 1999 season. It is speculated that they won't be that competitive during the 1999 season because of this. Jordan on the other hand are gearing up and getting better as time goes on and it might just be that Frentzen's timing was perfect for joining the team. Frentzen said the following about next season: «From my point of view, I believe the Jordan team is a team of the future. I especially like their power, they have good engineers and they have great support from Mugen-Honda. It's a very good combination. I don't want to make any rash promises but I think we are going to be a good, strong team next year.» Besides the transfer news today both free practice sessions for the Italian GP were held at Monza. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was sixth fastest before the rain started with team mate Jacques Villeneuve being on 3rd position. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 10-Sep-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen has signed a 1-year-contract with the British Jordan Formula One Team for 1999. There is an option for the year 2000. His team mate will be Damon Hill - again. In 1990 HHF and Damon Hill has been team mates already - in the European Formula 3000 Championship. But only for some races. Then Frentzen changed to the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship. Besides - the European F3000 team's name was Jordan. So Williams will change both drivers at the same time. It will be interesting to watch their performance next year.

Sun, 30-Aug-1998

What a race! What a mess! It started with a collision between 13 cars initiated presumably by Eddie Irvine who touched Coulthard's McLaren. After Coulthard's resulting spin all following cars crashed into each other.At his rainy conditions no one could see anything. After nearly one hour the restart was better but leaving Mika Hakkinen who tangled with Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in a destroyed McLaren. After a safety car phase another start was initiated. Heinz-Harald Frentzen fought with Jean Alesi for 4th position. But he had a difficult car and had to fight all the race with severe oversteer. One time he nearly lost it but could recover from a snapping rear end. After Michael Schumacher crashed his Ferrari into Coulthard's McLaren there was another safety car phase. Another restart was made with Damon Hill leading. Frentzen could not maintain the pace behind Alesi and had to settle for fourth position in the end. Villeneuve had lost his car in the middle of the race. If the Williams management only had decided to leave HHF his new rear suspension parts and not give it to Villeneuve who clearly is not such a good driver in the rain as HHF. The Jordan-Team celebrated its first GP victory with Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher in a one-two-row. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 29-Aug-1998

The qualifying brought a bad surprise for Heinz-Harald Frentzen: He only qualified on 9th although he was just 0.5 seconds slower than his teammate Jacques Villeneuve who was 6th. Two reasons for HHF why he could not perform better. First: Takagi spoiled his last fastest flying lap in the closing stages of the qualifying. Second: After Villeneuve had crashed his car yesterday there was only one set of the new rear suspension left. This was built in HHF's car but the Williams management decided to give it to Villeneuve. So Frentzen had to cope with a oversteering car. A lot of work especially in high speed corners like the circuit at Spa has. A formerly good team like Williams should have the possibility to built more than two sets of new parts. This sounds more like Minardi or Tyrrell which do not have these resources. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 28-Aug-1998

Today the free practice sessions for the GP of Belgium at Spa-Franchorchamps were held. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fifth fastest in the closing stages of the second free practice session. His teammate Jacques Villeneuve was lucky to escape unhurt from a high speed crash (270 kph) in Eau Rouge section. His comment: « The best crash I ever had in F1». The doctors presented the official result of the researches for Heinz-Harald Frentzen's illness at the Hungarian Grand Prix: it was not an gastric influenza but it was a bacteria infection (salmonellas) which is even worse. ->GP Timetable

Tue, 18-Aug-1998

The doctors did some checks on Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Vienna hospital. They found out that he suffers from a gastric influenza. He must have had virusses in his food. HHF is still weak but it is expected he can leave the hospital at Wednesday afternoon. By the way: despite of his complaints he drove the third fastest race lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Faster than both McLaren drivers.

Sun, 16-Aug-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen showed a good performance during the race given the fact that he suffered still by a virus infection. Fortunately the fever he has had yesterday had vanished over night. But he still was weak and it was a hard race with hot weather conditions. But after a dramatic race which was won by Michael Schumacher he could secure a fine 5th position. A long time he could go the pace of his team mate Jacques Villeneuve who was third at the end. Just a few hours after finishing fifth in the Hungarian Grand Prix, Heinz Harald Frentzen was flown to a hospital in Vienna, where he will stay the night. HHF suffered all weekend from a severe food poisoning, and was unable to eat and drink properly. He had high fever and needed fluid infusions last night in order to drive today. Today, after the race, he said he felt OK, but seemed very pale and dehydrated. FIA's doctor, Prof. Sid Watkins, ran checks on Frentzen, only to decide his must be hospitalized at once. Frentzen, however, had troubles holding himself, let alone walking, and was taken by an ambulace from the Williams garage to an awaiting helicopter, which took him to his private jet in the Budapest airport. From there, he was flown to Vienna. «We want him in hospital tonight, to see exactly what the problem is and have him somewhere he can start to recover as quickly as possible» Frentzen's spokesman Andreas Richter said. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 15-Aug-1998

Although Heinz-Harald Frentzen still suffered by a virus infection resulting in sickness and stomach problems he could qualify on 7th position one position behind Villeneuve. Both ran on the harder tyre compound. During the free practice session Heinz-Harald Frentzen had to retire because of his illness. No good prospects for Sunday. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 14-Aug-1998

Weakened by a virus infection Heinz-Harald Frentzen was 9th fastest during the free practice sessions for the Hungarian GP. Jacques Villeneuve was 4th fastest. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 02-Aug-1998

Hockenheim is not a good place for Heinz-Harald Frentzen despite it is his home Grand Prix. He had a good start and could nearly overtake Michael Schumacher. But the race setup of his car was not the right one. After 45 laps fighting with more with his car instead with his opponents HHF finished on 9th position. Jacques Villeneuve who had set up his car with very hard springs had a comeback and secured the 3rd position after getting closer to both leading McLaren drivers during the last few laps of the race. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 01-Aug-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a terrible qualifying session. He did not find the appropriate setup for his car. So he had to be content with tenth position on the grid beaten by his team mate Jacques Villeneuve who was 1.1 seconds faster than him. He could secure 3rd position on the grid. But even Michael Schumacher had problems. He qualified just one position in front of HHF. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 31-Jul-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was eighth when the second free practice session for the German GP at Hockenheim was finished. His team mate Jacques Villeneuve was seventh fastest. Nearly all Goodyear runners were within the top ten. Both McLaren drivers on their Bridgestone tyres were fastest. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 26-Jul-1998

No luck for Heinz-Harald Frentzen in his 75th GP anniversary. His Mecachrome engine decided to blow up and left him alone. At this time he laid on 6th position. Jacques Villeneuve once more had more luck and inherited 1 point for 6th position. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 25-Jul-1998

What a crazy qualifying session: Due to heavy rain no one was on the track during the first half hour of the session. When the rain was lighter all drivers came out with wet tyres. Towards the end of the session the track was drying up slowly and a lot of drivers decided to go out on intermediates. In these chaotic circumstances Heinz-Harald Frentzen was seventh fastest but nearly 2 seconds away from Fisichella's pole position time. Villeneuve was 11th fastest only due to a spin ->GP Timetable

Fri, 24-Jul-1998

At the free practice sessions for the GP of Austria at Spielberg both Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve complained about massive understeer of the car. Villeneuve was 13th fastest and Frentzen fell back on 17th position after he had a spin in the second part of the free practice sessions. On Thursday it was made official: Villeneuve will leave Williams and will go to the new BAR Team in 1999. That leaves the question about Heinz-Harald Frentzen's future. It is said that Frank Williams offered him for the next season half the money HHF earns this season. If Frentzen accepts he can drive for the Team next year. Frank Williams said «Heinz-Harald is as much talented as all my other drivers with the exception of Senna but he does not make use of it». It is reported that HHF has some talks with Sauber and Prost and has contacted some CART-Teams in the USA just to check out different possibilities for his future. Further there are reports that Williams has a lack of financial backing after Renault officially drew back and therefore has to save money. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 12-Jul-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a good start from 6th position given the fact that both Williams driver were overtaken by Alesi. Due to the wet track most of the drivers had started on intermediate tyres. Irvine lost a lot of positions and so Frentzen came out of lap 1 on 6th position behind Villeneuve who had a pretty bad start. After some laps it was clearly to see that HHF was faster than Villeneuve. Soon he could overtake him and went up to 5th position. In lap 14 Irvine overtook Frentzen after he had passed Villeneuve some laps ago. The Ferrari had an obvious advantage over the Williams given the fact how good Irvine could overtake both Williams drivers. When Frentzen tried to follow Irvine he made a mistake and lost grip spinning out in the gravel trap. There his race ended. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 11-Jul-1998

After being long time third fastest in the qualifiying session Heinz-Harald Frentzen had to be content with 6th position on the starting grid. Villeneuve was third behind Hakkinen and M. Schumacher. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 10-Jul-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen showed a good performance during the free practice sessions of the Siverstone GP. With ea fresh set of tyres he was third fastest behind both McLaren drivers. Villeneuve was forth fastest. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 28-Jun-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen's start was pretty good. He could gain some positions. But then the race was stopped because Verstappen had stalled his engine. HHF's restart was pretty bad and he lost some positions. He was on 12th position in lap 2. But during the race he came to position 8. When his first pitstop came he told his mechanics to give him a steeper angle for his front wing. But in the end he had to retire with a front suspension problem with 3 laps to go. Villeneuve could secure 3 championship points with a fourth rank in the end. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 27-Jun-1998

In the qualifying session on Saturday Heinz-Harald Frentzen managed to be 8th fastest only. He said he had made a mistake setting up his car the wrong way. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 26-Jun-1998

On Thursday Heinz-Harald Frentzen returned to Magny-Cours where he has had a severe accident while testing last week. He had a stiff neck as one of the results of the accident but he said it would not bother him much. In the free practice sessions on Friday HHF was 4th fastest. ->GP Timetable

Tue, 23-Jun-1998

Doctors gave Heinz-Harald Frentzen the green light on Monday to race in Sunday's French grand prix. Frentzen said he was relieved to hear the news. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was not knocked unconscious after his Williams hit a tire barrier at more than 200 km/h. This was just a rumour. He was lifted out of his badly damaged car and taken to hospital in nearby Nevers. Sources said on Monday that he is working hard with his Fitness manager Erwin Goellner, to build up his strength. It was reported that he would fly to Monaco on Tuesday where he will rest until Thursday, when he is scheduled to fly to France. Frentzen's accident on Friday might have been caused by a faulty steering wheel, said a Williams technician on Monday. Sources believe the steering wheel problem could be the same as the one that occurred on Senna's car in 1994. The team said the car would be examined at their factory in England, where they hope to find the reason for the failure.

Fri, 19-Jun-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was rushed to a hospital in Nevers today after being knocked unconscious in a major crash with the tyre barrier after sliding at 200mph at tests in Magny-Cours. Under not known circumstances HHF went straightwards through a chicane and spun in a tyre wall in front of a concrete wall. The track stewards pulled him out of his wrecked Williams and he was rushed immediately to the hospital. Medical check ups revealed Frentzen had no internal injuries, but after regaining conciousness he complained about neck and back aches, and was therefore hospitalized for overnight checks. In a different incident, which occured shortly before HHF crashed his Williams, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher also spun his car and hit a tyre barrier. Earlier reports, coming from a local French news agency, as if Schumacher and Frentzen had actually crashed into eachother, turned out to be false and aparently a result of misunderstanding. The Williams Team had conducted tests the whole week. ->Test-times

Wed, 10-Jun-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen again showed the raising performance of the Williams car. At the end of the partially wet test session he was on the top of the list leaving Coulthard behind. ->Test-times

Tue, 09-Jun-1998

The Williams-Team went to Silverstone for testing. Heinz-Harald Frentzen conducted the tests with the new Mecachrome engine specification to be used at French GP at Magny-Cours. He was second fastest behind Coulthard. ->Test-times

Sun, 07-Jun-1998

What a desastrous GP: First a start with a flying Alexander Wurz then a restart with a spinning Ralf Schumacher. Three safety car situations and a lot of damaged cars. Heinz-Harald Frentzen had two good starts. After 10 laps he was clearly faster than Villeneuve who was in front of him. But then during the third safety car situation the unbelievable happened. Michael Schumacher who had his first pitstop came out of the pits and immediately joined the race line of the track. Heinz-Harald Frentzen who came on the race line with about 280 kph had no place left and had to step aside on the dirt forcing his car into a spin. Typically Frentzen: while spinning he told Schumacher with his fist what he thought about this move. Heinz-Harald Frentzen had to retire. He could have been on the podium after the GP. Schumacher got a 10-second-penalty for pushing Frentzen off the track. The official protest made by the Williams Team was rejected three hours after the race. After the race Schumacher excused himself to Frentzen and said he had not seen him but this did not help HHF very much. A good driver like Schumacher should always be aware of such a situation when leaving the pits the way he did. If only someone could teach Michael Schumacher how to behave on the track. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 06-Jun-1998

The qualifying session was held under cool conditions. All drivers were not content with the grip level of their tyres at these cool weather conditions. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was 7th fastest outpaced by his team mate Villeneuve who seems to show better performances when using a better car. Heinz-Harald Frentzen can handle even with a bad car as seen in the qualifying session at Monaco. HHF had to use the spare car for the last 4 laps because his car had a damage at the ball bearing of a wheel. The spare car was set up for Villeneuve. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 05-Jun-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a quite good beginning at the first practice session for the Canadian GP. He was sixth fastest of the day. The Williams Team brought the car with the revised rear end to Montreal. The car seems to be more stable than before, especially when exiting the corners. Frentzen and Villeneuve were more confident than before. ->GP Timetable

Wed, 27-May-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen says the new rear end will steer the Williams Team in the right direction. «In Canada we'll have a car with a totally reworked rear end. I spend a day with Geoff Willis, our aerodynamically technician, and I think we are really in the good direction.» He admitted that it would be great to start from the front row again. The result of the changes will only be known under race conditions. «But we'll only know in Montreal how close we'll be to McLaren,» said Frentzen.

Sun, 24-May-1998

After the start the race ended in an early stage for Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Eddie 'Mad Dog' Irvine tried to overtake him in the Loews Corner and took him out. HHF's car ended in the rail guards. Mika Hakkinen won the race and Villeneuve could secure 2 points for the Williams Team. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 23-May-1998

Good effort by Heinz-Harald Frentzen: he qualified for 5th position on the starting grid for Sunday's race at Monaco. As this is a track where counts primarily he could prove his driving skills even with his mediocre Williams FW20. He was just 0.03 seconds slower than Michael Schumacher but more than 1.7 seconds faster than Jacques Villeneuve in the second Williams. Frentzen decided to use he softer Goodyear tyre compound. Most of the Goodyear drivers took the harder option. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 21-May-1998

Traditionally the first two practice sessions for the Grand Prix at Monaco were held on Thursday. On a mainly dry track Heinz-Harald Frentzen proved to be a insider at Monaco (where he lives) and was fourth fastest of the day. He was fastest of all Goodyear runners behind the Bridgestone drivers Hakkinen, Fisichella and Coulthart. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 10-May-1998

This was definitely not the weekend of the Williams Team. After the start from position 13 Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Williams and Jean Alesi's Sauber touched and Frentzen was forced into a spin damaging his car's nose. After a pitstop for changing the front wing HHF had to rejoin the race on position 20 nearly 1 lap behind the leader Mika Hakkinen. HHF gained position after position getting him to rank 13 in the middle of the race. Damon Hill attacked Frentzen which was not seen on TV and made a mistake sliding into the gravel trap. Heinz-Harald Frentzen said he only « saw a yellow thing behind me heading for the sandbox, sorry, the gravel trap ». Ten laps before the race finish HHF could close the gap to Ralf Schumacher and Jean Alesi fighting for position 9. But he could not overtake until lap 63 (out of 65). On the start-finish-straight he could come close to Ralf Schumacher « and had so much speed that I could not brake before I reached Jean Alesi» HHF explained. So he passed both cars at the end of the straight. In the last lap he overtook Trulli gaining 8th rank at the end. All this was also not shown on TV HHF's team mate Jacques Villeneuve finished the race on 6th position lapped by winner Mika Hakkinen. Williams definitely has a lot of work to do. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 09-May-1998

Big disappointment for Heinz-Harald Frentzen: after being 10th fastest in the free practice sessions he only could qualify for 13th position and has to start from row 7 on Sunday. Jacques Villeneuve found some improvement and qualified on 10th position. The last two days he had been slower than Frentzen. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 08-May-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was sixth fastest on Friday during the free practice sessions for the GP of Spain. Both McLaren drivers topped the timetable. Williams will not use the new back end for the car as some of the parts are not finished yet. The parts they used during the tests are said to be not stable enough for a race distance. ->GP Timetable

Wed, 29-Apr-1998

Today there were 19 drivers testing at the Barcelona circuit. Once more both McLaren drivers were fastest. Heinz-Harald Frentzen clocked the sixth fastest lap with his improved Williams. The FW20 was fitted with the rear end of last year's FW19. It is said that last year's rear suspension works better than this year's construction. Meanwhile Williams admitted that they did not give their drivers a winner car this season according to rumours. Tomorrow Villeneuve will conduct further tests. ->Test-times

Tue, 28-Apr-1998

The race before the race at Spain: Eight teams met on Barcelona track to test their cars before the race there next week. Both McLaren drivers set the pace. Heinz-Harald Frentzen doing his testing job there too was sixth fastest. All cars equipped with Bridgestone tyres were faster than these running on Goodyear tyres. ->Test-times

Sun, 26-Apr-1998

During Sunday's race Heinz-Harald Frentzen had some problems with his car. After a good start which took him from 8th to 6th position he examined another problem with the car balance. There was too much oversteer and in the television one could see HHF fighting with the car. Fisichella attacked HHF over several laps but made a mistake and spun off right behind him. Jean Alesi, who followed Frentzen, could overtake him during their first pitstops but after the second pitstop HHF reversed the situation. Frentzen could save 2 championship points with a 5th position but about 20 seconds behind Jacques Villeneuve who was 4th. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 25-Apr-1998

In Saturday's free practice session Heinz-Harald Frentzen was 7th fastest. The Williams FW20 has a problem with the rear axes and both Frentzen and Villeneuve admitted that they are at the limit with what the the car performance. In the qualifying session HHF was 8th fastest and this time was beaten with about 0.25 seconds by Villeneuve who was 6th fastest. Again Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fined for speeding in the pitlane. As it was the fourth time this season he had to pay 2250 US-Dollars. Heinz-Harald Frentzen's official homepage at www.frentzen.de was revealed to the public at Saturday afternoon. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 24-Apr-1998

When the second free practice session for the Imola GP was over Heinz-Harald Frentzen had not driven a lot of laps. He tried to conduct a long run to see how the brakes would be stressed on this circuit but after several laps a oil tube fitting had a breakdown and HHF had to park the car at the side of the track. So he was 10th fastest in the end. On HHF's official homepage at www.frentzen.de there is now an intro but the site is not open yet. It will be opened after tomorrow's qualifying session. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 18-Apr-1998

On his second day of testing Heinz-Harald Frentzen drove 140 laps - twica a race distance. ->Test-times

Fri, 17-Apr-1998

The Williams Team tested at Jerez some new Goodyear tyres adapted for the Williams car. On Friday Heinz-Harald Frentzen took over from Villeneuve who had tested on Wednesday and Thursday. ->Test-times

Sun, 12-Apr-1998

Not a good weekend for Heinz-Harald Frentzen. After the race stewards damaged his front wing when controlling his car the Williams team lost time repairing the wing. It was the only one of its kind. The race start was very promising for HHF. He had pretty good start and nearly overtook Michael Schumacher at the end of start-finish-line. He came out of lap 1 on 4th position. But then he was overtaken by several drivers due to a massive problem with the car balance. A part of the front wing was broken and fell apart. Frentzen felt back on position 7. There was only one pitstop planned and HHF went in very late. But then his car suffered by a gearbox problem and the stop lasted nearly 30 seconds. After some laps he had to go into the pits because he had exceeded the speed in the pitlane after his pitstop. After all these problems Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished the race on 9th position. His team-mate Villeneuve eliminated himself out of the race after touching Coulthards McLaren. Michael Schumacher won the race. Villeneuve said that the new Goodyear tyres were developped for the Ferrari but not for the Williams. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 11-Apr-1998

In the free practice sessions on Saturday Heinz-Harald Frentzen was third fastest behind Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was not content with the way his car behaved. Due to the new wider Goodyear front tyres the Williams Team had to change the front suspension and HHF examined a severe understeer during the practice sessions. During the qualifying session he could gain sixth position on the starting grid and he could beat his team mate Jacques Villeneuve who qualified on 7th position. David Coulthard took the pole position followed by Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. The Ferrari seems to be better now than the Williams because Irvine qualified on 4th position. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 10-Apr-1998

Williams brought a new car with a shorter wheelbase to Argentina. The car is designed for tracks with a lot of corners like the circuit in Buenos Aires. In the practice sessions on Friday on the partially wet track Heinz-Harald Frentzen was eighth fastest. In the second session he had a crash with Argentinean driver Esteban Tuero. When Tuero braked to early and HHF braked too late he ran into Tuero's car destroying the nose and the suspension of his Williams. After that the session was over for Frentzen. The betting odds for Heinz-Harald Frentzen for winning the Argentinean GP are better for the first time than the odds for Jacques Villeneuve. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 02-Apr-1998

On his second and last day of testing Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fastest with about 0.2 seconds better than Schumacher. Williams test driver Max Wilson will take over on Friday for further tests. Sources said that it is questionable that the new Goodyear tyres will close the gap to McLaren as McLaren is to be said of having special Bridgestone tyres which have another construction than these the other teams use. ->Test-times

Wed, 01-Apr-1998

Williams, Ferrari and Jordan did some testing at the Barcelona circuit. Williams and Ferrari tested the new Goodyear front tyres which are broader and bigger. It is said that the new tyres are worth about 0.7 seconds a lap. Heinz-Harald Frentzen did the testing job for the Williams Team as Villeneuve is enjoying some holidays at Brazil. Villeneuve had criticised his Williams Team for doing a bad job (in his opinion) during the race weekend. HHF therefore decided to conduct the tests with the new tyres. He was second fastest behind Michael Schumacher. ->Test-times

Sun, 29-Mar-1998

There was a good start of the race after no one caused a mess in the first corner like in the last year. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was third behind the both McLarens. He could not follow them as the rest of the field. Michael Schumacher had a bad start from position 4 but soon caught up behind Frentzen. Schumacher went first into the pits for an early stop. Meanwhile HHF got stuck behind Pedro Diniz and could not perform a fast lap before he pitted next to Schumacher. So Schumacher was in front when HHF came out of the pits. But Frentzen soon showed up behind Michael Schumacher. When Heinz-Harald Frentzen had his second stop Schumacher followed after the next lap. HHF had gone in front of Schumacher but unfortunately he was overtaken by Benetton driver Alexander Wurz at the end of the start-finish-straight. This outbrake manouevre both costed time so Schumacher could slip out of the pitlane in front of them. During the last third of the race Heinz-Harald Frentzens car suffered from a problem at the rear axis or from the mechanical setup there so he was unable to follow Wurz and Schumacher. The power steering did not work too. Williams will examine the car. In the end HHF had position 5 and Schumacher position 3. Hakkinen won the race. HHF's team mate Villeneuve was outside the top six all the time and finished on 7th position. Again Frentzen has beaten Villeneuve. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 28-Mar-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fastest in the free practice sessions - after the two McLaren drivers who played in their own league. Again he was faster than team mate Villeneuve who crashed his Williams during the 2nd session. After the official protest from Ferrari, Sauber, Benetton, Minardi and Tyrrell the extra brake systems used by McLaren, Williams and Jordan were declared illegal by the race stewards because they were used as a four-wheel-steering device coupled with the steering wheel instead of being used as a brake. In the qualifying session HHF outpaced Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher. He was 3rd on the grid behind Hakkinen and Coulthard. And more important for his self-consciousness: he beat Villeneuve with about 0.6 seconds. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 27-Mar-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen ended the free practice sessions for the Brasilian GP on Friday on 7th position. He was faster than Villeneuve who was 10th. McLaren, Williams and Jordan were not allowed to use their extra brake systems during the sessions but nevertheless both McLaren drivers dominated the sessions. ->GP Timetable

Tue, 10-Mar-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen's official homepage will go online before the Imola GP. It will be found at the address www.frentzen.de.

Sun, 08-Mar-1998

After the McLaren drivers have been so dominating all the weekend they earned what they deserved. It was a double triumph for Hakkinen and Coulthard in the GP at Melbourne. Heinz-Harald Frentzen could not go the pace of the McLarens with his heavy fuel load but he made the best out of his situation after he had to start from 6th position. When most of the competitors were out on a two pitstop strategy he had only one. He did a tactical masterpiece when he spared his tyres and his fuel to come in late in the race for his only pitstop. Just behind him Irvine came in who had the same strategy. But after his pitstop Heinz-Harald Frentzen came out on 3rd position and he stayed there until he crossed the finish line. The effect of his strategy was that he finished better than his team mate Villeneuve who finished on 5th position. That was a really good performance of HHF when thinking over the fact that no one could go the pace of the McLaren drivers who lapped all their competitors. By the way Frentzen won his bet with Villeneuve. He bet that the McLaren drivers would lap all others. Villeneuve did not believe that. It is not known what Villeneuve had to pay for losing this bet. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 07-Mar-1998

In the free practice sessions on Saturday all teams could work on their car setups finally. Laptimes were mostly 4 seconds faster than yesterday. Fastest was David Coulthard followed by Jacques Villeneuve, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was 6th. During the qualifying it was pretty cool and little bit cloudy. Mika Hakkinen got the pole position in front of Coulthart. The McLaren Team chose the softer Bridgstone tyre compound. The Williams Team chose the harder Goodyear tyre compound and both drivers had a hard time to get good results. Heinz-Harald Frentzen qualified on 6th position beaten by Jacques Villeneuve just a minute before end of the session, who qualified 4th behind Michael Schumacher. Due to the low track-temperatures the teams with the softer tyre compound had a clear advantage. Frentzen expressed his disappointment of being qualified behind his team mate. He said he had performed better if he had driven all his best times of each sector in one single lap. He had lost time in the tird sector. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 06-Mar-1998

The first day of the new Formula One season was a little bit disturbing. After the 2nd practice session on Friday at Melbourne the laptimes were confusing. Due to changeable weather conditions no one can judge about the reached laptimes. Michael Schumacher set the fastest laptime. Second Hakkinen, third Villeneuve. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was tenth. Due to some rain on the circuit these laptimes represent not the real situation of the teams. ->GP Timetable

Mon, 23-Feb-1998

The Williams Team returned to Barcelona to continue the testing. Heinz-Harald Frentzen now had his own car he will use during the season. The car was just finished. Frentzen's fastest laptime was 2 seconds slower than Hakkinen's track record last week. ->Test-times

Mon, 16-Feb-1998

Again Heinz-Harald Frentzen was faster than Villeneuve in Le Castellet. He set the new track record. ->Test-times

Sun, 15-Feb-1998

Frentzen and Villeneuve tested once more at Le Castellet. Frentzen was faster. ->Test-times

Fri, 13-Feb-1998

The Williams Team performed tests in Le Castellet all the week. They want to know how the car behaves on a different track. Today Heinz-Harald Frentzen drove 44 laps and was abaout 1 second slower than Villeneuve who did 71 laps. ->Test-times

Fri, 06-Feb-1998

Frentzen makes the cow fly - again! Today Heinz-Harald Frentzen was even faster than yesterday - another second. Despite the fact that Fisichella was faster than yesterday too there was nearly a second between them. ->Test-times

Thu, 05-Feb-1998

Frentzen makes the cow fly! Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fastest in Barcelona on his second day of testing. He was half a second faster than Fisichella in the Benetton. ->Test-times

Wed, 04-Feb-1998

Today Heinz-Harald Frentzen had the chance to test the new Williams FW20 for the first time. The track at Barcelona was wet and it was rainy. But Frentzen was in his element. Known as a excellent driver in the rain he was nearly as fast as both McLaren drivers Coulthard and Hakkinen with their 1997 type car. Frentzen drove 71 laps and it seems he already has gotten comfortable with the car. ->Test-times

Tue, 03-Feb-1998

After Heinz-Harald Frentzen's race engineer Tim Preston left the Williams Team and went to Sauber Frentzen gets a new engineer. The new man is Craig Wilson. He worked as race engineer for the Tyrrell Team during the last years. The tests in Barcelona have begun. Villeneuve will test in the first days. Later on Frentzen will take over from him.

Wed, 28-Jan-1998

The new Williams FW20 was presented at Silversone by the Williams Team. Both Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve stated that they want to become world-champion this year. Villeneuve sees Frentzen as his main rival for the championship because both have the same car and the same crew working for them. He said that Frentzen should be as competitive as he was at the end of the 1997 season. He added that last season Frentzen did not start very well but then he picked it up and was very strong at the end of the season. Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the covers off the impressive new FW20 in a garage at Silverstone. The car carried a number one for the first time in 15 years, since Keke Rosberg defended his 1982 title. Since then a series of champions have taken the title for Williams and then departed.

Wed, 21-Jan-1998

On Tuesday and Wednesday Heinz-Harald Frentzen conducted tests in Barcelona. On both days he was fastest of all drivers but he drove last year's Williams FW19 with 1998 tyres. Villeneuve tested the 1998 prototype. The new car is scheduled to be released on January 29th. ->Test-times

Sun, 18-Jan-1998

Today I saw Heinz-Harald Frentzen at the CMT - the 'Caravan Motor and Tourism Show' - at Stuttgart. I got an autograph from him and I wished him to have a lot of fun this season. He was very busy and I could not talk to him further. He had some interviews and he watched the slotcar championship finals. He is a funny guy and you could see that it is not his thing to stand on a stage in the public. HHF does not like to be a star.

Wed, 14-Jan-1998

Heinz-Harald Frentzen did some testing with the old car at Jerez. He was scheduled to have more testing in the beginning of this week but he had a severe flu.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen: News Archive 1998