After a one-two finish for Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher at
the Malaysian Grand Prix Ferrari thought it had the Formula One
World Championships for Drivers and Constructors within its sights.
With only one race remaining, Irvine lays four points ahead of
Hakkinen, with the Italian team four points clear in the
Constructors Championship fight. Before the cars left the circuit
for the journey to Japan for the final race on 31 October, the
Ferrari cars were disqualified due to a technical infringement.
Ferrari have appealed and this hearing is due to take place in Paris
within the next few days. If the result stands as Mika Hakkinen as
the race winner he will become the Formula One World Championship
for the second year running. Heinz-Harald Frentzen will also move
from sixth to fourth in the final race standings.
Today also brought tremendous satisfaction for the Jordan team,
Heinz-Harald Frentzen driving brilliantly from 14th place on the
grid to take one Championship point for 6th (possibly three points
for fourth place) - helping the team clinch 3rd place in the
Constructors Championship and ensuring that his quest to take 3rd
in the Drivers Championship remains as strong as ever and with the
disqualification of Eddie Irvine from the race, maybe now second
place could be a new goal to aim for.
Michael Schumacher's return to F1 after his crash in Silverstone
proved pivotal in today's result. With the German on a one-stop
strategy, and his team mate on two stops, Schumacher was able to
protect Irvine from World Champion Mika Hakkinen. Schumacher lead
the race off the start but allowed Irvine to pass him in the early
stages of the race. Coulthard also passed through to second place,
but retired from the race with an apparent technical problem. With
Coulthard gone, Irvine opened up a 20 second lead - primarily due
to Schumacher's strategy of holding Hakkinen back.
After Irvine made his second pit stop he rejoined in 3rd place
behind Schumacher and Hakkinen, but when the McLaren driver had to
make his second stop, the race result was decided. Schumacher moved
over to let Irvine through and into the lead, the Ferrari duo
scoring a superb 1-2. Hakkinen had to battle for third, for after
his second stop he found himself behind Johnny Herbert's Stewart.
Herbert was one-stopping, but Hakkinen managed to pass him a few
laps before the end with a well-judged manoevre into the final
corner. The second Stewart of Rubens Barrichello finished 5th in
spite of a brake problem, only just managing to stop a hard charging
Frentzen from catching him.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen's 6th place brought delight to the Jordan
team. Not only did it mean that a point had been salvaged from a
weekend when Heinz qualified the T-car down in 14th place, but it
demonstrated that the speed of the Jordan-Mugen-Honda 199 remains
undiminished. Frentzen's fastest lap in the race was a 1m40.631s -
second fastest only to Schumacher - and a full 1.749s faster than
his qualifying time. Had he had the use of his race car and produced
that lap time during qualifying he would have started 2nd on the
grid!
Team mate Damon Hill had a fruitless day, being shunted off the
track by Giancarlo Fisichella's errant Benetton at the second
corner. Hill's car was attacked from behind, spinning it around and
stalling the engine.
The Jordan team effectively took third place in the constructors'
championship on Sunday in the Malaysian GP. Heinz-Harald Frentzen
finished the race on Sunday in 6th place, but with Ferrari's
disqualification he was promoted to fourth place. He thus scored
three championship points instead of only one. This didn't make
any difference to Jordan's position as they now lead Stewart in
fourth place by 19 points with only one race remaining. At the start
of the 99 season the Jordan team stated that their ambitions is to
finish the season in third place behind McLaren and Ferrari.
For the Jordan team, the session was disappointing, particularly
for Heinz-Harald Frentzen who, having taken pole in the last race,
had to make do with 14th place after a catalogue of bad luck. His
headrest came loose under braking for the first corner and caused
him to spin on his first timed lap. He then took the T-car which
was set up for Damon Hill and had to abort his second attempt to
set a time due to a problem with the front left brake caliper. A
new caliper was fitted and, with only two sets of tyres remaining,
Frentzen drove three-lap and five-lap stints, setting his fastest
time on the final flying lap.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen: «I am really disappointed to be so
low down on the grid, especially when I am used to qualifying in
the top two to three rows. My head rest came loose under braking
and hit me from behind, causing me to spin. I then took the T-car
and had to abort my second run because of a brake problem. But the
weekend is not over and we hope that we will have more luck in
tomorrow's race.»
>>>
GP Timetable
The Jordan drivers Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen enjoyed
their first drive at the Sepang Circuit, both commenting at the
end of the practice session that they found the track interesting
and challenging. They finished the day 12th (Hill) and 14th
(Frentzen).
Heinz-Harald Frentzen: «I like this circuit. It is a
demanding track, especially in this heat. You sweat a lot! We had
a very good session and the lap times improved as the track dried
out. We are still working to find the right set up and there is a
lot of homework still to do. It is hard to see how we stand
compared with our nearest rivals, but I think we will be
competitive.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Stunning Frentzen retires at Nürburgring. After leading the
European Grand Prix for 32 laps, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was forced
to retire with a suspected electrical problem. HHF
had come into the pits with David Coulthard's McLaren right behind
him, but maintained his lead thanks to a first class pit stop by
his Jordan team mechanics. Shortly after exiting the pit lane he
abandoned his race when the car suddenly slowed, then stopped.
Frentzen now lies twelve points behind championship leader Mika
Hakkinen with two races to go. Damon Hill also had a disappointing
day, retiring with loss of drive after the first corner.
«Today was a huge disappointment,» said Heinz-Harald
Frentzen. «It feels awful to drop out of the race when you
are leading. Everything had gone so well for the first half of
the race and the team did a fantastic job in the pits to get me out
ahead of David (Coulthard) but as I came out I seemed to have an
electrical problem. We are not sure what it was and we need to
analyse it. Our strategy had worked well and I was able to hold
back the McLarens which felt really good. But these things happen
in motor racing and a lot of driver did not finish the race today
or were outside the points. What it important is that Pedro (Diniz)
was not hurt because this is the only thing that matters.»
«This race was a litany of disasters for all the key
teams,» said Eddie Jordan. «For us and for Heinz-Harald
it was an opportunity lost. But we lead the race and were doing a
superb job before we went out. Ours is not the only disappointed
team today. I feel sorry for Heinz, but there is a list of other
drivers too to feel sorry for - David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher
and Giancarlo Fisichella. The Championship is still open. It was
great to see Johnny win the race and I would like to congratulate
Stewart on the team's first win.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took pole position today in Nurburgring,
the second pole of his career (first pole 1997, Monaco) and the
second pole for the Benson and Hedges Jordan team (first pole
1994, Spa, Barrichello). Frentzen made the perfect strategy
decision and, after a race-style tyre change in the pit lane, was
able to run in the final seconds of the session to clinch pole.
Damon Hill also enjoyed a good qualifying, but was squeezed down
to seventh in the closing seconds.
The session was very tense, with drivers and teams trying to
second guess the weather and track conditions. Rain fell at the
start of the session, but, despite threatening to do so again,
conditions became increasingly drier as the hour progressed. It
came down to a test of nerves as to who could chance their luck
to be the last driver on the track. Some drivers lost in the
lottery, most notably Championship contender Eddie Irvine, who
will start the race from a lowly 9th place. His team mate Mika
Salo faired even worse, finishing 12th.. Ralf Schumacher looks
strong and will race from 4th place. Coulthard out qualified
Hakkinen, the Scot finishing second and ahead of the Finn in third
place, leading to the inevitable questions about team orders. Not
surprisingly, neither Coulthard nor Hakkinen was keen to make any
comment.
With 9 minutes left Heinz-Harald Frentzen came out of the pits
to take provisional pole position with a time of 1:20.910 with a
number of drivers out on the track for the last five minutes of
the session. Damon Hill took provisional pole from team mate
Frentzen with a time of 1:20.818 as Eddie Irvine went up to second
place with a time of 1:20.842 with three minutes remaining. His
time was bettered by Ralf Schumacher with a time of 1:20.444 and
then again by David Coulthard with a time of 1:20.176 for
provisional pole. With just one minute to spare Heinz-Harald
Frentzen reclaimed pole position with a time of 1:19.910.
Coming on the back of his victory in Monza, Frentzen's pole today
makes his Championship challenge look that much stronger.
«That was a fantastic qualifying session for Jordan,»
said Frentzen's boss, Eddie Jordan. «It was all very nerve
wracking but in the end it worked out perfectly with the decision
to come into change tyres in the pit lane allowing Heinz to take
pole. Damon did an excellent job too, but went out that little
bit too early. It is a great day for Jordan – our second ever
pole, and a great day for Mr. Honda who arrived just in time to
see the end of the session.»
Commmenting after taking pole, Frentzen said, &aquo;It feels
fantastic to be on pole, especially here in Germany. We’d had a
difficult time in the practice sessions with various problems, and
we were not sure how quick we would be compared with our
competitors. The only chance I had was to go for it in qualifying
and we really got our act together and made the best out of the
situation. We had a lot of discussions about when to go out and
it was difficult to know what to do as no-one can predict what is
going to happen, but in the end we got it right. When I went out
at the end I saw that the track was drying out very quickly and I
talked to my engineer about what we could do. We only had four
and a half minutes and we took the decision to come in so the
mechanics could change the tyres in the pit lane – that was a
really key decision. Today we did an absolutely perfect job. The
race will be tough but we will just have to do our best.»
>>>
GP Timetable
The Jordan team had a heavy work load in the second practice
session at the Nurburgring after both Heinz-Harald Frentzen and
Damon Hill lost running time in the morning. Frentzen completed
only two installation laps before an oil pressure problem in his
gear box forced him to retire until the afternoon. Hill spun off
after his car ran over a drain grating which had come lose on the
track. The FIA accepted responsibility for the incident and
allocated Hill a fresh set of tyres. Despite finishing the day in
12th (Frentzen) and 14th (Hill) positions, both drivers felt
optimistic about improving their results tomorrow.
«Considering I missed the first session which meant there
was not much time to set up the car, I am happy with the progress
we made,» said Frentzen. «I had oil pressure problem
with my gear box and missed the entire first session. I feel
pretty optimistic, however, because, on the basis of what we
achieved this afternoon, I know we can make further improvements
tomorrow morning.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen and the Jordan team took their second win of
the 1999 Formula One World Championship today when the German ace
stormed to victory in the Italian Grand Prix. Starting from second
place on the grid, Heinz-Harald took the lead when Mika Hakkinen
spun his McLaren off the track on lap 30. Thereafter Heinz-Harald
maintained a solid lead over the second placed Williams driven by
Ralf Schumacher and, helped by a superb pit stop lasting only 7.4
seconds, he went on to dominate the remainder of the race.
At the start of the race Heinz-Harald appeared to get too much
wheelspin, dropping down to fourth place on the run into the first
chicane. However, as David Coulthard's McLaren became caught in a
battle with Ralf Schumacher's Williams, Heinz-Harald was able to
nip through into third place as he exited the corner, and was then
able overtake second placed Alex Zanardi who had made an excellent
start. Zanardi later fell back down the order, with Mika Salo,
Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard coming through. Ralf
Schumacher drove superbly to finish in a strong second position,
while Eddie Irvine's hopes of a good result on Ferrari's home
ground produced only one point for sixth place. With Hakkinen out,
however, Irvine was fortunate that this single point pulls him
level with the Finn in the Championship standings.
«This victory here is tremendous for me and the team»,
said Heinz-Harald. «And I do not have enough words to
express how I feel. The Championship battle is now really close -
I cannot believe it. The team and Mugen-Honda have done a
fantastic job to make the car fast and reliable. When I saw Mika
go off I thought 'bad luck for him, good luck for me'. We have
used every opportunity this year to score points when we can and
today we made use of a fantastic opportunity. McLaren did not use
their potential and if this happens in the next races it will give
Eddie (Irvine) and me a chance in the Championship. If at the
beginning of the season Eddie Jordan had told me that I would be
winning races like this I would have told him he was crazy. It is
hard to lead a race because you are in control and you are trying
to maintain the gap, save the car and you can lose concentration
- which is perhaps what happened to Mika. It is a lot easier to
push someone from behind. Once I was in the lead I was trying to
save the brakes, tyres and engine to finish the race without any
problems and it is difficult when you are thinking about all these
things.»
When Jordan's team boss Eddie Jordan signed Frentzen many
criticized him for signing a driver who has endured two difficult
years at Williams. Sunday's victory was on the anniversary of the
signing and Jordan has proved the critics wrong.
Eddie Jordan: «Today was another great day and a great
victory for Heinz and the Benson and Hedges Jordan team. We put a
little pressure on Mika - not a lot, but enough - and he made a
mistake because he had to push harder. Those laps prior to the pit
stop that Heinz drove were really crucial and he did exactly what
was expected of him. We always knew we had a good strategy and we
knew that if we were leading at the pit stop we would be OK. The
team did a fantastic job in the pits. I thought we could win
another race this season, and I believe we have done it in
style.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen will start the Italian Grand Prix on the
front row of the grid after splitting the two McLarens of Hakkinen
and Coulthard. HHF gave an excellent performance already in the
free practice session this morning with being fastest. In the
qualifying session he and Hakkinen were the only two who managed
to post a lap time in the 1.22s.
Frentzen had hoped to pull of his first pole of the season, but
this lay just outside his reach. Commenting after the session he
said, «It is an excellent result to be on the front row of
the grid again. I had a feeling earlier today that we could be on
pole and I would have liked to get my revenge on Mika after he
beat me in Hockenheim – but it wasn’t to be. But in any case, the
qualifying performance was excellent. The team did a fantastic job
to give me the best circumstances to get a good grid position. Our
strategy was to do a two lap run but each time the second laps did
not work out, either because of yellow flags or because of my own
mistake. But we broke the 1.23 bracket which was what we hoped to
do. I am looking forward to a good race tomorrow.»
Team boss Eddie Jordan had the following to say about Sunday's
prospects: «We are going to take the fight to the McLarens
and I reckon we can win it. If we give him the right car he is a
championship contender. To beat the McLarens in a straight fight
is a daunting prospect but I have always been an optimist, if
anyone can take the fight to them I hope it is us».
He continued by saying: «Heinz-Harald has to be mentally
prepared to give it a big, big fight. We are better prepared as a
team than we were at Hockenheim. We are not going to lie down and
take it from the McLaren team no matter how good they are. We are
going to frighten them.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Today's free practise sessions were not as good as the Jordan team
had hoped. Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished in 10th
and 13th places respectively. Hill was not happy with the balance
of his car, and Frentzen spun off after going too fast into the
chicane and missed the majority of the second session. Having
tested at the Monza circuit for three days last week, however, the
team is confident of a competitive performance tomorrow.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen: «I was simply too fast. So I could
not manage to do the fine-tuning for the set up. But apart from
this I am satisfied because I am sure people in front of me were
on low fuel load. My car stopped at a dangerous point of the track
so I wanted to get it out of the way as fast as possible. Luckily
we did a lot of testing last week here, so my mistake does not
count too much.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen drove a superb race finishing third behind
both McLaren drivers. He was the only one who could follow the
McLarens during the first stages of the race, leaving even the
Ferrari drivers behind.
Heinz-Harald Fretnzen explained: «I am very happy with
today's result. It was a great race for us, although not so
exciting for the spectator. The team did a great job and our
points today help Jordan in our aim to finish third in the
championship. Unfortunately, I lost a place in the Drivers'
Championship to David. In the race, I tried to keep up with Mika
or at least not to lose too much ground to him and I was able to
push much harder on new tyres after the pit stop, but the McLarens
were unbeatable today. I think we will be very strong in Monza so
I am looking forward to that race and to trying to beat the
McLarens there.»
Eddie Jordan was delighted: «Both drivers did a good job
today and although the race was a lot less eventful or exciting
than last year we did what we came here to do - collect another
podium, put both cars in the top six and pull further ahead of our
rivals in the Constructors Championship. I think it has been a
very satisfying day.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen set an impressive fastest time of the final
free practice session. He was happy with the performance of his
Jordan-Mugen-Honda this morning which he is hoping to put on pole
this afternoon. Damon Hill was also going well for Jordan, the
Englishman fourth fastest overall, but eight tenth's of a second
behind his team-mate.
During the qualifying two runs of Heinz-Harald Frentzen were
spoiled after the red flags came out and the session was stopped
twice when Frentzen was on his fast laps. Nevertheless Frentzen
finished in 3rd place. Heinz Harald Frentzen explained:
«I was sure we would be up at the front but also knew it
would be hard to catch the McLarens, so I am very happy with
today's result. It was unlucky for me that Villeneuve and Zonta
crashed, but what matters is that they are OK. It meant I really
only had two runs as the red flags interrupted me on two outings.
So I did not have the chance to find the perfect set-up for the
session and I think I could perhaps have done a low 1'51s or high
1'50s if I had managed to fine tune the car. But I think we have
a really good chance tomorrow with Damon and me both on the second
row of the grid. It is a great effort from the team and it is nice
to be so strong here. We can be proud of this result.«
>>>
GP Timetable
The Jordan Mugen-Hondas of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Damon Hill
performed competitively on the Spa circuit in today's free
practice for the Belgian Grand Prix. Frentzen finished the day in
4th place without a run on new tyres and despite missing half of
the second session after crashing off the circuit. The impact
damaged his car's front and rear suspensions, but thankfully
Frentzen was not hurt. Hill finished the day 5th, just beside
his team mate. Both drivers are confident they will be competitive
in tomorrow's qualifying.
«We look very competitive and the session was going well
until I crashed off,» said Frentzen. «It is a pity we
could not continue our programme as we were doing some very good
work. The accident was unnecessary and it was my fault. I went too
quickly into the corner and lost it. I went off on the dirt and
there is not much space on that part of the circuit between the
track and the armco and I just slid into the barrier and damaged
the front and rear suspensions. I did not hurt myself at all. The
impact was minimal but unfortunately the way I crashed meant there
is quite a lot of damage to the car so I am sorry that my
mechanics will have to work so hard to build the car up again for
tomorrow.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen showed once again his speed when he
qualified 5th with team mate Damon Hill only 3 thousands of
a second slower on 6th position. The team reported that both cars
ran without problems, but Frentzen was held up on his final run.
Frentzen opted not to use the mid-wing on his car, while Hill used
it to good effect. Hill equaled his best grid position this season.
>>>
GP Timetable
Jordan Mugen-Honda cars look good in Hungary. The Jordan
Mugen-Honda performed well today in the Friday free practice
session at the Hungaroring, outside Budapest in Hungary. Both
drivers reported that they were happy with their cars and felt
confident about tomorrow's performance. Frentzen finished the day
in 6th place. Hill, who spun out before the end of the session,
finished 16th.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen: «We did some good work today and ran
trouble-free during both sessions. The car feels good and there is
only some fine tuning to do. With the drizzling rain this
afternoon you had to be careful not to go off the driving line
because the track was quite wet. I am quite confident about
tomorrow.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen had yet another successful race, finishing
in third place, the Jordan Team's and Frentzen's fourth podium
finish of the season. With this result, Frentzen has overtaken
Michael Schumacher in the World Championship and now lies in third
place with 33 points. «I am really happy to finish on the
podium and win points for the first time in Hockenheim,» he
said. «I have always wanted to do well here, and after
qualifying well it is great to finish on the podium. The start
was not so good and I had too much wheel spin compared with our
competitors, which is something we need to work on. Mika (Salo)
and David (Coulthard) came through and then Barichello overtook
me. I struggled a little with a flat spot from the fifth lap
onwards when I was trying to catch up with David, and then Eddie
(Irvine) caught up with me so I came in for the pit stop one lap
early. Unfortunately we lost our place against Eddie in the pits,
although my stop had no problems. But to gain four points again is
fantastic. We are now on target to take third place in the
Championship and we are continuing to see how we can make even
more improvements to the car.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen delighted his home crowd and his Jordan
Team in the qualifying session for the German Grand Prix by
finishing second on the grid. His best time of 1.43.000 split the
two McLarens of Hakkinen and Coulthard and gave Jordan its best
result since Fisichella qualified second at Hockenheim in 1997.
Frentzen's second place is his best ever performance at this
German circuit and has turned one of his dreams into reality.
«I always dreamt of doing well at Hockenheim, so qualifying
second is a fantastic result for me,» he said. Second place
is also his best performance of the season so far, a reflection of
his growing confidence and talent as a driver, and of the
improvements made by the Jordan Mugen-Honda Team to the car and
engine. As Frentzen explained, «I said earlier this week
that I expected us to be more competitive here than in Zeltweg,
and this has been the case. The team did a superb job - they
helped me to find the right set up and they have made a lot of
improvements to the car. It is great to be so close to the
McLarens and be in a position to fight for pole. The new engine
from Mugen-Honda has been a big help».
Eddie Jordan was delighted with his team's result. «This was
a great result and a fantastic performance by Heinz who has shown
his home fans that he is a top class driver. He has been driving
superbly all year and to be five hundredths off the pole position
time shows what a good job he did. The new engine we ran today in
qualifying made a big difference and gave us the extra horsepower
to place us on the front row of the starting grid. It gives us the
opportunity to fight more in the race with McLaren and Ferrari.
Damon was unlucky not to finish higher, but he has a good chance
of winning points tomorrow.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen produced his best qualifying performance
of the 1999 season to take fourth place behind the two McLarens
and Eddie Irvine's Ferrari. This result puts him in his strongest
starting place yet this year, in the knowledge that he will be
racing with new modifications to his car and engine.
Commenting on his performance, Frentzen said, «After a
difficult morning trying to find the right set up, I had not
expected to finish so high up. This is the best result we have
had all season and I am very pleased with the job we did today.
This morning we were struggling to find the perfect balance for
this track but we made the right modifications in time for a
successful qualifying session. You really have to be very
accurate with the changes you are making to the car on this
circuit and we have worked very hard this weekend analyzing
the data. It is great that it worked out. I have a lot of
confidence in the car for tomorrow and we will be running some
modifications for the first time in a race, so I am looking
forward to a good day.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Damon Hill produced an excellent performance on Friday's
free practice session at the A1 ring in Austria today,
finishing in first place with a best time of 1.13.303.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a less productive session, having to
retire early with a gear box problem. The T car, chassis 6 is
set up for Heinz-Harald Frentzen for tomorrow's qualifying.
«My position today does not reflect where we should be but
I feel confident that tomorrow we will put things right. I was
not able to find the right set up today and had to finish running
early because of a gear box problem. We will work on finding a
good set up and lap time tomorrow.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Both Benson and Hedges Jordan drivers Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald
Frentzen won points in the British Grand Prix, bringing their
Jordan Mugen-Hondas home in fourth (Frentzen) and fifth (Hill)
positions. Hill gave an excellent performance in front of his
home crowd and Frentzen scored points for the fifth time this
season. With the five points scored in today's race Jordan has
consolidated its third place in the World Championship.
Frentzen lies in fourth place in the Drivers' Championship,
only six points behind Schumacher and Irvine.
Coulthard won the race, giving the British fans another reason
to cheer. Irvine finished second and Ralf Schumacher third.
Back in the Jordan camp, there were smiles all round. «It
is great to see both cars finishing in the top five»,
said team boss Eddie Jordan. «It is a fantastic result
for the home crowd. This time last year we had one point,
now we have 31! I think this further strengthens our third
place in the championship; we have moved away from Benetton
and Stewart and even gained a point on Williams. Full marks
though to Ralf, who did a good job and pipped us for third.
The last four laps were touch and go for Damon because his
car had a pneumatic pressure problem, so we told him to back
off as we knew we had a good gap from Diniz. It was a great
day for him and for the fans - a great British Grand Prix.
After Damon's performance today, I am not so sure he will
want to stop. It is up to him but the team is behind him and
would like him to continue if he can drive the way he drove
today. If he keeps this up, he should continue to the end of
the season.»
Hill would not make any comments about his future, prefering
to enjoy the moment and his and the team's great performance.
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Damon Hill gave Jordan the best
qualifying result this year so far. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished
5th behind the Mclaren and Ferrari drivers and is joined by Damon
Hill in the third row of the grid. The two Jordan drivers were
never under any great threat from behind. Barrichello finished
7th, and Ralf Schumacher 8th, but never looked likely to upset
Jordan's hold on the third row of the grid. Heinz-Harald Frentzen
was happy to see his team mate along side him, commenting,
«It is great to have Damon up in sixth place. He has a lot
of supporters here and so does the team, so overall it is a great
result. There are so many yellow Jordan flags it is hard to
distinguish between these and the marshalls' flags!»
>>>
GP Timetable
During the first free practice for the British Grand Prix
Heinz-Harald Frentzen concentrated on his set up and finished the
day in 14th place. Damon Hill had a promising start to his British
Grand Prix weekend for the Jordan team. He finished the day 7th,
reporting that he was happy with the car.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen: «We concentrated on set up and had
a little work to do as I only tested here for one day last week.
So we did not put on new tyres because we were sorting out a few
things with the car. I am not too concerned about it and am happy
to wait and see how we progress tomorrow. My leg is fine - it is
not causing any problems.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Brilliant driving and a one pit stop race strategy gave
Heinz-Harald Frentzen a superb victory in the French Grand Prix
in Magny-Cours this afternoon. In contrasting conditions Frentzen
kept his nerve as did his Jordan team with everybody else stopping
twice, to secure a famous victory. World Champion Mika Hakkinen
came from 14th place on the grid to second, survived a spin,
dropped to eighth, fought back to lead but eventually had to
settle for second with pole-setter Rubens Barrichello third,
driving the Stewart Ford. The Safety car came out just before half
distance when the forecasted torrential rain arrived. In a
frenzied battle for fourth place Ralf Schumacher, who started
from 16th in the Winfield WilliamsF1 fought off the Ferrari duo of
Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine.
«At my pit stop I thought the guys are taking a long time
and I realised they were putting in a great deal of fuel,»
said Frentzen, after his and Jordan's second grand prix victory.
«When I went out the car felt heavy and I was thinking just
how can I keep the car on the road. Then the pace car came out and
I was in good communication with the pits and we went for one
stop although it was tight at the finish. I had one bad moment
with 20 laps to go when I thought the gearbox had gone but
everything was perfect.»
Barrichello led from the start but it was the McLaren duo of
Hakkinen and Coulthard who were flying on the dry surface.
Coulthard was soon pressurising Alesi and once past the Frenchman
he charged after Barrichello and was leading the pole-setter and
the race on lap five. Hakkinen from 14th place on the grid was
ninth at the end of the first lap and by the fifth was involved
in a real fight with Michael Schumacher for fifth place. After
four laps of sparring he squeezed by the Ferrari but on the same
lap a bitterly disappointed leader Coulthard stopped dramatically
with a suspected transmission failure and Barrichello was back
in front.
The sky darkened and became a case of when, rather than if, it
was going to rain. Hakkinen passed Alesi on the brakes on lap 18
and then the rain arrived. Everyone charged in to change to wet
weather tyres and the safety car was an inevitable addition to the
field as the torrential rain blotted out the action. Alesi
spun-out of second just as the safety car was preparing to slow
things down. Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Zanardi also spun-out,
forcing the Italian to retire with water in the air box of his
WilliamsF1. As the sky lightened and the safety car pulled in
Hakkinen desperately tried to pass the super cool leader and on
lap 37 Hakkinen spun-out and dropped to seventh trying to overtake
Barrichello at the Adelaide hairpin. This left the way clear for
Schumacher to attack Barrichello and after two abortive attempts
he finally dived inside him at the Adelaide hairpin to lead on
lap 47.
Then the second round of pit stops arrived and when the spray had
settled Frentzen led from Hakkinen with Barrichello third. As
the chequered flag beckoned it was obvious Frentzen and Jordan
were gambling on one stop and it turned into a gamble well
worth taking.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen: «I am delighted and very happy with
the job my team did today. It will take time to sink in, but I am
going to celebrate tonight - I am not sure how yet! The strategy
worked very well and the team was able to keep me informed about
the fuel and the weather. My pit stop took a long time and I was
getting nervous until I realised the strategy had changed so that
we could have a long second stint. The car was in good shape in
all stages of the race and things worked out perfectly. This
victory was nicer than my one in Imola, perhaps because no one
expected it. It was really tough race, and we won it. After
losing those six points in Canada we have now struck back.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heavy rain created chaos during qualifying for the French Grand
Prix. But Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen came through to
place himself fifth for tomorrow's race. Damon Hill's session ran
less smoothly. He was forced to take out the spare car after a
broken exhaust caused a small fire in his race car.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen explained: «It was completely crazy
out there. Thank God nothing serious happened. It was so difficult
to keep the car straight as the track was so slippery and I was
aquaplaning everywhere. I was lucky though and made a good time.
It is easy to be wise after the session has ended and say we
should have gone out sooner, but it could have dried out - and in
fact almost as soon as we stopped the rain stopped. We decided to
go out when we did to avoid the traffic. We expected most people
would go out with 25 minutes to go, so we went out with about 28
minutes to go.»
>>>
GP Timetable
In spite of being declared fit for the upcoming French GP by Prof.
Sid Watkins after his accident during Sunday's Canadian GP, there
is a slim chance that Heinz-Harald Frentzen might miss out on the
upcoming race. On Monday Frentzen went for further tests and a
small amount of bleeding was found in his skull and the doctors
did some extensive testing to ensure that the bleeding has
stopped. The results of the tests are expected within the next
few days and if positive Frentzen will accordingly be given the go
ahead for the race. The chief medical officer, Jacques Bouchard,
elaborated on the issue by saying: «He almost lost
consciousness after the accident and we wanted to check everything
was alright. We found he had a little bit of bleeding into his
skull and we want to do a more detailed MRID scan to check it is
not continuing. We are waiting for the results of the latest test.
When we get the results we will know long he has to be out of the
car». He did stress that the decision to race or not lies
with Frentzen and the Jordan team and not with them.
Only a few laps before the end of the Canadian GP, Heinz-Harald
Frentzen then in second place, ploughed off the track and ended up
into a tyre barrier. Until this point HHF had driven a very strong
grace. After the accident Frentzen sat in the car
for a couple of minutes before being escorted to the medical
centre for a thorough examination. From thereon he was flown to a
hospital in Montreal for further tests. Prof. Sid Watkins said the
following after examining Frentzen: «Heinz was conscious and
soon regained his sense of humour. He has a bruised left leg and
right shoulder, but there is no reason for him not to race again
in two weeks time in France. The new head rest played a major role
in protecting him in the crash.» After the race it was
found out that one of the brake discs on Frentzen's car has been
broken and immediately caused the accident. The brake discs this
year are only 28 mm thin instead of 34 mm as last year.
>>>
GP Timetable
For the fifth time in sixth races Heinz-Harald Frentzen has
outqualified his experienced team mate Damon Hill. Frentzen
qualified in the top six with Damon Hill only managing a
disappointing 14th on the grid. In spite of qualifying in the top
six, Frentzen is adamant that the McLaren and the Ferrari team is
still miles ahead of the rest of the field. He explained by
saying: «We are getting closer to the front of the grid,
but for the moment, I think this is as far up as we can get. We
are continually making progress, but so are the other teams.
I think we can be happy, though, as it is a pretty good position
to start the race from. Our car is strong and well set-up so I am
pretty confident».
It was a disastrous day for Hill after and engine problem on his
race car forced him to run with the T-car, which was set up for
Frentzen at the time. He admitted that qualifying in 14th place
isn't very good and that he is disappointed with his performance.
«I would like to think I could do better than that and,
although we did have problems, I cannot put all the blame down to
that. I actually quite liked the set-up on Harald's car but it was
difficult to adapt to it». Hill gave his thoughts on the
race on Sunday and said that if the weather conditions remain the
same it will be a very unpleasant race. «It is very difficult to
stay on the track so it could be a race full of incidents».
>>>
GP Timetable
The Jordan Team had a disappointing race, and for the first time
this season suffered a mechanical failure when Heinz-Harald
Frentzen dropped out of 8th position with driveshaft failure. He
had started 8th but fell to 9th place on the run down to the first
corner. He later moved back up to 8th and ran as high as 5th prior
to his second pit stop, but then his driveshaft broke. Damon Hill
drove a very strong race, for although he too had a difficult
start and dropped to 13th, he recovered well and raced hard to
finish 7th - overtaking a hard charging Rubens Barrchello's
Stewart in the final stages. «Today was
disappointing», said Frentzen. «It was a hard race
this time and I could not pass Ralf Schumacher - the soft tyres
which many of our competitors were on did not suffer as we
thought, and our hard tyres gave us no advantage. This race was
very much down to strategy, but in the end I had a mechanical
failure.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen made an excellent start to the weekend for
Jordan Mugen-Honda, finishing Friday's free practice session in
second place. Team mate Damon Hill was less happy with the balance
of his car, but still managed to set the sixth fastest time.
Frentzen's second place sandwiched him between the two Ferraris,
with Irvine taking the top spot today over Michael Schumacher.
Commenting on his performance, Frentzen said, «I am very
happy with today's result. The wind was strong and we had to work
hard to find the right set up for today's conditions. Ironically,
we ended up with exactly the same set up as we had at the end of
our test last week, but whereas in the test the balance was not
quite right, today it was very good. These narrow track Formula
One cars are extremely sensitive to the conditions here in
Barcelona. The wind, track temperature and the turbulence from
cars under 200 metres ahead can make a big difference to the lap
times. So all things considered, we did a good job today, and will
hopefully be able to get it right again tomorrow».
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen gave Benson and Hedges Jordan its fourth
successive top four finish of the season with a fine 4th place
in today's Monaco Grand Prix. The German star rose from 6th place
on the grid to take advantage of David Coulthard's retirement and
then, through a combination of driver performance and an excellent
late pit stop strategy, to overall Rubens Barrichello's Stewart.
Frentzen's excellent performance, placing him as one of only three
drivers to finish on the same lap as race winner Michael
Schumacher, nets Jordan a further three World Championship points.
The team is only four points behind World Champions McLaren, and
continues to be the only serious threat to the McLaren/Ferrari
domination of the World Championship.
«I am very happy with the team and myself,» said Heinz-Harald.
«This is another good result. My race was against Rubens and we
won that comfortably. The plan had been to keep up with him. I did
not expect to be able to overtake him at the start so we just
decided that I should stay close and make up time when he made his
pit stop. As soon as he pitted I was able to pull away, and the
late pit stop allowed me to jump in front of him. I closed the gap
to Hakkinen a little, but catching him and overtaking him would
have been quite different. The car and engine showed that we are
competitive, and reliable.»
>>>
GP Timetable
During the first free practice for the GP of Monaco on Thursday
Heinz-Harald Frentzen suffered from a broken rear suspension
early during the second part of the practice and had to retire.
Thus he was only 19th on the time table.
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen had another good result at the Brazilian
Grand Prix when finishing 3rd behind Mika Hakkinen and
Michael Schumacher. He did a very good job keeping himself out
of troubles and just doing his own race. After a fast start he
outbraked his team mate Damon Hill on the entrance of the first
corner. After some laps he could pass Alexander Wurz' Benetton.
At the end HHF had a good space between himself and Ralf
Schumacher who had to defend his fourth position against Eddie
Irvine.
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen made a stunning debut for the Jordan Team,
finishing second in today's Australian Grand Prix after a race
long battle with eventual winner Eddie Irvine. HHF drove a
wonderfully controlled race, stopping only once for fuel and
tyres, and taking himself and the team to 2nd place in both
the Drivers and Constructors Championship. HHF held 4th place at
the start, for with Rubens Barrichello's Stewart starting from the
pit lane Heinz-Harald was hoping for 3rd into the first corner
- but Irvine sliced past him. While the McLaren drivers Mika
Hakkinen and David Coulthard initially dominated, both fell victim
to technical problems, retiring after 21 laps and 13 laps
respectively. This left Irvine with a small lead of around 3 to 4
seconds over Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Jordan. Both pitted on the
same lap, and the Jordan crew had their car out in the same time
as Ferrar - so the positions remained the same. Ralf Schumacher's
Williams held a hard charging third, but he was unable to catch
HHF in spite of the fact that the Jordan was suffering a slight
power loss - possibly due to overheating.
«I am very happy for myself and everyone at my new team
Jordan, and at Mugen-Honda», said Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
«This was a great result. Eddie was really going fast and I
tried to keep up with him, but it was difficult to beat him today.
He drove a fantastic race. I thought he was going to make a second
stop as I knew he was on soft tyres, but he just kept going. So my
tactic was simply to drive as fast as possible and get the best
result for me and Jordan.»
>>>
GP Timetable
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the fifth position on the starting grid
during the closing stages of the qualifying session at Melbourne.
Mika Hakkinen gained the pole position leaving David Coulthard on
2nd position and Michael Schumacher on 3rd. HHF's fastest laptime
was about 1.8 seconds away from Hakkinen's time and about 0.5
seconds away from Schumacher's laptime.
>>>
GP Timetable
The day came when the new season begun with the first practice
session for the GP of Australia at Melbourne. Heinz-Harald
Frentzen showed a strong performance in both the first and the
second part of the first free practice session. He ended up 4th
on the grid for this day being 1 second off the pace of the
leading McLaren of David Coulthard. He was quite happy how the
car performed from the beginning.
>>>
GP Timetable
The Jordan team started their last testing session on Wednesday at
Barcelona with both Jordan Mugen-Honda 199 cars running with Damon
Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen behind the wheel. The team will
ship their cars to Melbourne, Australia over the weekend. Both
drivers spend the first day accumulating as much mileage as
possible on the engines with Hill doing a total of 57 laps and
Frentzen a total of 64 laps. Unfortunately for Frentzen he lost
out on some testing time in the morning part of the session
because of an electrical fault, but in spite of this both drivers
posted good, consistent lap times.
The new Jordan car was presented at the London Palladium
theatre. The new car unveiled by team boss Eddie Jordan is
largely an evolution of the 1998 car. Speaking at the launch of
the team's 1999 contender, Heinz-Harald Frentzen said that he has
become a matured and experienced driver and thinks of himself as
a professional person. «I know I have a great deal more to
achieve in Formula One.» Damon Hill took the opportunity to
speak on the subject of driving with Frentzen and said the
following: «I don't have an axe to grind or bear any
grudges towards Heinz-Harald. It was Frank Williams' decision.
You move on in Formula One and I am very happy with
Jordan.»
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