Just a few days ago it appeared as if Heinz-Harald Frentzen's future had been decided on and that the German would be driving for Tom Walkinshaw's team Arrows in 2002, and the focus switched to who he would be replacing, Jos Verstappen or Enrique Bernoldi. However Frentzen has now said that in fact his future is still a bit of a mystery and that the earlier reports that he had already signed for Arrows are incorrect.
Reports on Wednesday in the German press had stated from a "reliable source" that Frentzen had agreed to a radical pay cut, a one-year contract renewable for a second year and had already put pen to paper and would be lining up on the grid with Arrows. But yesterday's edition of the German daily newspaper "Die Welt" quoted the 34-year-old as saying that as yet nothing had been decided and he most definitely had not yet signed any contracts with any team.
Frentzen said: «Nothing is signed yet, but a decision will be made soon.»
It is believed that the stumbling blocks in him signing with Arrows are not only his pay cut, which is thought to be from 9million to US$ 730,000, but also because Walkinshaw wants Frentzen to pay the money needed to terminate Verstappen's contract as the Dutchman is still under contract with the team.
According to the latest reports, former Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen has signed a one year deal with the Orange Arrows outfit that will see him driving for the Leafield based squad in the 2002 championship season. The deal is also said to include an option for a further year should the German driver wish to remain.
Although the exact terms of the contract are still to be officially released by the team, the German press are claiming that Frentzen's salary for the next twelve months will be approximately US$ 730,000 plus bonuses.
In comparison, whilst driving for Jordan earlier in the year, Frentzen's salary was estimated at US$ 9 million, a big drop in pay for the three times GP winner, however with a big payout expected by Eddie Jordan due to his shock dismissal mid season, money is not thought to be the main object behind Frentzen's decision.
If these latest reports are true, then they only thing left to determine is exactly who Frentzen's new teammate will be, Red Bull sponsored driver Enrique Bernoldi, or Jos Verstappen.
Reports in the British press indicate that German driver, Heinz- Harald Frentzen will be signing on the dotted line for the Orange Arrows outfit before Christmas, taking the place of Dutchman Jos Verstappen to partner Enrique Bernoldi in the upcoming 2002 championship season.
Frentzen's future in Formula One has been the topic of several rumours in recent weeks, especially after the struggling Prost team went into voluntary receivership on the 22nd of November.
The Sun has suggested that the three time GP winner has come to a final agreement with the Leafield based squad and the German's manager Monte Field, admitted that further talks have been held, however he insists that nothing has been finalized.
«We have had some more discussions but nothing has been finalized», Field was quoted as saying. «We talked about what it takes to put a deal together.»
German star Heinz-Harald Frentzen has repeatedly stated that the Prost Grand Prix team is his preferred option for the rapidly approaching 2002-championship season, however with the end of December nearing it looks as if the ex-Jordan driver may have to finalize a deal elsewhere. At this stage, Alain Prost has yet to find a savior for his company, the Frenchman still unable to confirm that his team will survive, or that, should an investor take it over, he would still be team boss.
The uncertainty in this situation hampers the French outfit in its preparations for the season and to add to that, if they make it to the grid for the first race of the year, the opening rounds are expected to be contested in last year's challenger. The new car, the AP05, should be available by the fourth race, but all in all, it's not a really good prospect for Frentzen.
According to reports in Auto Motor Und Sport, the reality of Heinz- Harald driving for the Orange Arrows team next year is becoming increasingly stronger, with claims that he is in final negotiations. After visiting their Leafield factory last month, rumours of a drive were squashed when it was thought that he was asked to pay a million dollars to relieve Jos Verstappen of his current contract. Despite the team claiming Verstappen and Bernoldi will drive for them in '02, neither driver was included in the official FIA entry list, adding even more fuel to this rapidly spreading fire.
Although not as bad as Prost, financially, Arrows isn't a bed of roses either. However, after the sale of his wind-tunnel to Jaguar, Tom Walkinshaw is solvent enough to have Niki Lauda supply his outfit with up-to-date Jaguar engines. Add to that Telecommunication giant, France Telecom (Orange) and Red Bull, and the situation doesn't appear too dire. Another issue would be Frentzen's salary, however that shouldn't be too big a problem either as the three time GP winner should receive a payout from Eddie Jordan over his sacking earlier this year.
Since Red Bull boss Dietrich Materschitz is determined to continue backing his protégé Enrique Bernoldi, the Brazilian will most likely remain on the team. All this points to Jos Verstappen's future with the outfit being on very shaky ground. According to his manager Huub Rothengatter, the Dutchman has a valid contract, however this wouldn't be the first time that Verstappen would have to give up a seat he thought he had for lack of sponsor money or the first time Arrows has changed a driver at a moments notice, just ask Pedro de la Rosa.
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart, had hoped of employing Frentzen's services to drive alongside rookie Alex Yoong, however it now appears as if Verstappen is in line for that role instead. Hopefully all will be revealed one way or the other in the not too distant future.
Minardi team boss, Paul Stoddart, is not very impressed with the Orange Arrows outfit as he believes they are playing games with both Verstappen and Frentzen and the Australian businessman has openly admitted that he would be more than glad to have either one driving for the Faenza team alongside Malaysian driver Alex Yoong next year.
«They are toying with Verstappen und Frentzen», Stoddart was quoted as saying in the German media. «Both of who I want.»
Yoong has also expressed an interest in having Heinz-Harald Frentzen alongside him in '02, the 25-year-old admiring the German's talent and would love to learn from his vast experience.
«Frentzen's a great driver, if he was my new teammate I would love that because I think I could really learn a lot off a driver like Frentzen, but right now I think that Minardi is looking at everyone», he told us recently. «But, for me on a personal level, I would prefer to have a more experienced teammate because I can learn. I want to try and learn as much as possible and try to improve myself as much as possible. So obviously a more experienced teammate would be a benefit for me.»
Frentzen has openly admitted that he wants to stay with Prost, if the team can pull itself out of the financial mire they are in at present, however if they cant, then Minardi is a viable option that he would look at. At this stage it appears as if the Arrows deal, if there was one, is off anyway, as Heinz-Harald refused to pay a ‘buy out' fee on Verstappen's contract, giving Stoddart more reason to think he has the chance of gaining the three time GP winner's services.
«If Prost continue it's fair to say Frentzen will stay with them», Stoddart told Autosport. «If not, I suspect we'll get him.»
Not only is Alain Prost hoping that the current financial problems plaguing his Formula One team will be resolved in time to make it to the grid in Australia, so is Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The German driver competed for the French outfit from the Hungarian Grand Prix this year after Jean Alesi took over his vacated seat at Jordan. In Spa, Heinz qualified the AP04 in fourth place, however he was later forced to start from the back of the pack after stalling on the grid.
In an interview with German magazine 'Motorsport aktuell' Frentzen explained that he fully believes there is fresh hope for the struggling Prost team, despite the fact that they were forced to take drastic steps last week and go into receivership. He admitted that instead of going elsewhere for the upcoming 2002 season, he would prefer to remain with Prost, however his decision on the matter has no bearing on their current crisis.
Recent reports put the three time GP winner at Orange Arrows' Leafield base and rumours began that he had already signed a deal that would see him taking over from Dutch driver Jos Verstappen. Although he admitted to being there, Frentzen claims that he only visited the factory, nothing more and nothing less, despite claims he was asked to pay a handsome figure to pay out Verstappen's contract, something he refused to do.
However, Arrows are not the only team with their sights set on the ex- Jordan driver with Paul Stoddart hoping to employ an experienced driver to partner Alex Yoong in his first full season. Frentzen hinted to Motorsport Aktuell that the possibility to drive for Minardi was an option, if the team of his choice failed to make it to Albert Park.
«Prost is the best option for me», he said. «I'm familiar with both the team and the car, I know more or less what to expect. I know Paul Stoddart is very determined and I assume the team will have more money next year so there would be a chance for me to help them develop.»
Alain Prost, who's Formula One team was placed into receivership on Thursday stated that this legal procedure, which has the advantage of freezing the company's debts, should allow his cars to participate in the 2002 Formula 1 season.
The professor confirmed that the debt of his company Prost GP amounted to FF 200mm (Euros 30.5 mm) and didn't try to deny the poor results his team has had since its inception in 1997. However he was convinced that the observation period of 6 months that he was granted by the Versailles Trade Court will allow him to find the necessary funding, estimating the cost to participate in the 2002 championship season at FF 500mm (Euros 76mm). He also didn't exclude the possibility of his remaining as head of the company, even if his name has to be disassociated from the French outfit, the aim being to ‘take the best possible solution in view of the team's survival'.
«The solution will depend on offers», he added he stating that 5 to 7 potential partners are likely to join him. «But the ideal situation would be one big sponsor or one big financial investor. A team like ours has absolutely to live.»
«Our project has to be reborn», he underlined while refusing to consider a 'social plan' that would reduce the headcount (250) of his company. To the contrary, he accentuated the amount of talent he has brought together over the last 5 years, inviting his employees to remain faithful. «The only solution is to stick together, to remain united. If we come through this, we will come through together.»
If the team does survive this situation and make it to Melbourne for the season opener in March, there is still the issue of drivers. Luciano Burti is now an official test driver with Ferrari with strong reports that Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who did wonders for the team in the final races of 2001, scoring a fourth placed spot on the grid at Spa before stalling on the line, forcing to start the race from the back of the grid instead, looking elsewhere.
Frentzen has stated that he would prefer to stay with Prost for 2002 and will only go elsewhere if the teams financial difficulties make it impossible for him to stay. Alain Prost is elated that the German driver is prepared to show so much patience before possible going elsewhere, however he would like to give the driver guarantees, something that may take a little while longer.
«One has to give him the necessary guarantees as soon as possible», Prost explained. «We hope that he can wait a little longer.»
It is now thought a possible deal between Frentzen and the Orange Arrows outfit has turned cold after Heinz-Harald declined the request to come up with an extra million so that the Leafield based squad could pay out Jos Verstappens contract and put him in the drivers seat instead. This is at least some good news for Prost and his hope that Frentzen waits a little longer just may materialize.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen has spoken out about his dismissal from the Jordan Grand Prix team earlier this season, the German driver admitting to Formula One magazine that he is still slightly confused as to why things eventuated the way they did.
Only weeks prior to the shock sacking, Eddie Jordan released a press statement confirming his number one driver after media speculation placed Frentzen with the newly formed Toyota team for 2002. Eager to squelch the rumours, Eddie announced that Heinz-Harald would be with Jordan until the end of the 2002 season.
Despite the problems experienced during the year, including a heavy shunt for Frentzen in Monaco, the three time race winner didn't expect to lose his drive, especially half way through the year. He honestly thought that they would work through their problems together, as a team, and was taken completely by surprise to suddenly find himself out in the cold.
«Things were not going well, but we were a top- class team trying to perform at the top level. Look at Michael with Ferrari. He didn't produce the world title after two seasons, but Ferrari didn't fire him did they? Look at what Mika has achieved at McLaren. He didn't do that overnight. It took years and years of hard work», he explained, adding that things began to go downhill earlier in the season after he was forced to miss the Canadian GP due to injuries sustained in Monaco. «By that stage things were going even worse than before. But I felt it was part of the transition period, and in any transition process there are low points. That was the lowest point. But I thought a lot of constructive things were coming out, I knew what the problems with the car were, and felt that we could work together as a team to improve them. Again you look at Ferrari, McLaren and Williams, they went through exactly the same thing.»
The matter will now be dealt with by the court after the two parties failed to reach an amicable compromise.
The Prost Formula One team went into receivership yesterday to mark the end of a dream for Alain Prost to add success as a team owner to his four drivers' world titles. The French Prost team had a terrible season this year, winning just four points, and has now been wound up with reported debts of 27 million dollars (30.49 million euros).
The winner of 51 Grand Prix, known as the professor because of his mastery of the sport, had wanted to succeed with a French car, engine, driver and owner but his aspirations have fallen short. Prost told a news conference here on Thursday that the team would need 48 million dollars (76 million euros) to compete in the 2002 season.
«We have taken the best decision possible for the continuity of the team in 2002», said the Frenchman. «The solution to our problems will depend on what sort of offers we receive. We have debts of 27 million dollars. We will have to start on a new basis and that is by paying our debts. What we need is a big sponsor. That's the thing we have been missing from the time we started.»
Prost retired from racing in 1993, taking control of the Ligier stable in 1997 and signing a partnership deal with French constructor Peugeot to supply engines for three years. With French driver Olivier Panis carrying the feisty Prost's hopes, the first signs of trouble did not take long to materialize. Panis was seriously injured in June of 1997 at the Montreal Grand Prix, an injury which Prost said had compromised the entire season, while hoping for a promising second season in charge.
However in both 1998 and 1999 the Prost team failed to live up to those hopes. Even worse, the Prost team finished the 2000 world championship with no points, and in last place behind Italian minnows Minardi. This year's slight improvement, a ninth place in the 11-team constructors standings courtesy of Jean Alesi, did little to halt the slide. Prost, who it is claimed is often difficult to deal with, saw his relationship with Alesi deteriorate and on August 8 Alesi finally upped and left, joining the Jordan team.
To many observers that departure was quite expected - Prost is said not to be known for his tact or man management skills, and his spat with Alesi was simply one of many he had with a number of collaborators, including technicians, administrative staff, drivers and financial partners. While determined to hold on to his dream of emulating his on-track exploits off it, Prost was gradually abandoned by key players in his set-up - Peugeot, Gauloises, SEITA which later became Altadis and was the long-standing sponsor of the team.
The sale of a 40 percent stake in the team to Brazilian Pedro Diniz at the end of last year gave Prost some breathing room, allowing him to equip his cars with Ferrari engines. But the move failed to seduce the sponsors and last season's budget - a shadow of those of previous years - was the first sign that Prost's race to succeed would be finally flagged down.
According to reports flooding the internet, Prost driver and ex- Jordan star, Heinz-Harald Frentzen has already signed with the Orange Arrows outfit for the 2002 season and beyond, despite denials from team managers on the matter. It is thought that the German driver will take the place of Jos Verstappen, even though the Leafield outfit picked up the Dutchman's option earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Enrique Bernoldi was thought to be a sure thing to remain with the team due to the added commitment of Red Bull next year. It is well known that Red Bull left Sauber due to the fact that team boss, Peter Sauber, opted to put Kimi Raikkonen into the vacant seat for the 2001 championship over Bernoldi, who is sponsored by energy drink giant.
Despite these continued claims, Arrows have denied the speculation once again with a spokesperson for the team, while admitting that Frentzen has indeed been to the factory to visit team boss, Tom Walkinshaw, stated that no deals have been done with the German. They also reiterated that Jos was confirmed some time ago and as for Enrique, although the Brazilian driver's contract was only for one year, it is currently being reviewed.
Many will remember last year when Pedro de la Rosa thought his contract was going to be renewed and the team called in Bernoldi to replace him at the last minute. With only five weeks remaining before testing will resume, it's now a case of 'wait and see' as to who will actually be where when the first race of the new season gets underway in March.
The Frentzen-Jordan saga will more than likely find it's way in court soon, the German driver suing his former employer for an estimated 7.5 million pounds after he was fired without warning just prior to the 2001 German Grand Prix. According to reports, the duo attempted to reach an out of court settlement recently, however they failed to agree, leaving it for the English judicial system to put a price on the drivers out of pocket expenses.
These expenses include Frentzen's payment for being the team's driver as well as remuneration for the public relations work that he did in England prior to his dismissal. However, despite the turmoil between the two parties, Eddie Jordan is hoping that the good relationship he used to enjoy with Heinz-Harald will improve over the course of time as the Irishman believes life is too short to bear grudges.
Although unable to actually speak on the issues involved on advice from his lawyers, Eddie Jordan revealed to F1 Magazine that although things are strained between them at the moment, there have been times when they were thrown into each other's company, such as the plane ride to the Japanese GP, and the atmosphere wasn't something he would class as hostile.
«It wasn't like it used to be with him, but we did speak, at the beginning about Formula One in general and then we progressed on to what we had been doing and what we wanted to do next year and that is a start», Eddie was quoted as saying. «It will take time for it to get back to what it was, but life is too short to bear grudges. Formula One has a way of getting on with life very quickly. Just because there are a few writs about the place doesn't mean you can't talk on planes. To be honest bigger and better people have sued each other before so I regard the whole issue as a separate issue to my relationship with Heinz-Harald.»
The Frentzen-Jordan ordeal is set to go to court soon after the two failed to come to an agreement that was suitable for both parties. It is not new information that Heinz-Harald Frentzen is suing his former employer Eddie Jordan for 7,5 million dollars following his firing by the team in the days prior to the German Grand Prix.
On the 31st of August Frentzen's lawyers made their intentions clear that they would be suing Jordan in the British courts. The reason being that on the 21st of June, the German was told by Jordan that his contract had been extended and that he would be driving with the team for 2002. However just over a month later Frentzen was let go by Jordan in the middle of the season.
It is believed that Frentzen is asking for 7,514,706 dollars in total, which included expenses, payment for being the team's driver and racing, as well as remuneration for the public relations work that he did in England prior to his dismissal. The two are now set to appear in court and for the matter to be resolved legally before the end of the year as they have not been able to reach an informal agreement.
According to a recent interview given by Alain Prost in the Daily Telegraph, the boss of the struggling Prost outfit has said that he has a few possible options ahead of him that could help his team. When asked if the team was in trouble, the Frenchman did not deny it and in fact went as far as to say the team was in a «serious situation».
Prost said that one of his solutions could be found through Prince Al Waleed, who had previously been linked to the team in the media. It is a known fact that he is very interested in Formula One and could be interested in becoming a shareholder in the team.
Then of course there is former F1 driver Pedro Diniz. According to Prost Diniz has not withdrawn from the team or relinquished his 40 percent stake in it. In fact Prost says that Diniz has been attending all Prost GP's meeting, except those held in August.
However while Prost may be on the verge of finding a solution to his financial woes the former world champion still needs to find drivers for 2002 and beyond. It is not sure yet if Luciano Burti will be returning to Prost next year when he will be alright to drive, or if Thomas Enge could be with the team, although they may be Prost's only options as he could be losing German driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
Reports in the media have confirmed that Minardi boss Paul Stoddart is very keen to sign Frentzen for next year after losing Fernando Alonso to Renault. Arrows is also said to be interested in the German who went to see the team's headquarters along with Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw at the end of October.
It remains to be seen which of the options Prost will take not only to save his team but also to drive for him, and whether or not Diniz will dispose of his shares in the team. As yet nothing has been released by Prost, and the world will still have to wait to see if the team will line up on the grid at the first race of 2002, the Australian Grand Prix.
Following Fernando Alonso's switch to Renault as a test driver, Minardi boss Paul Stoddart is looking for a replacement to team up with Malaysian driver Alex Yoong for 2002. Although various names are being thrown around by the press that include the likes of Mark Webber, Christijian Albers and Andrea Piccini, Stoddart has admitted that there are actually six drivers that he is looking at.
The name at the top of his list is Prost driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The main reason being that Stoddart is looking for a driver who has experience and knows what is going on, and seeing as himself and Frentzen have a good relationship he is interested in signing the German. However Stoddart will have to fight Prost for Frentzen's signature, which is believed to already be on a contract as long as Prost finds the finances the team needs to compete in next year's championship.
Stoddart told Motorsport News: «Heinz-Harald would be my first choice to replace Fernando. I have a big affiliation with him.»
While speculation still surrounds the Prost GP team's future in Formula One, the French outfit's drivers continue to think about the upcoming 2002 championship season. Although neither driver has been officially confirmed, at this stage it appears as if Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Luciano Burti will be at the helm once again next year.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen has recently commented about the challenges involved with driving for a F1 team considered small in terms of their rivals, the German having competed for Jordan and Williams during his Formula One career. The budget at Prost is miniscule in comparison to these outfits, with four time champion turned team boss, Alain Prost, struggling to secure future sponsors to keep the team afloat. «It's easier to win a race driving a Williams or a Ferrari than scoring a point driving a Prost. This is the real challenge», said the three time GP winner.
Luciano Burti, a rookie to the sport this year and already competing for both Jaguar and Prost, managed eighth places in Australia and Canada. However, the Brazilian driver failed to score any points during his debut season and agrees with Frentzen over the difficulties facing the smaller outfits in the sport.
«I wish I had scored at least one point this year, but it's good to hear from a experienced driver like Frentzen how difficult it is to drive for teams considered to be small», Burti stated on his official website. «I have never driven for a top team, but I agree with Frentzen.»
With Alain Prost's efforts to find finance for his team yet to be successful - and with time running out - the future of Heinz-Harald Frentzen is keeping several team bosses interested at the moment. Prost says that he wants to keep Frentzen for next year but the 34-year-old German, who has won three Grand Prix victories in recent years (with Williams and Jordan), is believed to be in the shopping list for other teams as well. Arrows would love to have the German but money is very thin on the ground at Leafield despite optimistic press statements about the future. Our spies tell us that team boss Tom Walkinshaw is worried about making ends meet and does not have the money to even think about paying a star like Frentzen.
Minardi might be another option as the team does have some money available but Frentzen may have doubts about whether the Asiatech engines are good enough.
Prost driver Heinz Harald Frentzen said in an interview with the newspaper 'Bild am Sonntag' that he has a contract from Prost for the 2002 season, but is waiting to see the team's financial package for 2002 before he signs.
Frentzen had a difficult 2001 season, moving to Prost after he was forced to leave Jordan, but although the German failed to score any points with his new team, he says that the challenge of helping Alain Prost’s team move forward is something he relishes.
«It is easier to win a race with a Ferrari or BMW than to get a single World Championship point with a Prost», Heinz-Harald told the newspaper.
«That is the challenge, to lead a team from the back of the field into the front-to-middle zone. I drive and fight for the future. From time to time I also want to beat a few established teams.»
Despite his hesitation to sign, he admitted that the Prost team is his first choice, but also confirmed that he is in discussions with some of the other teams.
He in turn confirmed his desire to continue racing when he said: «I have not gone as far as Mika Hakkinen, my batteries are not empty. In fact the opposite: I still want to drive for several years.»
German Formula One driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, is still to secure a seat for the upcoming 2002 championship season. After his shock dismissal from the Jordan team in late July, Frentzen has been competing for the Ferrari powered Prost outfit. Everyone has marveled at the way Heinz has pulled so much performance out of the AP04, even qualifying as high as fourth on the grid at the Belgian Grand Prix. Sadly, a stall on the grid sent him to the back of the pack and ruined any chance of a strong finish.
He is hoping that he will once again take to the track for the French outfit when teams make their way to Melbourne for the opening round next March, however with Alain Prost's current financial woes, the decision on their 2002 drivers is still in the air. Heinz has a lot of confidence in the new Prost challenger and even believes that the team will finally be able to make some headway towards catching the rest of their rivals.
«It's not decided yet...but it would be a great pleasure for me to drive for them next year», he revealed. «The new Prost car for 2002 is clearly better. With the new one they will be getting nearer the top of the group.»
An Arrows 2002 drive for Heinz-Harald is uncertain
Arrows fans are still waiting for the OrangeArrows team to decide
on and announce the No2 driver to partner Jos Verstappen in the
Cosworth powered A23 next year. One of the strongly mooted names
is Heinz-Harald Frentzen in a deal linked with Cosworth, but his
future in F1 is less than certain.
The recent Heinz-Harald Frentzen/Arrows story centred around Ford
wanting a presence in the German market, and various rumours
surrounding the futures of current Jaguar drivers Eddie Irvine and
Pedro de la Rosa. The basic upshot is that Frentzen could sit out
a year in Arrows and then jump ship to a full Jaguar drive for
2003. This would give Arrows one of their strongest driver
line-ups ever, but would risk the team losing it's Red Bull money
by not keeping Enrique Bernoldi. During the recent TV coverage of
the Japanese Grand Prix, commentators revealed that Frentzen had
expressed a wish to stay at Prost for 2002, but that is by no
means certain as the French team continue to struggle to find
funds for the next season. In a recent quote the German himself
reveals that he has no firm plans for 2002. «It's not
decided yet», he said. «Alain is working on the
package for next year. The financial situation is not officially
announced yet, so it will take a little bit of time. It would be
a great pleasure for me to drive for them (Prost) next year,
that's for sure, but we have to wait and see how we get things
together.» This would indicate strongly that a
Cosworth/Arrows/Jaguar contrived deal is not first on
Heinz-Harald's list of options. The question now is who else can
Arrows recruit the strengthen the driver line-up for 2002?
Just a racing incident between Frentzen and de la Rosa
Heinz-Harald Frentzen is still waiting to see what will happen to
him in the 2002 season, the German driver finishing out this year
for the Ferrari powered Prost team after being fired from Jordan
only days prior to the German Grand Prix. He currently has a
lawsuit in action over his former boss's actions, however as for a
seat in the new season, that is still up in the air.
Rumours place him with the Prost outfit again, especially after
the amazing performances displayed in the four races he completed
for the French outfit. He was constantly putting the AP04 well up
the order and the German driver has stated that he would be more
than pleased to stay. However, the final race in Japan last week
saw him finish in 12th place after an early coming together with
the Jaguar of Pedro de la Rosa, something he quickly pointed out
as just a normal racing incident.
«In one of the first laps I lost my front wing at Pedro de
la Rosas car. And before I start to be angry again – I say that
this was just a normal race accident», Heinz-Harald
explained. «After that I drove an aggressive race, every lap
in qualifying speed. That was not only satisfactory – it also
resulted in the seventh fastest lap in the race.»
Prost's hopes of finishing the season finale on a high were dashed
this afternoon after Tomas Enge was forced to retire and
Heinz-Harald Frentzen crossed the line to claim twelfth place, one
lap down on race winner, Michael Schumacher. The German driver's
day didn't start well after a tangle with the Jaguar of Pedro de
la Rosa saw him in the pits very early with a broken front
wing.
However, with the strong reliability shown throughout the 2001
season, the French outfit can claim tenth place in the
constructors championship, a step up from their disastrous 2000
attempt that saw them finish 11th and last.
«I started the race with a huge handicap since I had an
early contact with Pedro de la Rosa which broke my front wing.
Broken pieces were stuck underneath my car and I had to drive at
the speed of a bicycle to the pits where the team changed my car's
nose», Frentzen explained. «The car was really fine
after that and I attacked each lap very hard trying to catch the
time lost back. I had an exciting race actually, with several good
overtakings. I must say this was one of the toughest race of my
career: each lap was like a qualifying lap and it was very
demanding to race at that speed. But I really enjoyed it. I want
to thank all the team for giving me such a reliable car and for
the very good job done since we started working
together.»
Meanwhile teammate Tomas Enge was forced to retire on lap 42, the
Czech driver having a very difficult race from start to early
finish. After being overtaken by Verstappen on the formation lap
Tomas was unsure if he should reclaim the place and eventually
started the race behind the Arrows instead of in front of it.
«Unfortunately everything went wrong for me in this race. I
was a bit disturbed that Verstappen overtook in the formation lap
and did not know whether I should overtake him back. We decided
that I would start from behind him. My start did not go really
well, and I have been held up in the traffic for a while,
especially by Verstappen until he got his penalty on lap
17», he explained. «After my first pit-stop things
went better, I pushed hard and improved my times lap by lap.
Unfortunately, I made a mistake when I looked at Minardi's
pitboard and thought the team was calling me in. They were
obviously not ready when I went into the pits and I came back
again the following lap. This cost us a lot of time of course,
but anyway, soon after I experienced a brake problem. I did
another stop so that the team could check the problem and went
back on the track, but I came back to the garage immediately. It
would not have been safe to continue. This is not an ideal end to
the season but I want to thank the team warmly for giving me the
opportunity to drive in the three last races. This was the
hardest and most exciting school of my life. Now I hope I can
build up on this to be on the starting grid next
season.»
«Apart from the unfortunate difficulties we encountered in
today's race, we have proved that our car was very competitive.
It is a shame that Heinz-Harald had to pit soon after the start,
because he drove a fantastic race, posting 7th fastest time and
achieving very high speeds. We are very thankful for the
excellent work he has done for us», added Joan
Villadelprat, Managing Director. «I am sorry that Tomas
could not see the chequered flag especially after the
determination he has shown throughout this weekend, but the safe
decision was to bring him in because of his brake problem. We
are really glad that the year is over now, as it has been a very
difficult season for everybody in the team. Everyone has done a
very good job, especially all the people back in the factory and
I would like to thank them for the efforts they have put in
constantly. Needless to say, we are now looking forward to next
season.»
A smiling Heinz-Harald Frentzen exited his Prost AP04 on Friday
afternoon, very content with the fact that he had secured a strong
time and position in the opening practice sessions of the weekend.
The German's name was fifth on the leaderboard, along with three
other Michelin runners, and although he knows not a lot should be
deduced from Friday's times, he was nevertheless extremely pleased
with himself.
The car was handling beautifully, better than expected, and he was
in control, what better way to start things off for the final race
of the season? However, things were a lot different on Saturday.
Although he knew that a top six grid position would be almost
impossible to achieve, with two Williams, two Ferrari's and two
McLarens, let alone the other teams that have been getting
increasingly stronger in front of him, but the Prost man was
hoping to make it into the top ten.
Sadly, this didn't come to pass and he is forced to start from
15th on the Suzuka grid, making it a tough fight here this
afternoon if he plans on bringing the 2001 season to a close
with a points scoring finish.
«Yesterday (Friday) I said that the balance of my car
surprised me. Today I have to say that this is still more or less
true, but the balance was still not good enough», Frentzen
stated. «Suzuka is a track, where everything has to be
perfect. Engine, aerodynamics and most of all balance have to be
very good, because the track has so many fast and difficult
corners. This track has clearly shown the problem of our car
today. And because the track is so long, the gap to the top is
very big. My three fastest laps were in one tenth of second, so I
can say that I did the maximum.»
Despite a strong run in earlier practice sessions, the Ferrari
powered Prost outfit will start tomorrows Japanese Grand Prix from
15th and 19th places on the grid with German driver Heinz-Harald
Frentzen securing the better time of the two. Heinz was suffering
a little bit of understeer throughout the hour and despite
finishing 15th, he believes he did his best.
«I tried very hard in today's qualifying. I really did the
maximum to improve», he explained. «I achieved the
best lap time in my first outing. The second and third ones were
indeed exactly in the same tenth of a second! I pushed like hell
but could not get out of the 1'35''1 bracket… On this track, you
need a perfect car balance to achieve the optimum lap time. As our
car still had some understeer I believe we did the best we could
do here today.»
Teammate Tomas Enge is four places behind and will start his first
ever Japanese Grand Prix from nineteenth on the grid, ahead of
both Orange Arrows drivers. Due to the accident he suffered here
yesterday, Tomas admitted to being a little overcautious to start
with, however he soon regained his confidence due to the good
handling of his AP04 and puts his slower time down mainly to
inexperience.
«After yesterday's accident, I had to get used to run on new
tyres and honestly, I drove a bit slower than I could have in the
beginning. After my first outing I chose not to change anything on
the car since the balance felt reasonably good. This is when I
managed to post my best time. Then we tried some small
modifications on the car but they did not help us at all and I
gave up my third try to come back to the pits», he
explained. «Unfortunately, I made a small mistake in my last
run and flat spotted my tyres. I believe this is partly due to my
lack of experience of both the car and the track. For sure, it
penalized me to lose yesterday's second session, but I also need
to get more experienced to optimise quicker the set-up and balance
of my car. So, relatively, I am quite satisfied with my final
position and most of all, I am very thankful to the team: because
of yesterday's crash, everybody worked very hard through the night
to give me a good car today and they really did. Now I am looking
forward to finishing the race in the best possible position, and
to learning as much as possible from it.»
«Again we have mixed feelings today On one hand, we are
happy that Tomas was able to get back in the game after
yesterday's accident and he did a very good job considering it is
his first time on this track. We are very satisfied with what he
achieved since he has joined the team», added Joan
Villadelprat, Managing Director. «On the other hand, we feel
a bit disappointed with Heinz-Harald's final position. He had been
very competitive since the start of the weekend but could not
confirm in today's qualifying. It looks like we just did not
manage to improve the car enough to reach the top ten position we
were aiming at. However this does not affect our hopes for
tomorrow : we managed to build a good race set-up, and our car's
balance on high fuel load is very satisfactory. Therefore we feel
well prepared and ready for tomorrow's Grand Prix.»
Prost Acer driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen continued to put the
Ferrari powered AP04 into places where it doesn't normally fit by
finishing Friday's opening practice sessions in a strong fifth
place. Prost haven't had a very strong season, apart from the
improved reliability issues that saw them finish out the year 2000
in eleventh and last place. However, since joining the team for
the Hungarian Grand Prix, Frentzen has been putting their 2001
contender into the top ten on a continual basis.
Admittedly, Friday's sessions are not the guide for the weekend as
teams try out different fuel loads and strategy, but thinking back
over the season, Friday's for Heinz at the Honda powered Jordan
outfit, normally saw him between 12th and 15th. We also shouldn't
forget his strong qualifying performance at Spa when he lined up
in a brilliant fourth place.
Whatever the reason, finishing that high up is a boost to the
team's ailing morale and Frentzen was more than thrilled with the
excitement the opening day of the Japanese GP provided. However,
there was one blight on the day and that was the accident
involving his rookie teammate, Tomas Enge, who was thankfully
uninjured in the shunt that ended the opening practice session of
the day.
«We had an exciting first day in Suzuka. Only the accident
of my teammate Tomas Enge was worrying, but we are all happy that
nothing happened to him», Frentzen remarked. «My car
was easy to drive and fast in both practice sessions. So I could
use my time well and do a lot of work. I was surprised that the
balance was better than I expected. I was for sure not surprised
that the track in Suzuka is tiring without power steering. But I
like this racetrack and I am looking forward to the race.»
Today's final practice session saw Heinz-Harald finish in
eleventh overall, the German working on fine-tuning the car for
this afternoon's qualifying.
The Prost Acer outfit had a day of mixed fortunes at the Suzuka
circuit today as they began preparations for Sunday's Japanese
Grand Prix, the final event on the 2001 championship calendar.
German driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished the day in a
brilliant fifth place and he was very pleased with the way both he
and the AP04 performed, running consistently in the top ten all
day.
«This was an exciting first day! I think I have never done
so well on the Suzuka circuit in terms of speed and
consistency», he smiled. «The track was quite good and
our car was in good shape too. We have been able to do quite a lot
of testing during the two practice sessions and completed our
programme. Unfortunately Tomas had a crash this morning which cost
him valuable time to learn the track and to do some additional
set-up work. So it is quite a mixed emotions day for the team, but
I am happy that Tomas was unhurt.
As Heinz stated, teammate Tomas Enge suffered a massive shunt
toward the end of the first hour, the young Czech driver, losing
valuable learning time on the Japanese track. Thankfully he was
able to walk away from the shunt that destroyed his Ferrari
powered contender and is now looking at getting back into the
thick of things tomorrow morning.
«This morning the track was really slippery and it was quite
difficult for me to learn the circuit as quickly as possible and
to get a feel of the car at the same time. I did not want to make
any mistake and I have been able to improve lap by lap.
Unfortunately, while I was pushing hard to improve, I entered too
fast in a corner and lost the rear of the car», he
explained. «Once I got out of the line, there was nothing I
could do to prevent from crashing into the barriers. It is very
disappointing because the car is very badly damaged and I lost the
benefit of the entire second session. However, looking at
Heinz- Harald's work today, it seems the car can be very
competitive here, and I am confident we can do a good job together
through the rest of the weekend.»
«The team did a very good job today. We went through the
normal Friday work, sticking to a single set of tyres this morning
to go through the set-up groundwork and then doing some back to
back between soft and hard tyres this afternoon», praised
Joan Villadelprat, Managing Director. «The car has been
performing very well throughout both sessions and Heinz- Harald,
who has been constantly in the top ten since this morning, is
satisfied with his car balance. The only negative point today was
Tomas' accident. He overdrove the car a bit and had a big shunt,
which prevented him from running this afternoon. It is a shame as
he needed to learn the track and he was getting quicker and
quicker when he made that mistake. Hopefully it will not
jeopardize his chance to perform well tomorrow in qualifying.
Overall, the team worked very well today, just like they did
throughout the season, and I hope we will confirm tomorrow the
competitiveness we have shown today.»
Despite the fact that the 2001 season is almost at an end, there
has still be no official explanation over the sacking of German
driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen from the Jordan team just days prior
to the German Grand Prix back in July. Both driver and Jordan boss
have kept very quiet over the reasoning behind the shock move that
left a lot of fans and sponsors of the team angry and
confused.
At the time, Frentzen revealed that Eddie Jordan had actually
fired him by fax for reasons he wasn't aware of at the time and he
intended to take the matter to court. Only weeks prior to the
sacking, it was officially announced that Heinz would remain with
the outfit until the end of the 2002 season, dispelling rumours
that he may be on his way to the newly formed Toyota entry next
year.
Since then, Frentzen has lodged a claim with the courts for
compensation over his dismissal, while Eddie Jordan has remained
silent, apart from stating that he intended to fight the German's
claim. However, the team boss has now spoken briefly over the
incident stating that although people thought he was mad to remove
Heinz from the team the way he did, he knows what he is doing and
believes it was the best thing to do for the overall future of the
team.
«Heinz did not share my vision for the future», he
explained. «He is a lovely, lovely guy. But at times it
seemed he wanted to not only drive the car but design it as well.
It caused problems with the engineers and was not good for the
team. There is no doubt we have to re-structure Jordan Grand Prix.
Williams went through a bad time for two or three years,
reorganized, and are now back at the top of the sport. We have to
do the same and I am in the middle of it now. People thought I was
mad sacking Frentzen. But I know what I am doing. I have won
everything in this sport apart from the Formula One constructors'
title. We have had race wins, pole positions, fastest laps and a
world title is the one thing left. I believe we can do
it.»
«This Grand Prix obviously leaves us a bit frustrated. We
saw we had many things in hand this weekend to achieve a good
performance in the race, and fight a bit further up the
field», added team boss Alain Prost. «Unfortunately
we encountered some difficulties again at the start and both our
drivers were held up several times without any possibility to
overtake. Both cars suffered some temperature problems which led
us to be careful, which also affected a bit of our performance.
However every time Heinz Harald was running on his own, he set
very good lap times. The race shows overall that we had made the
right decisions in terms of strategy and tyre choice. Therefore
we know our efforts will be fulfilled when we improve our
positions in qualifying as well as our start
strategies.»
Strong speculation in the Formula One world has linked current
Prost driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen to the Orange Arrows team for
the 2002 championship season. It is known that at this stage, the
sacked Jordan employee is only racing with Prost for the love of
the sport, as no money will exchange hands unless he brings the
AP04 home in a points scoring position.
At this stage, Arrows have only confirmed Dutch driver Jos
Verstappen for next year with teammate Enrique Bernoldi's seat
thought to be in the process of switching drivers. Verstappen has
openly admitted I the past that the Brazilian is not his favourite
person and was hoping that team boss Tom Walkinshaw would see fit
to give him a new teammate as soon as possible.
Walkinshaw has also gone on record stating that he would prefer an
experienced driver in the car, preferably one with GP victories
under his belt, something Frentzen has. Rumours on Frentzen taking
up the drive alongside Verstappen strengthen over the course of
the Indianapolis GP weekend when the German driver was seen in
heavy discussions with Jaguar boss, Niki Lauda.
Arrows announced earlier this season that they will be dropping
their current Asiatech supply at the end of the season, European
Minardi picking up the Asia option instead, while Arrows will team
up with Ford, owner of Jaguar, for the supply of Cosworth V10
engines. Other developments have also been announced, such as the
services of Sergio Rinland and this could be enough incentive for
Frentzen to make the switch for next year.
«We're very pleased to welcome Sergio to the OrangeArrows
team», Walkinshaw commented recently. «Next year's
car, the A23 is at a critical stage so Sergio's input will help us
to achieve our targets. We have a deal with Premier Performance
Division and Cosworth next year which will give us the power we
need to compete and now we have a strengthened design team so we
are doing everything we can to continue to improve our
performance.»
Could Frentzen's services be a part of their enhanced performance
plans? Only time will tell.
Unfortunately for the Ferrari powered Prost team, Sunday's
American Grand Prix didn't yield any positive results, apart
from the fact that the AP04 continued to display strong
reliability after both drivers failed to make it into the top six.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen, while only one a one-stop strategy, came in
a little too early after finding it difficult to move his way up
the field. However, the German driver was involved in a few good
battles, one with Olivier Panis, the other with Jenson Button and
although he enjoyed it immensely, he was a little disappointed at
finishing in ninth place.
«I was in a quite good position at the start but had no
opportunity to overtake often enough in the race. I was also
slightly disappointed that we chose to come in a bit early for my
single pit-stop, which prevented me from gaining positions while I
was still light on fuel», he explained. «Finally I
managed to overtake just two times. I had a great fight with
Jenson Button and also with Olivier Panis, and that was the
highlight of my race basically.»
Teammate Tomas Enge finished in thirteenth and last place after
suffering with clutch problems on the grid. The Czech driver gave
it his all throughout the event trying to make up for the lost
time at the start battling with the Minardi of fellow rookie Alex
Yoong for a lot of the event, the Minardi driver holding him up
before going in for his pit stop. Despite the problems, Tomas
enjoyed the race and is looking forward to the season finale at
Suzuka in two weeks time.
«Unfortunately I had a clutch problem at the start, and I
remained stuck on the grid. I had to start manually and it cost
me about ten seconds. Finally I managed to get away, but soon
after I was held up for quite a while by Alex Yoong who was
slower than me because of a different strategy», he
explained. «I could only take advantage of his pit-stop to
be able to pass him, and I started to catch up with the cars in
front of me. But I also had to refuel, and spent the rest of the
race running as consistently as possible, and gaining experience,
without being able to make up for the time lost on the cars
ahead. It is somewhat a bit frustrating but at least I am happy
I could see the chequered flag for my first race here in
Indianapolis and my second race ever in Formula One.»
«This Grand Prix obviously leaves us a bit frustrated. We
saw we had many things in hand this weekend to achieve a good
performance in the race, and fight a bit further up the
field», added team boss Alain Prost. «Unfortunately
we encountered some difficulties again at the start and both our
drivers were held up several times without any possibility to
overtake. Both cars suffered some temperature problems which led
us to be careful, which also affected a bit of our performance.
However every time Heinz Harald was running on his own, he set
very good lap times. The race shows overall that we had made the
right decisions in terms of strategy and tyre choice. Therefore
we know our efforts will be fulfilled when we improve our
positions in qualifying as well as our start
strategies.»
Prost Acer driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen will start this
afternoon's American Grand Prix from 15th on the grid after what
he describes as a good day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The German driver was as high as seventh in earlier practice
sessions and onl y four tenth of a second off the pace, however
due to a few minor problems throughout the qualifying hour, he
won't be starting anywhere near his fourth best spot for the
team achieved in Belgium.
«Even if my 15th position on the grid does not look that
good, I am happy with this day. We had some problems. I had to
interrupt my first lap, because one driver crossed my way in the
infield», Frentzen explained. «Before the third lap
we changed the wings, which made me three tenths of a second
faster in the first and second sector. But I lost two tenths in
the third sector. Nevertheless this was my fastest time, because
I wanted too much in the fourth lap, so I could not improve my
time.»
Heinz-Harald will have good memories of his race here last year
when he was competing for the Mugen Honda powered Jordan outfit.
The German driver finished the race on the podium after crossing
the finish line in third place behind the two leading Ferrari's.
While a similar result this year appears extremely doubtful,
Frentzen will be giving his all to try and come home in the
points.
After a strong practice session here yesterday, Prost Acer driver,
Heinz-Harald Frentzen is forced to settle for fifteenth on the
grid in tomorrow's American Grand Prix, the German driver
finishing the day a little more than a second and a half behind
pole man Michael Schumacher. He is not too disappointed with the
result, despite hoping to be further up the grid, however he is
confident of his chances in tomorrows 73 lap race.
«This qualif ying session was not too bad, even if our
positions do not do justice to the improvements we made since
yesterday. We opted for the safe side and decided to prioritise
the race, which was maybe at the cost of a few tenths
today», he explained. «But I believe this is the right
choice. The balance of the car is quite satisfactory, and as it
proved to be quite competitive on this track, our decision could
allow us to be in a good position in tomorrow's race.»
Teammate Tomas Enge suffered with brake failure toward the end of
the hour, the Czech driver losing control at turn eight and
sliding across the grass and into the tyre barrier. Thankfully he
was uninjured in the incident and will start his second grand prix
from 21st place.
«During my first three runs, we were still trying to improve
the balance and the grip of my car. I was also trying to adapt
myself further to the qualifying exercise, as it is only my second
experience of it. Everything was going quite well but in my last
flying lap, I had a brake failure and went off», he
remarked. «I could not prevent from crashing into the tyre
walls. I feel all the more disappointed as I achieved a very good
first intermediate on this lap. For sure, starting tomorrow's race
from the back of the grid will give us even more work, but the
important thing is that - fortunately - my accident was not too
bad, we will be able to fix the car and I am glad I can race
tomorrow.»
«Unfortunately we have not really been able to put together
a good lap today, despite both our drivers achieved some very good
intermediate times», added team boss Alain Prost. «It
is a pity because, considering the work done, we would have
deserved to start the race in better positions. However the 73
laps of the United States Grand Prix will be long enough to allow
us to take our chance. Our car has been competitive since the
start of the week-end and we approach this race with optimism.»
Once again Heinz-Harald Frentzen was in fine form as he took to
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday to participate in the
opening free practice sessions of the USGP weekend. Heinz is
thrilled that he finished the day in a very strong seventh place,
the German driver only four tenths off Mika Hakkinen's leading
pace. Although it's only practice and initial times don't really
account for much as teams experiment with different fuel loads and
tyre choices, the Prost Acer driver is confident that he should
have a good race.
«It is good to be back on the Indianapolis track. It is a
very special circuit, very enjoyable with its banking and the long
straight. I am really looking forward to the race», he said
after practice. «Everything ran smoothly today and we worked
well until we had a problem with the gearbox. It was not too
serious but we chose to stop in order not to take any risk.
Therefore we have some work left over for the second practice
session, especially some understeer that we need to cure, but we
made some improvements today and it looks promising for
tomorrow.»
Tomas Enge experienced the circuit for the first time, the Czech
driver participating in only his second ever Formula One race as
he takes over from regular driver Luciano Burti for the final
rounds of the season. He finished the day in sixteenth place after
a spin at turn eight left him stranded on the circuit. However,
despite this, he had an enjoyable first day and is looking forward
to the rest of the weekend.
«I had quite a good practice today, for my first time here
in Indianapolis. I kept on improving my times and position and
quickly felt comfortable. This morning I found the track quite
slippery but the overall grip was much better in the afternoon. We
were able to improve my car significantly and it looks like we can
be very competitive here», he said. «Unfortunately I
spun in the exit of turn 8 because my car suddenly had more
oversteer than I expected, and the traction control was not
exactly working as I wanted at that moment. It was a simple
spinning but unfortunately I stalled the engine and could not
restart. It is a pit y because I know there was still room for
improvement. But I feel satisfied with the job we have done
today.»
«This was a very positive first day for us. We were able to
complete a lot of work in view of the race itself, we tried the
two compounds proposed by Michelin and we now have a clear picture
of what suits our car best on this track», added Joan
Villadelprat, Managing Director. «Our cars proved to be
competitive today despite the second session was shortened for
both our drivers: Tomas spun off and stalled the engine which cost
him the last 15 minutes of practice. We also had a couple of
mechanical problems on Heinz-Harald's car: he came back because of
a throttle link failure, and ten minutes before the end of the
session, we decided not to restart because of a problem related to
the gearbox. But we are overall very satisfied with this first
day. Our competitiveness today is very promising, and it will be a
key in tomorrow's qualifying as the gaps will be very
close.»
Frentzen explains his race and sends wishes to Zanardi
Prost Acer driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen had high hopes in the
Italian Grand Prix last weekend, the German driver qualifying in
a strong 12th place. After his fourth placed start in Belgium
two weeks earlier that was compromised when he stalled on the
grid, Heinz was looking forward to a clean getaway and the
chance to fight his way up through the field for the French
outfit.
However, once again, this was not meant to be as the gearbox in
his AP04 gave up the fight and he was forced to retire. It was a
disappointing end to what had been a bad week, with terrorist
attacks in the United States putting the entire world in a
somber mood, something that was evident all weekend between fans
and Formula one personnel alike. Then, the horrific accident
involving Alex Zanardi made things even worse and Heinz has sent
the ex-Formula One driver his best wishes as he explained the
way his race unfolded on Sunday.
«With all the tragic things that happen during these days
I don't want to start off talking about the race», Heinz
said. «First of all I hope that Alex Zanardi can cope with
his bad injuries and can find his way back to life some day. His
crash was just another shock during a race weekend with which we
all had many doubts before. So there was an agreement among the
drivers today in order to make a clean and safe start. There
were other reasons for the trouble in the first chicane: The
leaders lost so much dried ice they had used for the radiators,
that the track suddenly was very slippery. Then Jarno Trulli
spun in front of me and I had to make way for the Jordan by
going to the inside. So I lost some positions because I got
passed by a few cars on the outside. The race itself turned out
to be quite constant, although Bernoldi hold us up a little bit.
But when that problem was solved, my gearbox or my differential
gave up its life and I simply had no power anymore.»
Despite his strong twelfth place qualifying position, Prost Acer
driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen retired from this afternoon's
Italian Grand Prix on lap thirty. The German ran into
difficulties at the start when he was almost caught in the first
lap incident with Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button, the Prost
driver forced to take evasive action that saw him lose several
positions. His gearbox failed him in the end, forcing him to drop
out of a top ten finis h.
«For some reason, the track was very slippery at the start
and in the first chicane. It was unlucky that Jarno Trulli spun
in front of me, which forced me to take the outside line»,
he explained. «A lot of cars drove through and I lost
several positions. I had to fight hard from behind, and Bernoldi
held us up for a while. Only when he went into the pits, I could
attack to the race. But soon after something broke. The engine
was running fine but I had no drive in the gearbox any longer.
This is what put an end to my race.»
Tomas Enge, stepping in for the injured Luciano Burti, finished
his debut Formula One race in twelfth place, the Czech driver
pleased to have made it to the end of the event. The 53 lap race
was a very valuable experience for him as he learnt his way
about the circuit and the ins and outs of the car itself.
«I am very happy to finish my first Formula One
race!», he said. «The car was running fine, and I did
not have any problem at all. I learnt a lot about all the
electronic devices, the various commands on the steering wheel,
traction control, engine mapping… All this was new to me but I
managed to complete this Grand Prix without making any mistake. I
finished 12th which is very satisfying for me. I am delighted
that I had the opportunity to drive for the Prost Acer team this
weekend, and that I could do a good job for them and for
Luciano.»
«We have mixed emotions about this race. On one side, Tomas
has been able to run consistently without any reliability
problems for the first time this week-end, and we are very
pleased with his performance», added Henri Durand.
»On the other hand, we can only be disappointed that
Heinz-Harald could not show his true potential and the car's.
Yesterday, we had decided to opt for hard compound tyres at the
cost of sacrificing Heinz-Harald's grid position, but we believed
in that option for the race. He started with a full tank and was
planned to refuel very late in the race. Unfortunately we don't
know how competitive he could have been since he was caught in
traffic for the majority of his race because of a poor start.
Besides, shortly after the traffic had cleared, he experienced a
transmission failure. Our weekend was plagued by reliability
problems which is very uncharacteristic for us this season. We
will of course analyse all the difficulties we have faced here
and will approach the n ext two races with our usual
determination.»
«The drivers had had long discussions prior to the race,
and decided in majority that there would be no overtaking
attempts before they would have passed first two chicanes»,
explained team boss Alain Prost. «In the end, we can only
express our disappointment for Heinz-Harald, since some drivers
did not take the same decision and cut through the chicane. This
cost us several positions and it is difficult to accept it.
Despite unusual reliability problems, we have shown a good level
performance at some point this weekend. After having been plagued
throughout the practices, Tomas managed to achieve a solid race
and gathered a valuable experience for the future. We are very
satisfied with the work he has done this week-end and all the more
frustrated that we could not complete the race with both our
cars.»
Prost Acer driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen qualified his AP04 on the
sixth row of the grid for tomorrows Italian Grand Prix, the German
driver recording the 12th best time of the session. Once again,
Frentzen outpaced the man he swapped places with, Jordan driver
Jean Alesi, this time out by four positions. He is thrilled with
the overall result, even happier than he was after qualifying in
fourth at Belgium.
«This qualifying result here in Monza means even more to me
than the 4th position I achieved in Belgium», he said.
«It shows indeed the improvements we have made on the car
since I joined the team. And especially, since yesterday, we were
able to improve the overall balance quite significantly. Still we
have not been able to ge t rid of the understeer, and it is
frustrating to know that the potential of the car is a lot higher
than what we have shown today. But I know we are going the right
way. So I am quite happy with this result and confident for the
race.»
Tomas Enge will start from twentieth place, the rookie driver who
is replacing the recovering Luciano Burti this weekend happy to
have made it through the hour without any mistakes. His hour was
short- lived however after his AP04 suffered a mechanical problem
that forced him to pull off the circuit and not complete his final
attempt.
«I am happy I could complete this qualifying session without
any mistake despite the circumstances did not allow me to show my
best. In my second run, I encountered an engine problem and had to
jump in Heinz-Harald's spare», he explained.
«Unfortunately, another mechanical problem happened which
prevented me from completing my last run. Still, it is satisfying
for me to manage to qualify for my first Formula One race ever,
even though 20th position is the most I could achieve in these
conditions. We will put a lot of efforts into finding the best
compromise for my car set-up, and I am really looking forward to
the race. My target will obviously be to see the chequered
flag.»
«Heinz-Harald has done a very good job since the start of
the weekend and we are really satisfied with both his performance
and his grid position», praised team boss, Alain Prost.
«Knowing our lack of testing on this track, his progression
since yesterday is all the more remarkable. Unfortunately, we had
a lot of bad luck on Tomas' car today. After this morning's engine
problem, we faced two mechanical problems in a row during
qualifying. It is not easy for a young driver to start in such
conditions on a very technical track like Monza. We feel sorry for
him, but the positive point is that he has been constantly
improving his performance, including when he had to jump in the
T-car which was set for his team-mate. The most important thing
now for Tomas is to reach the finish line in tomorrow's race in
order to gather the maximum experience. Considering the overall
work we have been able to do with Heinz-Harald and Tomas, we are
sure our cars can be competitive tomorrow.»
Heinz-Harald Frentzen continued to display the new found strengths
of the Prost Acer team during today's opening practice sessions
ahead of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. The German driver finished
the day in a strong tenth place only one place behind his
predecessor at the French outfit, Jean Alesi. He was pleased with
the reliability displayed throughout the day and is now looking
forward to a strong qualifying hour tomorrow despite the fact that
he knows there is still more work to do on a slight understeering
problem.
«Today we had two productive and reliable practice session
in which we have been able to work efficiently and in the right
direction. However, I do not feel a hundred per cent satisfied
yet, as we are still struggling with a strong understeer»,
he explained. «The pain is that I really feel I can be quick
and the potential of the car is definitely here. But we must erase
this understeer to be really competitive and today we were a bit
at the limit of the changes we could do on the car to cure it. So
our focus this afternoon will be to try and find the best possible
balance for tomorrow.»
Luciano Burti's replacement for this race, F3000 driver Tomas
Enge, spent the majority of the two sessions adapting to the
Ferrari powered AP04, finishing the afternoon in twentieth
position. With the familiarization of the car and circuit running
basically unhampered for most of the day, the young Czech driver
can now focus on setting some strong times tomorrow.
«One of my main goals today was to stay as long as possible
on the track, and I am happy that I could almost complete the two
sessions without any particular problem, apart from riding on a
kerb which slightly damaged the floor of my car at the end of this
morning's practice», he remarked. «This afternoon, we
chose to st op by precaution ten minutes before the end, because I
saw the oil temperature alarm was on, and we did not want to risk
an engine failure. Overall, I never pushed too hard today because
I did not want to make a mistake. We have quite a lot of work to
do to improve the balance of my car, which we will do this
afternoon with the engineers, but I feel confident and positive
after this first day. Tomorrow I will try my best to improve my
times and position!»
«Considering the fact that we have never tested on this
track this year, we can be relatively satisfied with the work done
today. We have seen that we can have a good level of performance
here but also that we have a lot to do regarding set-up and tyre
choice», added team boss, Alain Prost. «Despite the
understeer we are currently suffering from, I am confident that
Heinz-Harald will be in a position to optimise the car by tomorrow
afternoon. Tomas did well for his first practice with us on a
Grand Prix weekend. We did not expect too much from him today in
terms of performance and wanted to let him getting more acquainted
to the car. We will make the best of the two practice sessions
tomorrow morning for both Heinz-Harald and Tomas, and we feel
rather positive at the moment.»
The potential is there ... according to Heinz-Harald
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took to the Magny-Cours circuit last week in
his first official test session for the Prost Grand Prix team
after joining the French outfit for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Despite competing in two races so far, the German driver had yet
to undergo a full test program, and he was very pleased with the
progress they achieved throughout the day.
Frentzen did a superb job at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit just
over a week ago when he qualified the Ferrari powered AP04 in a
strong fourth place, the team's best position to date.
Unfortunately, he failed to make it off the grid and was relegated
to the back of the field, eventually finishing the race down in
tenth.
With the Italian Grand Prix only days away now, teams are focused
on the Monza circuit and all it has to offer, but instead of being
daunted by the high speeds normally achieved at this track,
Heinz-Harald is confident of a strong showing, firmly believing
that his new car has potential.
«Finally, we managed to have our first test with my new team
Prost», Frentzen stated. «In Magny-Cours we succeeded
in sorting out plenty of small things which remained unresolved
during the race weekends due to a lack of time. In the morning,
the track was humid so that we started later than anticipated.
Shortly afterwards, however, we had a break of 90 minutes after
Kimi Raikkonen had a huge shunt. He was flown into a hospital by
helicopter for a medical examination. Fortunately, he is okay. We
then dropped our lunch break to make up for the lost time. I did
some 50 laps. We've been doing plenty of work, setting up the car
mechanically in different ways and we've truly achieved progress.
I can say that I feel pretty well with the car. I stick to my
opinion, the Prost has got potential.»
The Prost Acer team completed their scheduled three-day test
session at the Magny-Cours track in France today with regular
driver, Heinz- Harald Frentzen at the wheel. The French outfit's
program commenced on Wednesday morning with Tomas Enge for the
first time at the wheel of the AP04, the Czech driver continuing
the test on T hursday before handing the duties over to
Frentzen.
The team had planned a specific program in order to evaluate
Tomas's abilities and to allow him to become accustomed with the
car, which he did most of the first day. He completed 63 laps with
a best time of 1:16.33 before spending his second day in France
carrying out a tyre comparison and trying different aerodynamic
set-ups. This was in view of the Italian Grand Prix next weekend
and he covered 57 laps and set a best time of 1:15.54. The new
Prost Acer test driver successfully ended his first two days with
the team on Thursday night, and proved to be very consistent and
quickly competitive.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took over driving duties today, and
completed a highly detailed program, partly in preparation for
the Italian Grand Prix. He worked mainly on suspension geometry
comparisons and on various set-up configurations. This gave him
the opportunity to gather further experience of the car, and the
team was able to collect valuable information, which will allow
them to work on a baseline suspension geometry for the 2003 Prost
challenger. Heinz- Harald successfully completed 60 laps, setting
a best time of 1:15.408.
«The test had been scheduled several weeks ago to run Tomas
for two days, as we signed him as our test driver for the
remainder of the 2001 season. We were all very impressed by his
performance, his good technical feedback and by the way he implies
himself to the task in hand», remarked John Walton, Prost
Grand Prix Sporting Director. «He mainly learnt the car on
the first day and set his best time on hard compound tyres with
race fuel loads. On his second day, he tried some small
aerodynamic elements, which we will use in Monza next week, and
carried out a race tyre comparison. Heinz-Harald also had a
trouble- free day and overall it was therefore a very productive
and satisfactory session for our team. Today's work was only
interrupted by Kimi Raikkonen's accident, and the whole Prost Acer
team were happy to learn he escaped unhurt and will be fit for
Monza next week.»
Prost Acer driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen had the makings of a
brilliant Belgian Grand Prix, the German driver one of the few
that took advantage of the drying Spa-Francorchamps circuit to
qualify his Ferrari powered AP04 in a superb fourth place. The
team celebrated well into the night, this being their best grid
position in some time, however Sunday's race turned to grief as
Heinz sat there waving his hands just as the race was about to
start.
Sent to the back of the grid for being the cause of an aborted
start, Frentzen watched the possibility of scoring his first
points with the French outfit disappear. Then, to make the day
even worse, teammate Luciano Burti was involved in a horror smash
on lap four, the Brazilian currently in hospital suffering
bruising to the brain.
Any thoughts of Heinz's disastrous start went out the window as
concern mounted for his teammate, however once he was safe in the
knowledge that Luciano had survived the ordeal and was not too
seriously injured, the challenge was on once again. Unfortunately
for Heinz, what started off as a good weekend turned to
disappointment when he finished ninth out of the 13 classified
runners.
«The most important thing at the beginning, my teammate
Luciano Burti is doing fairly well in these circumstances. He
suffered a serious concussion but he remained fully conscious.
Apparently, his head bounced against the tyre wall. The accident
happened at 300 km/h and Luciano hit the tyre wall at some 250
km/h. It sounds unbelievable, but the chassis remained intact. A
fact that proves how much energy is absorbed by the tyre
walls», Frentzen explained. «At the start of the
race, the gears in the gearbox came to a halt in an extremely
unlucky position so that they wouldn't engage. In these rare
situations, you've got to switch to the neutral position quickly
and repeat the starting procedure. This is easier said than done,
as the red lights don't wait for you. Unexpectedly, the first
gear would suddenly engage and the engine stalled. Then I had to
start from the last row. In the safety car phase, I pitted. In
this situation we were maybe a bit too ambitious. My car was
completely topped up with fuel and we had to realize that it
lacked any balance under full load. The tyre wear increased too
much and I had to finish a controlled race, just hoping for
some rain. But even in this regard, I was completely
disappointed from Spa.»
It was the sickening crash involving Luciano Burti that dominated
the early stages of this afternoon's Belgian Grand Prix, the Prost
Acer driver ploughing into a tyre wall after his car touched the
Jaguar of Eddie Irvine on the fourth lap, sending both cars flying
off the circuit. The safety car immediately raced onto the track
with the red flag halting the race. Burti's car went quickly into
the grass as the front wing came off, at speed of about 300
kilometres an hour.
Irvine, whose car stopped nearby, ran over and started to peel off
the tyres, but Burti was not moving in the car. Dr. Sid Watkins,
medical delegate to the International Automobile Federation, was
on the scene to direct activities and the Brazilian was put into
the ambulance immediately without any emergency treatment being
administered and taken to the medical centre. Burti was later said
to be conscious before being taken to a hospital in Liege for a
brain scan. This was the Brazilian's second serious accident this
season after slamming into the back of Michael Schumacher's
Ferrari in Germany.
After transportation to hospital, Luciano underwent a complete
check. He suffers bruising into places on his head and face and
the brain scan showed head injury but with no brain swelling. As a
precautionary measure, he will spend the night in observation and
will undergo another scan tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile, Frentzen's well-deserved fourth place in Saturday's
qualifying hour came to an abrupt end when he stalled on the grid
on the initial race start. The German driver suffered gearbox
problems on the grid and was forced to start the race from the
back. Then he suffered contact with the Williams of Juan Pablo
Montoya who had been relegated to the back as well, causing Heinz
to lose downforce. He eventually finished the race in ninth
place.
«Unfortunately it started in the worst way with a stall on
the grid. I had a dog to dog in the gearbox, I could not shift
into first gear quick enough, so I tried to push the neutral, and
to switch into first gear again, but the last light of the start
procedure was almost off and I probably clutched too early»,
he explained. «It was a very confusing situation. But the
worst was to see Luciano's accident, it was really terrible and it
was nice to hear before the second start that he was conscious and
able to speak. For the rest, we tried to adapt our strategy as I
had to start from the back of the grid. But my car's balance was
really affected by an early impact with Montoya, which broke the
side pod and the floor. I lost a lot of downforce. Finally it was
really not a race in which we could fight for points.»
«After good practice sessions and a very respectable morning
warm-up we had good expectations for the race», added Henri
Durand, Technical Director. «However Heinz' stall on the
grid did seriously compromised his chance of a good result. We do
not yet have a full explanation of the reasons for that and will
investigate it in due course. As a result of his stall, he started
from the back of the grid and had an encounter with two other cars
very early on, which damaged his bodywork and compromised the
aerodynamic balance of his car. Following Luciano's accident, it
was difficult for us to keep focused, but we knew Luciano was in
good hands and we tried to do our best to recover Heinz' race.
While the safety car was out we tried to put enough fuel in his
car to go on a one-stop strategy which was in Heinz' sight a
mistake. The combination of him running high fuel load and damaged
bodywork meant that his car was lacking balance and grip for the
whole race. We come empty handed from this weekend but with a
certain relief that Luciano is OK. For sure in any aspect our next
race will be better.»
«We were hoping for a good result today, but things turned
out in a totally unexpected way. Heinz-Harald had a very difficult
race, but most of all, we have been really frightened by Luciano's
accident», added a concerned Alain Prost. «It is
almost a miracle that he is now out of danger, considering the
violence of the impact. This confirms the constant safety
improvements of both the F1 monocoques and of the circuit
equipments. We are now a bit relieved and all the team is looking
forward to see him recovering very soon. All our thoughts go to
him and his family.»
Prost Acer driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen put on a stunning display
in the final minutes of yesterday's qualifying hour putting the
AP04 into fourth place on the grid for this afternoon's Belgian
Grand Prix, however he knows that most of the time he picked up on
his competitors can be put down to the fact that he completed the
final run on dry tyres where they didn't.
Despite this, the entire team is celebrating, as it's the best
they have done all season and as the German explained, with the
French outfit looking for more sponsors, this couldn't have
happened at a better time. He also acknowledges that they will
have their work cut out for them during the 44 lap race, with many
believing he could easily become a mobile chicane, however Heinz
is hoping for similar conditions to yesterday to give him the best
possible chance at a points scoring finish.
«Fourth place is really a motivation for everybody»,
Heinz said. «In our situation, this is simply good.
Particularly for a team that is looking after new partners, such a
result is important. We didn't expect the track to get that dry,
despite talking about it with Alain all the time. We then both
decided to switch to a dry set-up and the closing 20 minutes of
the qualifying session confirmed our decision. We've played a game
and this time, we won. Okay, we have to keep modest as we are
aware of our limits and I know that we'd never achieved this
position in dry conditions. The balance of the car is still not
perfect. But anyway, today we've got a reason to celebrate and
tomorrow, we need to work hard again. Hopefully, we'll again
encounter circumstances which are as difficult as today.»
It was a dream come true for the Prost Acer team this afternoon as
Heinz-harald Frentzen, in only his second race for the French
outfit, claimed fourth spot on the grid for tomoorows Belgian
Grand Prix. In a last minute dash the German driver completed a
run on dry tyres, a gamble that paid dividends as he shot up the
field and into the second row alongside four time world champion,
Michael Schumacher. Frentzen is absolutely thrilled at the turn of
events that saw luck working for him instead of against.
«I am so happy for the team and for myself», smiled a
very pleased Frentzen. «To be honest I am really surprised
that we could set such a good result here, on such a difficult
track. After the difficulties we had in Hungary, we made some
important changes in order to improve the balance of the car, and
what we achieved today confirms that the potential is here. Today,
as the track was improving quickly towards the end of qualifying,
we took the risk to go for slick tyres in the last run and it paid
off. We just made the right decision in the right moment and we
are very happy. This grid position is already a reward for our
hard work and I will give everything in tomorrow's race, even
though we know it might be a challenging and difficult Grand Prix
for us.»
Teammate Luciano Burti wasn't as fortunate as his teammate, the
Brazilian forced to start from 18th on the grid after a mistake
was made in the tyre pressure adjustment. He believes that the
opportunity to be up near his new teammate was strong, however
this error prevented him from completing a final flying lap.
«The fact that we had only one timed session this morning,
due to the thick fog on the circuit, did not help us, since I had
almost no running yesterday. The car was feeling quite good in
practice, but after some showers fell at the start of the
qualifying session, we knew the track would be improving
constantly and that the best times would be set by the last
drivers who would cross the finish line at the end of the
session», Burti explained. «We also opted for slick
tyres for the last run, which was clearly the best strategy.
Unfortunately a mistake was made in my tyre pressure adjustment
and it cost me 30 seconds more in the box. This prevented me from
completing a second fast lap before the end of the session, which
would have considerably changed my final position, as
Heinz-Harald's improvement in the very last lap shows. We lost out
this opportunity because our timing was just wrong.»
«We are delighted with this result for both Heinz- Harald
and our team. We have achieved our best grid position so far this
season. We were clearly hoping to set a good result on this track
but it even goes beyond our expectations», added a very
happy Alain Prost. «Our car usually behaves even better in
the race than in qualifying, therefore we can realistically hope
for a good result in tomorrow's race. This grid position shows how
much Heinz-Harald's experience, calm and commitment can bring to
our team. I do hope that Luciano, who has been particularly
unlucky recently, will benefit from the whole team's renewed
motivation. Congratulations to all the team for the great work
done.»
It was a satisfying beginning to the Belgain Grand Prix weekend
for Prost Acer driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen after he finished
today's opening practice sessions at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit
in a promising twelfth place. The German driver was all smiles
after the session and is happy with the progress made throughout
the day as well as his ever increasing knowledge on how the AP04
handles.
«I must say I feel satisfied, especially with the progress
we made during the morning session», Heinz remarked.
«Fortunately for me everything went fine today, and I did
not have any particular problem, except the changing conditions
which all the teams had to endure. I get to know my car better and
better, and for sure I am a lot happier with its balance than I
was in Hungary. We made some important improvements in the morning
and we also had a good second session in wet conditions. It was a
good opportunity for me to get a better picture of the way the
Michelin tyres work as we could evaluate the different compounds
they offer this weekend. All in all, it was a very productive day
and I feel happy with what we have achieved so far.»
Unfortunately, teammate Luciano Burti didn't feel the same way,
the Brazilian rookie failing to set a competitive lap time before
the second session came to a close after suffering an engine
problem early in the day. Despite an engine change, things didn't
improve as the rain prevented him from getting any real work
accomplished.
«I don't like to say that but this was a horrible
day», Burti sighed. «Unfortunately during the morning
session, I had an electrical problem in the engine. It caused a
traction control failure, which made me spin. I managed to come
back to the pits, but the engine was gone and the team immediately
started to change it. Thanks to their efforts, I was able to get
back on the track quickly after the second session started. I just
had enough time to do a lap in order to check everything was
working well, and it started to rain heavily… Therefore I was not
able to work on dry set-ups at all. I chose to take it easy under
the rain because the last thing I wanted was to crash the car
considering the little time I had left on the track. Having such a
difficult day is very frustrating and I hope it will not affect
too much the rest of the weekend.»
«As it often happens in Spa, we suffered from changing
weather conditions today, and unfortunately this morning we only
worked with one AP04 since we had an engine failure on Luciano's
car», explained Henri Durand. «But Heinz- Harald went
through an aerodynamic development programme and his conclusions
were very interesting. We will now capitalise on them to prepare
for tomorrow.»
Heinz-Harald Frentzen's first grand prix for the Prost team in
Hungary yesterday came to an abrupt half on the 64th lap when
the German spun out of the race beaching his AP04 in a gravel
trap. Despite a short 50km test in the Prost just day's after
signing with the team following his dismissal from Jordan,
this weekend's grand prix was Frentzen's first outing in the
car as he got used to the new equipment, new systems and a new
team.
The AP04 posed a few problems for Frentzen who stated after
the race that the car either tended to oversteer or understeer
depending if he was entering the corners or accelerating out
of them. However he is expecting the team to sort out the few
problems in the two weeks prior to the next grand prix in
Belgium. On the whole the German said that he was satisfied
with his first race for Prost, even though he was unable to
finish after making a mistake and spinning off the track.
Frentzen said: »My first outing with my new team was
quite intense. Since the free practice, we made up our minds
in the team and tried to improve the car but this is not that
easy on a race weekend. My start was pretty good bearing in
mind that I had to take the outside line. In the race, I had
to come to terms with the car's handling. On the corner
entries, the Prost AP04 tended to oversteer, and when I
started accelerating again, it understeered – this is a
pretty tricky combination. This is a kind of problem that
cannot be solved in the short term at the racetrack but we
want to improve the handling for the next race. We planned
a two-stop strategy so as to avoid being hold up. Our plan
worked out. To improve the handling, I switched to a softer
mode of the traction control. Unfortunately, I was once early
on the throttle in lap 64 so I spun out of the race.»
For the first time this season, neither AP04 finished the race as
with only eleven laps remaining in this afternoon's Hungarian
Grand Prix, new Prost driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was forced to
retire, teammate Luciano Burti already well out of contention.
Frentzen went into the corner too fast and went off the
Hungaroring circuit, however despite the fact that the German
driver struggled through most of the race, he is hopeful of
improved performances in the next few Grand Prix.
«My car had pretty much the same balance in the race as in
practice. Unfortunately I retired only eleven laps before the
end», he remarked. «Basically, I put too much power
in a corner and went off the track. I learnt a lot today, and
throughout this weekend. We did a lot of tests, we almost
completed a race distance. Obviously, we struggled quite a lot
here, but I am still optimistic and I am confident we will
clearly improve for the next races.»
Teammate Luciano Burti had a disappointing end to his already
disastrous weekend here in Budapest when he retired his Ferrari
powered Prost AP04 after only eight laps. After finally getting
the car to handle in a way he was happy with, the Brazilian
rookie has blamed his spin into the gravel track on lack of
grip from his Michelin tyres.
«This is a very disappointing weekend for the
team», added Henri Durand, Technical Director. »We
have struggled until the end to find a good balance and I am
afraid we have failed. We suffered from a lack of grip and of
consistency, which made the job very difficult for both our
drivers and the team. We did a lot of set-up changes nothing
cured our problem. Both retirements are due to this lack of
grip and therefore to an unpredictable car in the race. Thank
you to our drivers for their efforts, patience and
determination. They endured this difficult moment with us, and
hopefully we will share some success together in a very near
future.»
«Unfortunately, for the first time this season, none of
our cars could finish the race», added Alain Prost.
«However we have never been in a position to fight for
a point scoring position, and we have had many difficulties in
finding a proper balance for our cars on this track. We have
set some competitive times in the race but could not keep a
regular pace. However, we learnt a lot with Heinz – Harald and
we have to consider this weekend as a trial run. We must now
give our best in the last four races. We are very happy for
Ferrari who achieved an impressive one-two finish, and saw
Michael Schumacher winning his 4th World Champion title. All
my congratulations to him for this success he achieved in the
most beautiful manner.»
Heinz-Harald Frentzen will start his first ever Grand Prix for the
Prost Acer outfit from sixteenth on the grid, four spots behind
the man who replaced him at the Honda powered Jordan outfit, Jean
Alesi. Heinz-Harald spent the majority of the weekend becoming
acclimatized to the AP04, learning the car's characteristics as he
went along. Due to the imposed three week testing ban, the only
time spent in the car prior to Friday's first session was a brief
shakedown last week, and he believes that a lot of progress has
been made since then.
The German driver's first qualifying run wasn't what he had hoped
for, after balking the McLaren of David Coulthard as the Scot
attempted his first flying lap. Heinz has since apologized for the
incident, explaining that he didn't see the MP4-16 coming up
behind him as the mirrors on the Michelin shod Prost were not what
he was used to. Now he is preparing for his first race with the
French outfit and is hoping to do well around the twisty
Hungaroring circuit.
«We tried to improve the balance but we didn't get it as
good as we wanted to in qualifying. I've had a lot to learn in a
short time span and we've made good progress», Heinz
remarked. «On my first run, I've made a mistake. I didn't
see David Coulthard, as my mirrors were different to what I was
used to. I will see DC later to apologize for ruining his lap. My
second run was good. We've made changes after that, but we
couldn't find an improvement. It will be a tough race for
everybody, I hope to do well.»
It wasn't a good afternoon for the Ferrari powered Prost team as
their drivers, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, in his first qualifying
session with the French outfit and Luciano Burti, finished in 16th
and 19th places respectively. After showing strong form in earlier
practice, Frentzen slipped down the field, however the German
driver had the consolation of being 1.1 seconds faster than his
teammate.
«I tried very hard today, and we put a lot of efforts in
finding a better balance for the car. On this track you need to
have a good mechanical grip and we managed to improve a bit in
this area since this morning, but we kept on struggling with both
oversteer and understeer», Frentzen explained. «We
knew it would not be easy this weekend but we are in progress.: I
am getting more familiar with the team, which is necessary to put
our experience together, and make the most of the car very soon.
Tomorrow's race is going to be very tough for everyone, and even
if scoring points might be a high expectation, I'll do my best to
finish the race in a good position. To finish with, I want to
apologise to David Coulthard as I just did not see him coming in
my mirrors and I compromised one of his quick laps.»
Unfortunately, Luciano Burti continued to struggle as he had done
for the majority of the weekend. The Hungaroring is not kind on
drivers and for his first time at the Budapest circuit, Luciano
was unable to come to grips with the way his AP04 handled. The one
thing that concerns him is that his best time this afternoon was
slower than his previous best in practice and the team must now
discover exactly what the problem was.
«This morning, we had a better balance than yesterday and
we found good directions of work to improve the car at
midday», he said. «“I thought qualifying would be
better but unfortunately we struggled during the whole session. I
was unable to make the car any better and for some reasons I
suffered from both oversteer and understeer more than this
morning. We tried different things that did not really helped,
which reflects in the fact I did not improve this morning's lap
times. We must understand what the problem is or where we made a
mistake because there is no reason to be slower than in
practice.»
«We have encountered the same difficulties with both cars
today and they appeared to increase on lower fuel loads.
Unfortunately we have not been able to solve them and to improve
our cars' balance», added Alain Prost. «The fact that
Luciano is learning the circuit and that Heinz-Harald is
discovering his car obviously did not help, but we were hoping for
better grid positions on this track where it is so difficult to
overtake. Tomorrow's conditions will be very hot and it will be a
very demanding race. But our reliability level should be an
important asset to get the best possible finish here.»
Ex-Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen, was loathe to explain what
caused his split with the Jordan team prior to the German Grand
Prix, the German driver failing to confirm or deny that the reason
was that Jordan didn't feel that he was fit, nor that Jordan had
already approached Jean Alesi before he was sacked. During
Thursday's press conference, the now Prost man stayed cool and
calm as questions were fired at him regarding the split that saw
him miss out on competing in his home Grand Prix three weeks ago.
So what could he say?
«Not a lot», said the German. «I don't want to
go into details. The small details that I gave away were just the
facts, the fact that Jordan had faxed me after Silverstone Grand
Prix, and that's all I want to say about this. Everything will go
into court, that's for sure, and the rest I will leave Eddie to
say. I think I have a good contract - or had a good contract - a
Jordan. We'll see. It has been terminated obviously and there is
some discussion behind it, which we will decide in court. A
contract is there to help the relationship or… make it
difficult.»
Williams driver and fellow countryman Ralf Schumacher agreed with
Frentzen's assessment and called for more stringent contracts.
Ralf was also a victim of the Jordan outfit several years ago and
expressed sympathy for Heinz as well as wishing him all the best
at his new role with the Prost outfit.
«Usually a contract is there to be written once, signed and
never looked at again. But then I must be fair with Heinz, the
only team I ever had to look at it again is the team he suffered
with so I wish him all the best», he said. «I think
that there is a danger in the future of looking at a contract
like that, with teammates changing through the season, and I hope
that point with drivers and teams will be much stronger for the
future so this can't happen.raquo;
Meanwhile Honda's Kazutoshi Nishisawa declined to be specific
about his company's role in Frentzen's sacking ...
«The final decision on driver choice is with the teams. We
respect the team's decision.» Asked if he was consulted, he
shook his head and said, «No comment».
Heinz-Harald Frentzen had his first taste of the Ferrari
powered Prost last week where he completed a small shakedown
test for the French outfit at the Magny-Cours circuit in
France. While ex-Prost driver Jean Alesi took up his place in
the car Heinz-Harald has driven for the majority of the 2001
season, the German driver was busy familiarizing himself with
the workings of the AP04 and his new team members.
Included in the familiarization process was a two day visit
to the teams Guyancourt base, where he put the time to good
use getting to know his new engineers. During the actual
shakedown, Frentzen used the FIA allocated 50 kms to try out
Ferrari power and Michelin tyres, as well as several practice
starts to compare the Prost launch control system over the
troublesome one used with the Honda powered Jordan outfit.
Heinz was reasonably pleased with the outcome and although he
refused to comment too much on the times set during this first
run, apart from expressing satisfaction, he is looking for to
this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, and the new challenges
it will present.
«Despite the Formula 1 test ban in the summer break, the
FIA allows so-called "shake down" tests. I used this
opportunity together with the new outfit I am driving for, the
Prost team, to do 50 kilometres at Magny-Cours, using
literally every inch of this distance», he explained.
«I can say that I am quite happy with the Prost AP04, as
there have been no problems at all. As the track was pretty
dirty, I can hardly comment the times. But I am quite
satisfied in that regard as well. Now I am looking forward to
Budapest. This race will be a huge challenge for the Prost
team and me.»
Prost's newest driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, took to the
Magny-Cours circuit in France yesterday to get a feel for the
AP04. It was Frentzen's first and only outing in the car
before he makes his debut for the team at the Hungarian Grand
Prix next weekend. Frentzen was signed by Prost earlier this
week to replace Jean Alesi, who left the team to join Jordan
for the rest of the season.
The German was only permitted to do 50kms in the car, as the
team's are presently banned for testing during the mid-season
break, however it gave him the opportunity to familiarise
himself with the car. He also practised several starts from
the end of the pit lane that allowed him to get a feel for the
AP04's launch control systems.
After the short test Frentzen said that his first impression
of the car was very good, however he did ask his supporters to
be patient with him as it will take a bit of time before he is
completely comfortable with the car and all it's systems. As
Frentzen completed the allotted 50kms that team's are allowed
to do he will not be allowed to drive the car until the first
free practise session at Hungary on Friday.
Frentzen said: «I'm very motivated. But everyone must be
patient because of all the new things that I must get used to.
There were quite a lot of question marks because there hasn't
been much time to get used to things. So far so good. We had a
good first day.»
As the Jordan Racing team was announcing its signing of Jean
Alesi for the remaining five races of the 2001 season earlier
today, the Prost Formula One team was making an announcement
of its own. Prost have signed fired Jordan driver Heinz-Harald
Frentzen to replace Alesi for the rest of the year in what has
turned out to basically be a straight swap.
Prost's team boss Alain Prost said in a statement that he was
very excited about Frentzen joining the team and that the
German will be making his debut with them at the Hungarian
Grand Prix on August 19. He added that he was hoping that
Frentzen's past experience with some of Formula One's top
teams would be an asset to Prost and help them to achieve
their future goals.
Prost said: «I am delighted to welcome Heinz-Harald to
our team, His achievements in Formula One in the last few
years place him amongst the best and his experience with the
top F1 teams will be a strong asset for us in the remainder of
the season. His arrival allows us to prepare for the future
with confidence. It is essential to preserve our team's
serenity - that is why I chose to release Jean.»
Frentzen, who will be teaming up with Luciano Burti, said he
was delighted to be returning to F1 after missing his home
grand prix at Hockenheim two weeks ago following his firing by
Jordan. So far this season he has scored six world
championship points, and is aiming to add a few more to his
total during the last five races of the season with Prost.
Frentzen said: «I am happy that I have the chance to
drive for Prost in the last five races of the season. It would
have been very difficult to turn down this opportunity and I
am looking forward to supporting the team for the rest of the
season.»
At the present time sacked Jordan driver, Heinz-Harald
Frentzen is one of the hottest drivers on the market, the
German looking for a seat to replace the one he thought he had
with Jordan for the 2002 championship season. Rumours have been
coming fast and furious since the shock announcement of his
departure from the team was made, including possible links to
Jaguar, Toyota and even the US based CART series.
Speaking to the German Press yesterday, Heinz-Harald confirmed
what Toyota have already stated on the rumours he will be
replacing Allan McNish for the team's debut next year, stating
that there hasn't been any talks whatsoever with the Cologne
based outfit. He also confirmed that retirement is not an
option for him either and he will be doing his utmost to be
back in Formula One as soon as possible.
«I was never with Toyota in Cologne. I was not in
negotiations with Toyota about a deal, and I signed no
contracts or anything," he said. "Why would I? Until last week
I assumed I would be driving for Jordan Grand Prix, this year
and next year. The fire still burns inside me and I will
remain in international Motorsport, and my first priority will
naturally be Formula One.»
According to reports in the German Press, Heinz-Harald Frentzen
has revealed that instead of a heated argument between himself
and Eddie Jordan last week that led to his being fired from the
Jordan Grand Prix team, he actually received his marching
orders in a much quieter fashion, by fax!
It was thought at the time of the announcement that a heated
argument had initiated the decision to let the teams most
successful driver to date go, words uttered in the heat of the
moment and something Jordan may now be regretting, however the
cold and callous way that this was carried out shows the
determination and planning of Eddie Jordan to rid his team of
the German's services.
Whilst we are still no wiser on the reasons behind the
unexpected termination, it appears as if Heinz-Harald is in the
dark as well, the German revealing to the 'Bild' magazine that
he is at a loss to explain the fax that appeared so completely
out of the blue...
«It suddenly came out of the machine, I was completely
baffled», he was quoted as saying. «There was no
discussion, nothing. Just the fax and then it was all in the
hands of the lawyers. I don't know what was behind it. You'd
have to ask Eddie Jordan. We had a discussion after Silverstone
and had a difference of opinion. But there was no row and
nothing was said when I was fired. Why fire me? He can tell us
himself. He could at least be honest and say what was
wrong.»
After the shock sacking of Jordan star, Heinz-Harald Frentzen
just over a week ago, rumours are doing the rounds that the
German has been offered a one off ride with the CART series
when it takes to the newly built Lausitzring circuit in Germany
next month. Unconfirmed reports have linked Frentzen with the
Sigma team to appear in the series' debut in his home country,
however at this stage Frentzen has yet to comment on the
reports.
Both Michael Schumacher and his brother Ralf expressed sympathy
for their fellow countryman, who gave Jordan their best season
on record back in 1999, securing 54 points and finishing third
in the championship. Michael Schumacher remembers trouble his
brother had with the team toward the end of his time there in
1998 and although the reigning world champion feels sorry for
Frentzen and believes he may find better things on the horizon,
it is doubtful that he was referring to a drive in the ChampCar
series.
«I certainly feel very sorry for Heinz-Harald for what
has happened», said Michael. «As Ralf says, he had
some similar problems. As they were going on, I was informed
about them and it's not surprising that this does happen but
it's a big shame, because they had a good time together in 1999
and it means that as a driver he can't be too bad. If times are
difficult, then maybe you should stick to your driver as well.
I'm certainly not very happy to see what's happened to
Heinz-Harald. On the other hand, he might get a better
opportunity now.»
While the matter between Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jordan is
still cloaked in mystery, one thing the German driver continues
to insist is that he was wronged in the incident that saw him
fired from the Honda powered outfit just days before the start
of his home Grand Prix. Jordan remain tight-lipped on the
situation, Heinz-Harald recently told the press that the team
boss was using a section of his contract to terminate his
services.
With the matter due to go to court, the German driver reported
to be suing Jordan for the sum of 13 million pounds, as much as
he wants to explain the situation to his partners and fans,
Heinz-Harald has been legally advised not to give too much
information away. However, he knows that people understand the
reasons behind his silence and has thanked everyone for their
support and patience on the matter at hand.
«I know that it is about time to explain a few things to
my partners and fans, however, I will have to remain
silent», Frentzen stated on his website. «I am
sorry about not being able to comment on the issue of Jordan
and HH Frentzen as we are in the middle of a lawsuit. My
lawyers have strictly recommended me to do so. The only thing I
can do at the moment is to thank all my partners and fans for
their support up to now. I can only ask for your patience for
the time being.»
Several options are available for the German in the upcoming
2002 championship and as several drivers have already remarked,
the initial upset over his termination from the team will more
than likely end up turning out to be a good thing, with a
better drive than the one he was in on the horizon.
According to reports in the British press, Heinz-Harald Frentzen
will be attempting to sue ex-team boss, Eddie Jordan for 13
million pounds after claiming he was wrongly dismissed by the
Irishman. Frentzen, who was informed only two days prior to the
start of his home race at Hockenheim that he would no longer be
driving for the Honda powered team, hasn't said a lot about the
situation as it is in the hands of his legal representatives.
However he did tell 'News of the World' that what Jordan alleges
as the reason behind his dismissal is completely incorrect.
«What has been alleged is completely untrue. Obviously
Eddie felt it was within his rights to use a certain part of the
contract», he was quoted as saying. «But that is not
substantiated whatsoever and we have refuted it completely. We
asked him to withdraw the termination and he refused. We have no
choice but to protect our rights and that's exactly what we are
doing.»
The German fans showed their displeasure at the turn of events
over the course of the weekend, heckling the team boss every
time he arrived at the circuit with boos and hisses. Officials
were also forced to remove several banners from around the
circuit, including one that screamed obscenities at the
Irishman.
While attention is focused on who will replace Frentzen in the
long term, the German is trying to sort out a ride with another
team for next season. Reports are that Toyota are interested in
his services, however this has been vehemently denied. Other
possibilities include Jaguar, however they have confirmed on
several occasions that de la Rosa and Irvine will continue with
the team in 2002, just as they constantly stated that Luciano
Burti would see the 2001 season out in the R2.
Jordan boss Eddie Jordan has spoken out about his decision to
sack German driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen last Wednesday, with
just hours remaining in the countdown to Frentzen's home grand
prix at Hockenheim. Frentzen's dismissal came as a huge shock to
many people as barely a month prior to the announcement Eddie
had said that the 33-year-old would be staying with the team for
the 2002 season and not moving to Toyota as had been speculated
in the media.
When the termination of Frentzen's contract became public
knowledge Eddie had said that the two of them had had an
exchange of views following the British Grand Prix, which led
many people to believe that the two had actually had an
argument. However Eddie has denied this saying that it was
simply a case of the two of them not seeing eye-to-eye, and that
he truly believed that it was in the best interests of both
Jordan and Frentzen that the German leaves the team
immediately.
Eddie said: «There were a number of situations which
occurred this year, particularly it was disappointing. The season
was beginning to pan out and Heinz and I had a number of
discussions about this and how we could sort it out and do
various different things, but sadly we weren't able to agree on
it. And I felt it was in the best interests of the team, for
what has happened to have happened.»
When asked if the two had had an argument following the British
Grand Prix he said: «No that is completely untrue, there
was never a row. With Heinz you never have a row, he's an
absolute gentleman, so in that point of view it's careless
comment in terms of people assuming that is what happened.
That's not true. I think we all know that prolonging things that
are not going to work, or don't seem to be able to work, or in
the short-term clearly were not going to work, the only way was
to finish it there and then and move on.»
Eddie went on to speak about his legal standing on Frentzen's
firing, as the German had said on Wednesday when the
announcement came that he would be seeking legal advisement. The
Irishman said quite clearly that he had not thought about the
legal consequences behind firing Frentzen as they were very much
secondary in his decision. Instead he focussed on what he
thought would be best for the team in the long run and that he
hoped he had made the right decision for Jordan and for
Frentzen.
«I don't know that (referring to his legal situation),
that decision is a secondary decision. Clearly we were not able
to accept some of the things that were happening and how we were
going to proceed in the future», said Eddie.
«Clearly the season, despite the fact that there were
occasions where we qualified particularly well, we were not able
to maximise some of the opportunities that were presented to us.
Heinz and I had a very clear difference of opinion about many of
the different things that were happening. My decision has not
been completely popular with everybody because they still wonder
in certain respects, but at the end of the day I am the boss,
and I have to take the can. I have to take the good side and the
down side. What has happened has happened and hopefully for
Heinz and for Jordan it was the right decision.»
Although Michael Schumacher is looking for a chance of equaling
the all-time record in Formula One victories this weekend's
German Grand Prix, the focus this weekend has momentarily shifted
to another German, Heinz-Harald Frentzen who is looking for work.
Instead of being at the track preparing for the race, Frentzen is
said to be in Spain with his family relaxing after finding out on
Wednesday that he was fired from the Jordan team with 18 months
still to run on his contract.
Meanwhile, the team's third driver, Ricardo Zonta, will replace
Frentzen at this weekend's event. Zonta has already subbed for
the team once this season at the Canadian Grand Prix when
Frentzen sat out the race after having headaches following two
crashes. Although winning twice for Jordan in 1999, Frentzen has
been behind teammate Jarno Trulli most of the season and it
appears as if team boss Eddie Jordan and Frentzen had a major
argument following the British Grand Prix when Frentzen
criticized the car.
Now the German driver is on the hunt for a new drive in the
world of Formula One and at present is the hottest commodity on
the driver market. Rumours are coming thick and fast connecting
him with both Toyota and Jaguar and even Ralf Schumacher
acknowledges the rumours doing the rounds of a new drive for his
countryman next year. Ralf also expressed sympathy for Frentzen,
but pointed out that Eddie Jordan probably had to make this
move.
«I feel sorry for Heinz, the way it's happened, but we
don't know the reasons for it», said Ralf. «In
previous years I've had problems with this team and it appears to
happen sometimes, and if people just don't want to work together
any more, I think it's best to decide to stop working with each
other because it can't help either one of them. I heard a rumour
that Heinz is going to be with us again next year in a different
team and if that's the case, then I'm sure it's a better option
for him anyway. To be fair to Eddie, he has big pressure on him.
He has big sponsors, he has to prove that he's a good team to
stay with so he's under pressure to deliver so one has to
understand his decisions as well.»
Former Jordan driver as of yesterday Heinz-Harald Frentzen may
be refusing to talk about his firing by the team as he is
considering legal action, but his father has voiced his opinion
on the matter and is saying that someone set out to sabotage his
son's career. Frentzen, who joined the team in 1999 and won two
grand prix's for them, was sacked by team boss Eddie Jordan
yesterday, and other than citing a difference of opinion
following the British Grand Prix, no reason as yet has been
given for the German's dismissal.
In his first year at Jordan Frentzen finished third in the
championship on 54 points, but the following year he could only
manage 11 points and finished down in ninth place. This year,
however, has been even worse for the 34-year-old and he has
only scored six points from the 11 grand prix's that have
already been run. In fact the German has not scored a single
point since the San Marino Grand Prix, which was back in
April.
However be that as it may, Frentzen Sr. is saying that his son
is not to blame for his poor performances and his failure to
finish five races this season. He is instead claiming that
someone wanted his son to fail because how can a car that does
so well in testing with everything going right, suddenly have a
complete about face when it comes to race weekends.
Germany's SID news agency quoted Frentzen's father as saying:
«It's not at all normal that the car continues to fail in
the races and in the tests everything works wonderfully.
Someone is pressing the buttons.»
The Formula One world is still reeling over yesterday's shock
sacking of Jordan driver, Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Little has come
to light over the drastic measures taken by team boss Eddie
Jordan, a simple statement claiming that a falling out after
Silverstone was the reason behind this decision. Ricardo Zonta
will take control of the number 11 car this weekend and reports
are that the Brazilian will finish out the season with them,
however several names have been linked to the full time drive in
2002, including F3 driver, Takumo Sato.
Looking back at the Silverstone race for some kind of a clue to
this development, it can be noted that the German's day couldn't
be hailed as a strong performance. Heinz-Harald qualified in
fifth place behind teammate Jarno Trulli, however he got off to
a really bad start and lost several positions while Trulli was
involved in the first lap incident with David Coulthard that
ruined his race. Frentzen finished the race a lap down and two
places back from his starting position, however he claimed at
the time that something broke on the car that caused him to
suffer from heavy understeer.
Failing to secure a single point after such good grid positions
for their home race, it was expected that Eddie Jordan would be
far from happy and his comments after the race clearly showed
this, however no one in the Formula One world expected something
as harsh as this to happen only days before the next race of the
season.
«Today has been extremely disappointing and not to score
any points after such a promising performance throughout the
weekend is the last thing the team wanted at its home Grand
Prix», Jordan commented after Silverstone. «Not only
is it bad for our Championship fight but sad for the fantastic
number of supporters and Jordan employees who came to see Jordan
race today. I wish we could have given them a better result.
Jarno's race was unfortunately over almost before it started and
it seems that seventh place was the best Heinz was able to
achieve today.»
Rumours are now appearing that even though the team announced
their new partnership recently, that would have seen them
together until the end of 2002, Heinz-Harald is in fact in
strong talks with the new Toyota outfit. This has of course,
been vehemently denied by Toyota and due to legal restraints,
Frentzen is unable to comment at this point in time. Jaguar are
also said to be interested in his services, however at this
stage it appears as if everyone will remain in the dark over his
Frentzen's future in the pinnacle of Motorsports and the true
nature of this snap decision.
Meanwhile, Frentzen was due to appear at the FIA press
conference on Friday, but in light of this new development,
Ricardo Zonta will take his place in the hot seat and maybe he
will shed some light on the situation.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen will not be competing in this weekend's
German Grand Prix following a falling out with the Jordan team.
According to an official statement from the team, test driver
Ricardo Zonta will step into Frentzen's role. The team also
announced that the German driver will no longer be competing
for the team.
«With immediate effect, Jordan has terminated their
contract with Frentzen for the 2001 and 2002 World
Championships and the team's third driver, Ricardo Zonta, will
replace him for the upcoming German Grand Prix at
Hockenheim», read a statement from the team.
«It has been a disappointing season for both of us»,
explained Jordan's Chief Executive, Eddie Jordan. «We had
an exchange of views following the British Grand Prix and this
is the outcome.»
After gearing up to compete in his second home race, Frentzen had
very little to say about the matter as it is now in the hands of
his legal department. However he did reveal that he plans to
contest the reasons behind the untimely sacking.
«Following an unexpected termination of my contract by
Jordan Grand Prix Limited, I will likely not be driving in
Hockenheim this weekend», Frentzen said. «The reasons
I have been given for this termination I contest in their
entirety. My position in this matter is now under legal advice.
Due to the current situation, I am unable to make any further
comment whatsoever at this time.»
Jordan have yet to reveal whether Zonta will fill in for Frentzen
for the remainder of the season.
With both EJ11's proving very competitive and well balanced
throughout the weekend, coupled with two promising grid
positions, the Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda team was optimistic
for a more fruitful race than was achieved at its home Grand
Prix. A first corner collision with Coulthard on the opening lap
unfortunately ended Trulli's race before it really started.
Teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen lost four places leading up to the
first corner after a poor start and was then hindered by
understeer in the high speed corners after his second pit stop.
The German driver finished the race in seventh place and one lap
down on the leaders, despite putting in a real fight with the
sixth placed Sauber of his countryman Nick Heidfeld
«This has been a very disappointing day for the team,
particularly after such an encouraging qualifying», he
said. «I lost quite a few positions before the first corner
but went on to enjoy a good battle with Heidfeld. On my second
attack trying to overtake him, I felt something break on the car,
which resulted in heavy understeer and was reflected in my
uncompetitive lap times towards the end of the race. All we can
do now is look forward to Hockenheim where we will hopefully have
a better race.»
Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen opted to step aside for
this weekends Canadian Grand Prix after suffering a second
high speed accident in as many weeks. The German driver was
complaining of eye problems and a loss of balance after an
incident in Friday's opening practice sessions and as hard
as the decision was, he decided that it would be better for all
concerned if he sat out the eighth round of the championship.
While at this stage there doesn't appear to be anything seriously
wrong, Heinz-Harald explained his reasons for the decision,
stating that after his crash in Monaco he was also under the
impression that he was fine, despite hitting his head quite hard
in the impact.
However, when it came to testing a few days later, he was unable
to cope with the demands and if the same thing happened in
Saturday's sessions then he would be forced to sit the event out
anyway and leave the team with only one car in active
competition. To give his team the best possible chance at scoring
more valuable world championship points, they had to allow Zonta
in the EJ11 for Saturday practice and qualifying, the best way to
go under the circumstances.
«I wanted to attack in qualifying, now it's the clear
opposite, I decided not to race the Canadian GP at all», he
explained. «After the bad crash yesterday I still suffer
from headaches and I still feel dizzy. So the best thing for the
team, for Ricardo Zonta and for me is to stop now and give
everybody the chance to prepare the race with Ricardo. There is a
good reason for my decision: After the accident in the tunnel of
Monaco two weeks ago I felt exactly the same way. And I thought
it would be no problem to do the testing in Magny-Cours
afterwards. But after 17 laps I knew I was wrong: I had to cancel
any further tests. That was not a big thing during testing. But
imagine I would have done the free practice today and then
retired after qualifying: My team would have had only one car in
the race and so only half of their chances. That is why I've
chosen this way - although it is very hard. I'm so disappointed.
There is nothing worse for a race driver than to be not able to
race. So there is only one thing to say: Good luck to Ricardo and
the team.»
Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a disastrous finish to
his Monaco Grand Prix as he shunted his EJ11 rather heavily
into a barrier as he came out of the tunnel on the Monte Carlo
street circuit. Although Frentzen walked away basically
uninjured from the accident he did hit his head rather hard
when his car connected with the barrier.
After the race Frentzen commented that his 13th place on the
starting grid had obviously not brought him any luck, but that
he had been looking forward to a good race. He added that at
present he was not too sure about why he had crashed his car,
but that as he came out of the tunnel and turned right his car
moved left and into the barrier.
Frentzen said: «One thing is for sure, the 13th place in
starting grid did not bring me any luck. I started without
launch-control into the race and was looking forward to have a
strategic fight. But then I got stuck behind Jean Alesi. I was
thinking already who of us would be first for the first pit
stop. But we did not drive that far. I don't know the reason
for our retirement yet. I turned right, but the car went left
into the barrier. All this happened in the tunnel with a speed
of 250.» He added: «Now I have a headache, but
this is nothing compared to the disappointment about losing
two possible points.»
Heinz-Harald Frentzen was not lucky at the Spanish GP and had
to retire after an incident with Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa. He
was trying to move up the field after a very slow start, where he
was left stranded for a few seconds before he was able to get his
car moving.
«I had a problem right at the start, we don't know at this
stage exactly why it happened it may have been related to the
launch control - but it meant I was last away», said
Frentzen. «I got past a couple of cars on the first lap and
was trying hard to catch up.»
«On lap 6, I had an incident with Pedro de la Rosa while
challenging for 16th place. I don't want to apportion blame: I
would call this a 'racing incident'. As far as I recall, I had
the racing line, was alongside and my rear wheel touched his
front wheel. That's all I can say.»
The San Marino GP was a day of mixed emotions for Jordan driver,
Heinz Harald Frentzen.
His joys consisted of: «I would like to use the opportunity
to congratulate Ralf Schumacher to his very first victory in
Formula 1. His race was a fantastic performance and I felt really
happy for him. Basically, we can also be content with Jordan's
race: both cars in the points - this is really pleasant.»
On his frustrations, he said: «Less pleasant, however, is
our gap to Williams, McLaren and Ferrari. We need to improve in
this regard. But there is something else which is less pleasant:
the start. Olivier Panis in front of my jump-started and stopped
again. Both manoeuvres irritated me slightly.»
He said the following on his race: «In spite of that, I
had a normal start, but then my wheel spin was too extreme so
Räikkönen and Villeneuve profited from this mistake.
From then on, I drove a very lonely race. I wasn't able to get
past Villeneuve. My pit crew tried to support me when they called
me in early for the first stop so that I could chase Jacques with
a set of fresh tyres. Unfortunately, however, I got stuck behind
Olivier Panis after my stop. This costed me exactly the two
important seconds that I needed to pass Villeneuve during his pit
stop.»
He ended with: «The fact that we finished in the points was
the maximum today. I hope that we will start to get quicker in
the course of the next races.»
Jordan Honda scored three more championship points when Jarno
Trulli and Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished fifth and sixth at
Imola.
A poor start for Frentzen dropped him to 11th place at the end
of the first lap, Heinz-Harald never really recovering from the
early setback on a track where overtaking is difficult.
«I had to take evasive action at the start», said
Frentzen, «but once the race settled down I pushed ahead
with our race strategy. The balance of the car was good and
everything was running at its optimum but there was no way I
could catch up from that far back. Certainly, there was no way
I could have lived with the Williams had I been at the front!
Williams and Ralf Schumacher deserved their win today. Scoring
a point for sixth place was some consolation but, to be honest,
we need to step up our performance a bit more.»
Jordan driver, Heinz Harald Frentzen retired 8 laps from the end of
the Brazilian GP with a technical problem.
He reflected on what could have been when he said: «I'm really
disappointed. Considering our possibilities, this could have been a
perfect race for us because our strategy would have worked out
fine. Unfortunately, the electronic simply switched of the engine
seven laps before the finish line. That was the same problem we
already experienced on Friday and now Honda will have a close
look at it. I took a great risk when I changed from slicks to
intermediates at the beginning of the rain period because at that
time nobody could exactly forecast the weather. But at the end it
worked out.»
After running third and fourth in the later stages of the race,
Benson & Hedges Jordan Honda had to be satisfied with fifth
place for Jarno Trulli after Heinz-Harald Frentzen was forced to
retired with a technical problem eight laps from the finish.
The team's one-stop tactic for both drivers seemed to be paying
off when they moved into third and fourth places but a place on
the podium for Frentzen was to be denied in the closing stages.
«The strategy was perfect», said Frentzen.
«We put on
intermediate tyres when the rain came and, although the car was
difficult to drive when the track was very wet, these tyres were
the right choice. I was in a comfortable third place when the
engine developed a misfire caused by an electrical problem. Then
the car just stopped. A disappointing result, obviously, but the
Jordan-Honda's potential is very clear.» Frentzen was
classified 11th at the end of the 71-lap race.
«It was looking so good for us until about 10 laps from the
finish », said Eddie Jordan.
«It was not to be but it was very good to have
Jarno earn his first points of the season. We are naturally very
disappointed for Heinz when he had a podium finish in his sights.
But this is the third race in succession in which Jordan Grand Prix
has scored points, so that is positive. Now we can look forward
to returning to Europe after three difficult long-haul
races.»
The Jordan team launched their 2001 contender on Tuesday at
Silverstone and driver Heinz Harald Frentzen expressed his
optimism for the season ahead.
He was quoted as saying: «With Honda we will grow immensely
and I think we can drive for victories again.»
As much was echoed by team boss Eddie Jordan, who said: «We
have restructured the management, added nearly 50 people to the
workforce and witnessed the team gel together into the most
committed and dedicated team that Jordan has ever fielded. In facing
the challenge of the years ahead, we have had to grow the company in
every direction. It hasn't been an easy task, but I have never felt
so confident. We are a totally focussed unit looking forward to the
tough but exciting times ahead.»
The team conducted the shakedown of the EJ11 on Saturday at the
Silverstone circuit, completing 5 laps and another more
comprehensive shakedown on Monday. The team is scheduled for their
first full session with the EJ11 from Wednesday onwards at the
Silverstone circuit.
The EJ11 features a significantly altered design for the airbox and
sidepod areas as well as a new front wing section and a seven speed
gearbox. In addition the team has adopted a shark based livery in
contrast to the hornet livery of 2000 and the two new sponsors DHL
and Puma sportswear.
Chief engineer, Tim Holloway commented with: «We've designed
the car to extract maximum performance given this year's new
regulations and our desire to optimise the performance of Honda's
new evolution engine. After a tough 2000, we have pushed for
maximum performance whilst bolstering the car's strength and design
integrity to ensure the best possible reliability.»
Frentzen was quoted as saying: »I strongly believe Jordan is
the team of the future. Our goal is to continue where we finished
off in 1999. When we get the car reliable, there's no reason to
think we can't be successful again. Hopefully we've improved the
car in all areas - the engine, the mechanicals and in the
wind-tunnel - and hopefully we can attack right from the
beginning.»
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· [Pic of the day] ·
Heinz-Harald Frentzen testing the Arrows in Valencia 2002
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