Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams FW19, Suzuka, Japan, 1997

Heinz-Harald Frentzen

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was a team mate of Michael Schumacher while driving Sauber-Mercedes sports cars in the early nineties.

He arrived in Formula 1 with Sauber in 1994. Frank Williams signed him up in 1995 to replace Damon Hill in 1997, but Frentzen won just once for the team and left in 1998.

He revived his career with Jordan, winning twice for them in 1999 and coming within striking distance of the championship that year.

But new team mate Jarno Trulli ran him close in 2000 and halfway through the following season Frentzen was shown the door. He continued the season with Prost and qualified a remarkable fourth in that year’s Belgian Grand Prix for the struggling team, which folded at the end of the season.

Frentzen’s next stop was another doomed team, Arrows, which folded after the British Grand Prix in 2002.

He returned for a swansong season with Sauber in 2003 and gave them a podium finish in his penultimate race. But he was replaced by Felipe Massa the following year. Frentzen later raced in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) and then in GT series.

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