How did Frentzen slip away from f1 so quietly?

Edited by Gareth, 12 January 2010 - 10:39.
Removing OT segment on Alonso/Trulli/Flav

Early day Heidfeld? certain drivers just seem to slip under the radar.

Edited by aditya-now, 10 January 2010 - 21:26.

Early day Heidfeld? certain drivers just seem to slip under the radar.

For me, probably the biggest under-achiever of the last 20 years. Shame

I don't know about that. He won a race, which is a lot more than Jan Magnussen did.

True, but that's partially the point; JM never convinced me he could 'get it done' in F1. H2F, on the other hand, showed at times (such as Jordan '99) what he was capable of and what could have been. SFW signed him because he was reputed to be the man who was faster than MS, which in a way I suspect he was; difference is, I guess, that MS brought a raft of other qualities/characteristics to the party.

He put that Prost on p4 at Spa. That was special... back in them days with the time spread we had.

Edited by Romulus, 11 January 2010 - 00:08.

True, but that's partially the point; JM never convinced me he could 'get it done' in F1. H2F, on the other hand, showed at times (such as Jordan '99) what he was capable of and what could have been. SFW signed him because he was reputed to be the man who was faster than MS, which in a way I suspect he was; difference is, I guess, that MS brought a raft of other qualities/characteristics to the party.

Other classic HHF moment when gave Mark Blundell the finger in Adelaide 1995. Video

And I would bet that if Frank could do that one over again, he'd still hire Frentzen. But he and Patrick Head would provide him with the support he needed instead of expecting him to be Alan Jones.

Totally deserved. It was outrageous of Blundell not to let him through earlier.

Drivers, quite rightly, get judged on their F1 performances by the F1 community. To be a front running F1 driver, they need to be the complete package. Some drivers have all of the driving skills necessary to succeed in F1 but do not have the man-management skills to project their ambition into their team and mould the team around themselves. We see drivers who come into F1 and look to have a big future in the sport. Yet when they move on to a bigger team that should deliver them race wins and championship challenges they seem to evaporate. If a driver does not feel at home with his team and his engineers he will not produce his best.

In HHF's case I always thought that he needed an arm around his shoulder when he was at Williams. My impression is that he did not get it.

And I would bet that if Frank could do that one over again, he'd still hire Frentzen. But he and Patrick Head would provide him with the support he needed instead of expecting him to be Alan Jones.

He, who would have thought we'd agree about a driver one day...

Talent-wise, Frentzen was second to none. But from what I've seen he was too much of an introvert and ultimately lacked ambition to succeed. IMO it all just didn't mean that much to him.

In a way it's a shame, at the same time we have to accept that's the man he is. Talent alone just isn't enough.

Wasn't Heinz-Harald Frentzen regarded as a better driver than Michael Schumacher, prior to them arriving in Formula One?

Frank said once that replacing Damon Hill with Frentzen was his biggest mistake.

Edited by johnmhinds, 11 January 2010 - 11:56.

Other classic HHF moment when gave Mark Blundell the finger in Adelaide 1995. Video

I believe Frank Williams also said that his biggest regret was not signing Michael Schumacher.

I believe Frank Williams also said that his biggest regret was not signing Michael Schumacher.

The problem is Frentzen wasn't the best suited driver in terms of mental fortitude for Williams environment.

Eddie Jordan said that frentzen was a nightmare bcs he wanted to interfere everywhere in the car development, guiding the engineers.
Of course, to act that way, the driver must feel welcome by the technical department.

At Williams, an "engineer team", even Senna felt ignored/unconfortable when asking for modifications in the car.
At McLaren, the mechanics would rush to attend every milimetric change request about anything.

So Frentzen and Williams was a mismatch.

I've heard that Frank and Patrick expect all their drivers to be "Alan Jones". Jones gave the team their first success (even though Regazzoni won their first GP) and it seems they've never quite accepted the fact that Jones isn't there anymore.

The problem is Frentzen wasn't the best suited driver in terms of mental fortitude for Williams environment.

I though that Frank Williams said that his biggest regret was signing Mark Webber.