Forgotten F1 star had same 'pure, natural driving talent' as Lewis Hamilton

10 June 2023 , 12:43

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Lewis Hamilton was won seven world championships - the equal most in history (Image: Getty Images)

Heinz-Harald Frentzen picked up only three wins in his Formula 1 career, but has seen his talent compared to that of Lewis Hamilton.

The German's time in the sport began in the mid-1990s and he was quickly promoted by the then dominant Williams team, but failed to live up to the promise that his junior career suggested. Frentzen began his time in F1 with Sauber before Williams opted to rid off world champion Damon Hill to get him in their car in 1996.

There he worked alongside engineer Sam Michael, who went on to be technical director at Williams before having several years at McLaren as their sporting director. Frentzen claimed just one victory with Williams, at San Marino in 1997, before he was moved on to Jordan.

There he enjoyed the best season of his career, finishing third in the standings in 1999, picking up a further two wins and six podiums. Frentzen was never truly able to utilise his talent, but those who saw him close up were able to get an insight others couldn't.

Michael, who was asked on the Beyond the Grid podcast to name the best drivers he'd worked with, replied: “Lewis Hamilton, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Everyone’s heard of Lewis, not as many people have heard of Frentzen. But if you’re talking about pure, natural driving talent, Lewis and Heinz are for sure.

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“Just the things that you saw them do in tricky circumstances, extract value and laptime out of cars that they had no business doing and compared to their teammates, everything just stacked up. So Heinz-Harald Frentzen at Jordan, and Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. I think that the race performances were also everything.

"There’s the whole package in terms of driving ability. So, if you focused on talent, they’re pretty much getting that in qualifying and the race.”

Heinz-Harald Frentzen claimed three wins in his Formula 1 career

Nowadays it is impossible to compare Hamilton and Frentzen with the pair never crossing paths. Both were highly-rated coming into F1 and got early chances at race-winning outfits, but Hamilton has seized his chance and, 16 years on from his debut, is regarded as an all-time great.

Frentzen's career finished in 2003 with Sauber, bagging a podium in his penultimate F1 race, before he went onto take part in DTM and Le Mans. Frank Williams previously admitted the German's talent was all there, but that he lacked the personality to succeed in a cut throat sport.

He told the BBC previously: "I don't know of any other driver who has such a fantastic feeling for the car he drives as Frentzen does. But Heinz-Harald is a very sensitive character and not hard enough for this business."

Samuel Meade