Quiet man's noisy arrival

David Tremayne talks to Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams' answer to Schumacher

The real world beyond the cossetted cloisters of Formula One doesn't know much about Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Before he became "The German who took Damon Hill's drive at Williams" his oblique claim to fame was that Michael Schumacher had wooed away his girlfriend, Corinna Betsch.

In the sport, he is saddled with the reputation of being "as quick as Schumacher", following his speed during their days as rivals in karting and partners in Mercedes-Benz's junior sportscar team. Accolades don't come much higher than that.

"It's nice, when people are saying I'm quicker than Michael, or could be a very good challenger for him," the 29-year-old undertaker's son from Monchen- gladbach says. "It tells some people that there is somebody there who can do the job if he gets the right opportunity."

After a bitterly disappointing season, that opportunity is now precisely what Frentzen will enjoy within four races. "I had very big hopes and expectations for 1996," he admits. "Sauber looked so nice. But we fell into very cold water in Melbourne."

The glittering exception was Monaco, where Frentzen could have won but for the impetuosity that brought him into contact with Eddie Irvine's Ferrari when he was running comfortably ahead of the eventual winner, Olivier Panis. It was a moment of rashness that suggested old habits still die hard. But if there is one outstanding facet to Frentzen's quiet character, it is his refusal to dwell on past mistakes.

The way he sees the Irvine incident gives all the insight you need. "I had no other choice but to fight. I am not driving an F1 car to be lapped or to have a holiday. In Estoril last year I started last. I took a lot of risks and finished sixth. Nobody said I was crazy then."

Frank Williams took note.

"Afterwards it's very easy to say you could have won, isn't it?" Frentzen continued. "It was possible, probably, in Monaco, but it's always 'if'. You should not do racing with these ideas. I never regret my decisions."

When Frentzen quit the comfort of the Mercedes and struck out alone in F3000, he blamed nobody else when obscurity beckoned. There was another turning point that he chose not to exploit, which offers another window into a fundamentally honest character with a code of ethics that embraces rare-to-F1 concepts such as loyalty. In the aftermath of Ayrton Senna's death he was first approached by Williams at Monaco, but turned him down.

"There had been the Senna and Ratzenberger accidents, and it was a very sad situation. Then my team-mate Karl Wendlinger crashed at Monaco. When the offer came I was very proud that I got the chance of a very competitive car, and a very big challenge. But on the other hand Peter Sauber had taken me from Japan and given me the opportunity. And I couldn't say: 'Thank you very much, I'm going now.'

"The basic situation is how you handle yourself. You cannot say every day, 'Oh shit, I should have done this: I should have done that.' That way you never get happy, and you never get satisfied with your life. It is not a good thing to regret things."

Conventional wisdom says that Frentzen is as quick as Schumacher, yet where the world champion had little problem with his team-mate, Johnny Herbert, at Benetton last year, the Briton has given Frentzen much to ponder at Sauber. Which just goes to show that things are not always what they seem on the surface in F1. But one thing is certain: when Heinz-Harald Frentzen wins races for Williams - and he will - very few will remember the unpleasant circumstances in which he came upon the drive.