Schumacher takes fewer risks according to Frentzen

In the category of former Formula 1 drivers who are asked to give their opinion on Michael Schumacher’s return, Heinz-Harald Frentzen has just made his entrance. At the center of rather exciting news, having won the Race of Champions – legends category -, and also following his announced participation in the upcoming Indian car championship, the i1 Supercar Series, alongside several former drivers from the top category, the 1997 vice-world champion was, of course, not spared from one or two questions about his seven-time world champion compatriot.

Frentzen’s F1 career began in 1994 when Peter Sauber, who entered the discipline in 1993, called on him. He then teamed up with a certain Karl Wendlinger, who, along with Michael Schumacher, was one of the members of the junior team created by Mercedes and led by Peter Sauber in the early 1990s. Among this promising generation, only Schumacher seems to have been successful: indeed, during the practice for the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix, Karl Wendlinger—who celebrates his 43rd birthday today, happy birthday to him—was the victim of a violent crash, marking the end of his single-seater career.

Regarding Frentzen, on the other hand, it’s more about the career choices that have been terrible. He acknowledges it himself in the interview given to the IANS agency: « I think I made the wrong decisions when Michael made the right ones. In 1994, I joined Sauber, and later that year, I received an offer from Williams to replace Ayrton Senna, who had died. I rejected this offer because Sauber gave me the chance to enter F1. But when I actually joined Williams in 1997, things had changed in the team ». Indeed, the non-renewal of Damon Hill’s contract had opened the door slightly for Frentzen’s arrival, in a team where Jacques Villeneuve had become the leader. Strongly dominated during the 1997 season, at the end of which the Canadian won the title against Michael Schumacher, the Williams team then began its slow decline, never allowing its men to reconnect with the fight for the title. Subsequently, Heinz-Harald Frentzen went through Jordan, Prost, and Arrows before ending his career at Sauber in 2003.

Nevertheless, the driver who has won three Grand Prix in his career believes that Michael Schumacher is not quite the same anymore. When you get older, you tend to hesitate and become indecisive when it comes to pushing hard and taking risks. You lose precious tenths of a second. I think Michael is at this stage of his career. As a reminder, Schumacher finished eighth in the championship, 13 points behind his teammate, Nico Rosberg, narrowly missing his first podium since his return during the race in Montreal.