Heinz-Harald Frentzen will return to Sauber, the team that gave him his first drive in F1, for the 2003 season.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen will return to Sauber, the team that gave him his first drive in F1, for the 2003 season.
Frentzen has not been involved in Formula One since his contract with Arrows was cancelled by mutual consent before the Hungarian Grand Prix. Some F1 observers believed that the German would quickly be signed up by Toyota to replace Allan McNish or perhaps be convinced by Eddie Jordan to return to the team that had sacked him shortly before last year’s German Grand Prix.
But instead Frentzen has signed a one-year contract with Sauber, the team with which he made his grand prix debut in 1994.
"My relationship with Peter Sauber has always been something special," said Frentzen. "He gave me the chance in Formula One and with that the basis for my career. Sauber’s performance has impressed me tremendously over the years and I am convinced that together we will achieve a lot."
Frentzen, Michael Schumacher and former F1 driver Karl Wendlinger drove for Sauber’s Mercedes World Sportscar Championship programme in the early nineties.
"The decisive factor was Heinz-Harald’s performance this year, which impressed us deeply," said Sauber. "He is not only one of the fastest drivers in Formula One, he also knows how to move a team forward and has proven that he is still highly motivated."
Sauber has also taken up the option to extend its partnership with Heidfeld into a third season. "The extension of Nick’s contract was a formality," said Sauber. "He has done an excellent job for our team and feels at home with us."
Current race driver Felipe Massa, from Brazil, has finished in the points three times in his debut season. But Sauber is unwilling to lose the Brazilian, and has offered Massa a role of test and reserve driver with the team.
"The decision to replace Felipe was not easy for me," Sauber said. "I hope he will accept our offer as test and substitute driver and we continue to be very interested in his development as a driver."