F1 star reveals he raced for FREE

Eddie Jordan, Frentzen, generic, 1999 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 star reveals he raced for FREE

Heinz-Harald Frentzen has revealed a remarkable story

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Tuesday 27 January 2026 17:02

Former F1 racer Heinz-Harald Frentzen has said that he raced for one of his teams for free, in order to try and get his revenge for an untimely sacking.

Frentzen raced in F1 between 1994-2003, driving for teams including Williams, Sauber and Jordan.

The German's most successful spell in the sport was with Jordan, where he claimed two of his three career race victories, but he was sacked by Eddie Jordan's team midway through the 2001 season.

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Jordan revealed several years later that the termination of Frentzen's contract had actually been down to wanting to get Japanese racer Takuma Sato in for the 2002 season, in order to appease engine supplier Honda.

Alesi's signing to Jordan meant that there was a seat available at Alain Prost's team, Prost GP, who were struggling financially at the time.

The German suggested that he did this simply to try and defeat Jordan and get his revenge.

Posting on X, Frentzen said: "When Eddie sacked me in 2001, I went to Prost GP for the rest of the season. But Alain couldn’t pay me. He said it right away.

"I said 'it’s ok, I race for you for free and my target is to help you to go as fast as possible and my motivation is to beat the Jordans with your help'."

The fate of the Prost GP team

Unfortunately, Frentzen would not be able to exact his revenge on Jordan, with Prost GP finishing down in ninth in the constructors' championship with just four points all season, while Jordan finished up in fifth.

The Prost GP team were in financial ruin following the season, and had to fold, bringing to an end their five-season spell in the sport in which they claimed three podiums and a best result of sixth in the constructors' championship.

But that was not before Prost had exacted a clever trick during pre-season testing that year to try and help the team's situation.

The team ran low fuel setups ahead of the season in order to try and make it look like they would be quicker than they actually were, in an attempt to attract more sponsors and investors to the struggling outfit.

F1 Alain Prost Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan