When someone talks about the greatest F1 drivers of all time, Michael Schumacher is a name that always comes on the list. He is one of the fastest ever, winning seven world titles over the course of his illustrious career. However, a former race engineer who was a part of his ex-team, feels that there was one driver who was better than him in terms of overall speed.
Sam Michael, who joined Williams in 1999, became the race engineer of Heinz-Herald Frentzen just a year later. Having worked closely with the German driver, Michael feels that Frentzen was one of the quickest he ever came across. In fact, the only other person he would consider to be on his level is Lewis Hamilton.
In the recent episode of the Beyond the Grid podcast, Michael was talking to the host Tom Clarkson about the best drivers he ever came across during his long F1 career. Michael, who worked for teams like Williams, Jordan, and McLaren during his tenure had no hesitation in choosing Hamilton first but revealed that the second driver in his list was Frentzen.
When Clarkson asked Michael if he thinks that the 3-time F1 race winner is better than Schumacher, the 52-year-old Aussie said yes.
Why Heinz-Herald Frentzen didn’t achieve what Michael Schumacher could?
Sam Michael called Heinz-Herald Frentzen faster than Schumacher. But whereas Schumacher went on to cast himself in the history books of F1, not many people Frentzen, despite how quick he apparently was.
This is because the Mönchengladbach-born didn’t have the ‘whole package’ like Schumacher did. The latter had the ability to work closely with people out of him, talk to them and find out a solution even in the most difficult situations. The ability of Schumacher to have a strong personality off the track, allowed him to achieve success in F1, unlike his compatriot, who ended his career with three F1 wins only.
“It’s their ability to communicate with people,” Michael said. “Work inside a team. The ability to manage your emotions. And understand when its a good time to be emotional and when not. There’s also teamwork. Working with mechanics and engineers around you and extract the most out of them.”
According to Sam Michael, these were the areas where Schumacher excelled, which made him the hugely successful driver he became.
Heinz-Herald Frentzen’s F1 career
Frentzen may not have reached the highs in F1 that the likes of Schumacher and Hamilton reached. But in no way was his career a complete failure. A driver having 3 wins and 18 podium finishes in his lifetime, isn’t bad, considering how difficult and competitive the sport is.
He started his career with Sauber before moving to Williams in 1998. There, he met Sam Michael and the two of them developed a strong partnership, winning both the French and Italian GPs. However, his stint at Williams came to an end soon, and he jumped ship to Michael Schumacher’s former team Jordan.
Subsequently, Frentzen drove for Prost and Arrows, before returning to Sauber once again, where he ended his career in 2003.
