Jordan denies row with Frentzen

Eddie Jordan yesterday denied that he and Heinz Harald Frentzen had been involved in a row that boiled out of control at Silverstone two weeks ago.

The Jordan boss was responding to rumours that he and Frentzen had hurled accusations back and forth after Frentzen disappointing run to seventh at the British Grand Prix, a drive that ultimately led to his sacking.

"I don't think there was a row, there was a discussion," he said. "In fact, at no stage in two years could you ever say there has been a row because I have never heard his voice raised and I don't believe I have ever raised my voice to him. There was never any question of a row.

"It hasn't been a great season. There have been all sorts of ups and downs. We talked about it a number of times but we particularly talked about it after Silverstone.

"It is very disappointing because you will never find an easier and nicer driver. It is also very disappointing to lose a friend in circumstances like this. Hopefully, time will mend a wound, but every so often people see it in different ways and this may not necessarily be the time to try and do that."

Meanwhile, Frentzen's future in Formula One began to look even more murky yesterday when Jaguar ruled themselves out of a bid for the German's services next year.

"We have no intention of employing Heinz next year," said team boss Bobby Rahal. "It's not in our plans." With Toyota boss Ove Andersson ruling the German out his vision of the motor company's immediate future, Frentzen's option in Formula One are beginning to look dimmer and dimmer.

Honda rivals BAR were ruled out the equation early yesterday when the team announced that Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis would drive for the team in 2002. Villeneuve, who has been vocally dissatisfied with BAR's progress when measured against Jordan, had been touted as a possible replacement, though it was always unlikely that Jordan would stump up the $10 million plus Villeneuve would require need to match his BAR deal.

Now with Toyota and Jaguar out of the picture, competitive drives are becoming are becoming increasingly rare in the paddock.

A natural home for Frentzen would be a return to Sauber, the team that brought him into Formula One in 1994. The Swiss team, though, is committed to its two young drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen. Both have shone in the Ferrari-powered Sauber C20 this year and have put Peter Sauber's squad in solid contention for fourth place in the constructors' championship, where they currently lead Jordan by four points.

Jordan, too, have no natural successor to Frentzen in place and it is now believed that the German's sacking was not a premeditated act orchestrated with a long-term plan in mind. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case, a situation in which frayed tempers boiled over and resulted in an unbreachable impasse.

Whatever the origin of the sacking, Jordan's solution to the problem appears some way off and, yesterday, in the absence of any insight from the team, speculative minds went into overdrive.

The first name into the hat on Wednesday was that of Jenson Button. The Briton would be loved by title sponsors Benson & Hedges, who have spent much of this year complaining bitterly about their lack of exposure in Britain due to the lack of a British driver at Jordan. A move by Button to Jordan would then have a domino effect through the paddock, seeing the Flavio Briatore contracted Fernando Alonso move up to Benetton while his place at Minardi would be taken by either Benetton tester Mark Webber (also contracted to Briatore) or by Malaysian driver Alex Yoong who has impressed in testing for Minardi recently.

The latest name to surface is that of Takuma Sato, the Japanese driver who currently tests for Honda-powered BAR and who is also running away with this year's British F3 championship.

Sato would certainly be a Honda-friendly choice for Jordan, but several sticking points may impede the Japanese's progress.

Firstly, he is contracted to BAR and not to Honda and, secondly, BAR themselves earlier this year ruled out the possibility of Sato driving for the team in 2002, Craig Pollock saying that while he thought Sato was doing a good job in F3, he was still too inexperienced to make the jump to Formula One.

Out on the track at Hockenheim yesterday, Frentzen's replacement Ricardo Zonta finished the day 13th, four places and five tenths of a second behind Jarno Trulli. Both Jordan drivers complained of brake problems on what was an otherwise routine Friday.

"I mainly ran through tyre and brake tests today," said Jonto. "My 13th position is not great but positions are not so important on Friday. It's tomorrow that really counts."

Trulli, meanwhile, spent both sessions working on the car set-up for the race. "We had a few problems with the brakes and need to look at the data to find out what the exact problem is, but I am generally happy with the car and looking forward to qualifying," he said.