In better times

Frentzen has started legal proceedings against his former team suing them for wrongful dismissal and they look set for a courtroom battle after they failing to reach an agreement over compensation for the German driver following his sensational sacking from the team mid-season.
In June 2001 Eddie and Heinz jointly agreed to see their contract out until the end of 2002, but just three weeks later Jordan sacked the German, reportedly by fax machine.

Frentzen is seeking to recoup lost earnings of about $7.5million in compensation for the sacking. The parties have failed to reach an amicable agreement out of court as Eddie disputes the amount his most successful driver ever is claiming and a compromise was not to be found, so the case will continue. Both parties must now prepare their cases to be heard in an English court.

Although the Monchengladbach driver has been reluctant to speak about the relationship with his former boss on advice from his lawyers, EJ himself has revealed that the pair have spoken to each other since parting company earlier this year, although not about the court case.

Jordan found himself seated next to Heinz-Harald as they travelled by air to the season-ending Japanese GP, and says that although things were different between them he hopes that neither he nor his former driver are the type of people to hold grudges.
"It wasn�t like it used to be with him, but we did speak, at the beginning about Formula 1 in general and then we progressed on to what we had been doing and what we wanted to do next year and that is a start,� Eddie told F1 Magazine.
�It will take time for it to get back to what it was, but life is too short to bear grudges.

"Formula 1 has a way of getting on with life very quickly. Just because there are a few writs about the place doesn�t mean you can�t talk on planes. To be honest bigger and better people have sued each other before so I regard the whole issue as a separate issue to my relationship with Heinz-Harald."