Heinz-Harald Frentzen attends the DTM at the Nürburgring for the first time in 20 years

Heinz-Harald Frentzen can look back on an impressive career: he competed in 157 Formula 1 races and was runner-up in the World Championship in the premier class in 1997. From 2004 to 2006, the Mönchengladbach native also competed in the DTM with Opel and Audi.

Frentzen secured two podium finishes in the DTM for both Opel in 2005 and Audi in 2006. He enjoyed his most successful DTM season in 2006 with Abt Audi, when he finished seventh in the championship.

Following his time in the DTM, Heinz-Harald Frentzen competed in the ADAC GT Masters in 2011 and 2012 (Callaway Competition Corvette) and in 2014 (HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG). In the long-established GT3 series, Frentzen was one of the absolute crowd favourites.

On Sunday, the 59-year-old visited the Nürburgring with his daughter Lea and said that it was his first time at a DTM event in 20 years. The pair strolled through the paddock and across the grid – and enjoyed a number of reunions with old friends.

“Visiting the DTM with my dad for the first time is a special feeling. For me, the coolest thing about the DTM is definitely the start, when all the cars head into the first corner together,” said Lea Frentzen, who, as an influencer, regularly gives her followers an insight into her childhood and takes her fans behind the scenes of motorsport. “I started using social media three years ago when I went to Formula 1 at Silverstone for the first time. It’s incredibly lovely to see how many fans my father still has today.”