Heinz-Harald Frentzen has endured a trying last couple of years in Formula One, but he may at last have found a sort of peace to bring his career to a satisfactory end.

Frentzen began the year hoping that Prost would survive, and when they did not he was snapped up by Arrows.

Their boss, Tom Walkinshaw, might have struggled to run a successful team, but he is aware of a bargain when he sees one, and Frentzen was exactly that.

The German is one of F1’s biggest natural talents, even if he has not always had the application to bring that ability to full fruition.

But he was more than good enough to wring several extremely promising performances from his Arrows before financial hardships started to bite.

As Arrows’ season plummeted into freefall, Frentzen wisely saw the writing on the wall and got out first.

He must have wondered where it had all gone wrong – at the beginning of 2001, after all, he had been heading into a third season with Jordan, having as recently as 1999 won races and even challenged for the championship.

But Jordan gave him the sack – compensation for which Frentzen is still pursuing the team in the courts – and from there he went to Prost.

For 2003, though, he has at last found some stability, going back to Sauber, where he began his F1 career in 1994, and where he is appreciated.

There are some who claim that Frentzen is a little too unobtrusive and laid-back, that he lacks the cutting edge and last ounce of determination that will produce the unexpected result.

He certainly found Jarno Trulli too hot to handle in 2001.

But in the right environment and handled in the right way, Frentzen is every bit good enough to win a race.

He may well not get the chance to do that again – but at least this pleasant, amusing character can now carry on his career with the dignity his talent deserves.