In the top class: It feels good up here

My journey to Formula 1 can't exactly be described as a straight line. Nevertheless, it led me to the top class.

At the 1994 Grand Prix of Brazil my time had come: I competed in my first Formula 1 race. I starting from fifth on the grid at my debut, and harvested the first two points from the second round at Aida, Japan. And I had the feeling that it would be cool if things continued in that vein. Moreover, I was not competing for just any team. No, I sat in the cockpit of the Sauber-Mercedes. Team boss Peter Sauber, who remembered me from the Mercedes Junior days, had given me the chance to test a Formula 1 racer, and now I was part of his team. Peter - naturally together with Mercedes - had pushed this decision through against hefty resistance from many sides. Not everybody was enthusiastic about his choice of driver.

But these reservations very quickly disappeared, because 1994 became one of the most problem-ridden years in Formula 1 history. The death of my friend Roland Ratzenberger and of my idol Ayrton Senna in Imola marked the tragic low points of this year. Two weeks later during the qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix my team mate Karl Wendlinger suffered a heavy accident - you had to really love motorsport not to become desperate at this point. But by the end of 1994 life taught me another lesson, and the topic was political traps. Mercedes and Sauber parted, I stayed with the Swiss team, and competed with a Ford engine in 1995.

Instead of continually progressing, we had to start from zero again. So you can imagine how overjoyed I was to finish third at the Italian Grand Prix, and climb the podium. It felt good up there...

But that didn't help me much in 1996. After seven points in my first year and ninth overall (15 points) in 1995, my third year at Sauber was the first season without progress.

Still, I have good memories of this stage in my career. My manager Ortwin Podlech and I succeeded in putting my signature on a very special piece of paper: a contract with Williams.

Frank Williams had already contacted me back in 1994 after Ayrton Senna's death. But at this time it was absolutely impossible for me to leave Peter Sauber's team - he had been the man to give me my big chance in Formula 1.

In 1997 I joined Williams as successor to Damon Hill who had just carried off the World Championship title. I knew from the very start that I was not in an easy position. The British media were watching me closely, and in Germany the expectations were high.

The 1997 season went exactly as I had expected - difficult. We had a lot of technical problems, and it was all but easy for me to come to grips with such a large team. For the first races the results we had hoped for were elusive...But then came my premiere win in Imola, and it showed both sides that we were on the right road.

The second half of the season turned out to be very satisfying for me. I regularly climbed the podium and was able to help my team-mate Jacques and the Williams Team win the driver's and the constructor's title. By the end of the season I emerged as vice champion in my first year at Williams.

But as this title is more or less a consequence of Michael Schumacher's disqualification, I´m not willing to crow too loudly about it. Nevertheless, this result brought one big advantage. Whenever I was asked what my aims were for the coming season I answered: I'd be absolutely satisfied to improve just one place.

But this was easier said than done. Particularly because there were two McLarens at the top demolishing everybody else just as they saw fit.

I also never expected that third place at the opening race of 1998 in Australia, would remain the season's best result. Also, it should not be ignored that within the William's team, things were not functioning as smoothly as they should.

For 1999 I needed drive in which one could relive past successes. I jumped at the chance when Eddie Jordan, my former Formula 3000 team boss, offered me a seat in his Jordan. I still had something to prove in Formula 1.

It was a great move, which was confirmed at the first race in Australia. I was second. In this season everything ran sensationally on and off the track. In France and Italy I collected my second and third Grand Prix victories. And I got married to Tanja before the last race of the season. I finished the 1999 season as third in the championship, a result that astounded many self proclaimed experts and critics.

It should have been a foretaste of the things to come during the 2000 season in which I wanted to reach the top together with Jordan. However, we had some reliability problems and the car was not as quick as expected. At the end, two third places in the Brazilian and USA GPs were all I had to show for my efforts.

In 2001 everything should have been better. It was not. Following intense quarrels a few days after the British GP, my team boss Eddie Jordan dismissed me by means of a fax sent to my home. Suddenly, in the middle of the season, I was reduced to being a spectator at the German GP.

However, for the next race I had found a new drive as Jean Alesi's successor in Alain Prost's team. Setting fourth fastest qualifying time in the Prost, which was acknowledged as not being the most competitive of cars, at Spa the most difficult circuit on the calendar, was great fun. Actually, the Prost deal could have turned out to be something good. The guys had ambition and potential and Alain and I understood each other perfectly. However, due to financial problems they had to shut up shop before the 2002 season started.

So, I accepted an offer from Tom Walkinshaw to drive for his Orange Arrows team, admittedly not everyone's first choice, but a team full of potential. Which we then proved with sixth places in Spain and Monaco. However: Also on this occasion the wolves circled their prey, and pounced. Following my home Grand Prix in Hockenheim we didn't compete in any more races.

During my enforced leave I had plenty of time to look for a good team for 2003. I didn't have to think things over for very long when Peter Sauber, my first team boss, called. During the 2002 season we still had the opportunity to size each other up, as he asked me to replace his regular driver Felipe Massa at the USA GP.

And so we've come full circle. In 2003, my tenth year of Formula 1, I drove for Sauber, the team where it all began in 1994. Sadly, we did not had a good car overall this season. We had aerodynamical problems the whole year. Only in the rain and on wet tracks I had the chance to drive in the front. In such, extraordinary conditions I achieved a position in the points for three times. The highlight was the race in Indianapolis with position 3, where I stood next to Michael Schumacher on the podium again since a long time.
For the year 2004, Sauber changed the two drivers, wherefore I see no arguments until today.