Frentzen under fire.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen has borne the brunt of his rivals' criticism in recent weeks, and continued to do so after the tragic crash at Monza which claimed the life of a fire marshal.

The German has been saddled with the blame for the incident by Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, who was taken out in the crash while trying to fight his way back up the order after a poor start from the front row. The two drivers proffered differing views as to the cause of the five-car pile-up, which also eliminated the second Jordan of Jarno Trulli, Johnny Herbert's Jaguar and, most alarmingly, the Arrows of Pedro de la Rosa.

It was the latter's involvement which is believed to have been the cause of the fatality, but de la Rosa was an unwitting victim of a chain of events that had started well before he arrived at the Roggia chicane.

''I just saw the yellow flags, braked, and then saw pieces of car all over the place and lots of tyre smoke,'' the Spaniard explained, ''Then, after the smoke cleared, there were two cars travelling really slowly, and I just couldn't slow my car enough. I hit one on the rear wheel and this launched me into the air, and I just barrel-rolled until the car stopped. It is a racing incident.''

Sadly for the sport, and for Frentzen too, not everyone saw it the same way, although no-one is insisting that the German's intentions were pre-meditated. Barrichello, however, was still fuming well after the 53-lap race had ended.

''He's an idiot,'' the Brazilian stormed, ''He should be banned for ten races for causing that [accident]. We all knew that [the opening lap] was going to be dangerous, and he has enough experience to know better.''

The German, in return, refused to blame anyone else, claiming that the incident was just an unfortunate chain of events with noting untoward as its cause.

''I still don't know what happened,'' he admitted, ''I have to see the video before I make a race report, and I have no problem
taking the blame for the accident if the video shows that. But I have to say that I am not famous for being the kind of driver who causes those kind of starting accidents.

''Rubens braked very early and, I don't know why, but I don't blame him. I know the guy behind has responsibility. There was no space to avoid him and I hit him. But I was also hit from behind by some other people so I don't know. I would say that it was a normal racing accident, which can always happen during fights on the first lap.

''One thing is for sure, though, this Sunday at Monza has been one of the darkest moments in my whole career as a racing driver. The tragic news reminds us all that we are doing a dangerous sport, and my thoughts are with the family of the victim at this moment, and with the other marshals. It is their untiring effort that makes our sport possible every fortnight, and today is a very sad day.''

The German has notably been involved in a series of qualifying scrapes with McLaren's David Coulthard of late and, while the Scot laid no blame at his rival's feet over yesterday's accident, he was not impressed with his behaviour in practice either at Spa or in Italy.

''I had a problem with Heinz-Harald Frentzen who held me up,'' he said, ''I went to see him afterwards, and he told me it was just an accident, and that he had not seen me. I suggested he should pay more attention to his mirrors on his slowing down lap. I just wanted to make sure there was no difficulty between us after our incident in Spa. He assures me there is not and I must take his word on that.''

''David accused me of deliberately destroying his quickest lap,'' Frentzen said in his defence, ''but this was not the case at all. In fact, I even moved onto the grass to let him pass. I can't do more than that, otherwise I won't come to the track at all just to give him a clear run!''

The German did receive the support of team boss Eddie Jordan after the first-lap crash, however, with the Irishman claiming that the accident had been one of those things.

''It's unfair to blame Heinz-Harald,'' he said, ''As far as I'm concerned, and from every angle I've seen, it was a racing accident. Both drivers made good starts but, when you have two drivers on different fuel strategies, it can lead to problems in the braking area. Quite simply, there were too many cars trying to go through the same gap and it ended in disaster with Heinz hitting Rubens, and then Rubens and Heinz hitting Jarno. It happens.''

The four cars that came to rest in the Roggia gravel trap have all since been impounded by the local police for investigation, as is required by Italian law following any fatal accident.