Johnny Herbert
Perhaps Britain's most talented young prospect of the eighties, Johnny Herbert built a successful career for himself in the world of Grand Prix racing – indeed 1999 saw him take an unlikely but well-deserved win in the Europ an Grand Prix to add to his emotional and hugely popular victories at Silverstone and Monza in 1995 – yet one wonders if the horrific F3000 crash at Brands Hatch in 1988, which interrupted his meteoric rise, somehow robbed his career of an impetus which might have seen him be true contender for the World Championship itself.
Racing in karts from the age of ten, Herbert worked his way through the classes, taking numerous championships on the way, before graduating to FF1600 and winning the prestigious Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival in 1985. Johnny's path then crossed that of Eddie Jordan, who took him into Formula Three in 1987. Herbert won the title and a Benetton test, which led to an option to drive for the team in 1989, so it was a season of F3000 next, which started brilliantly with a win at Jerez, followed by a number of highly competitive drives before that fateful Brands accident.
Johnny had the goal of reaching the grid in Brazil to make his debut for Benetton and, after months of painful rehabilitation he not only drove in Rio, but brought the car into fourth place. But as the year progressed it became clear that he was still handicapped by his injuries, and he lost his place in the team to the less talented Emanuele Pirro.
There followed a period when Johnny had to step down into Japanese F3000, take the occasional F1 ride and wait for another chance, although an unexpected victory at Le Mans with Mazda in 1991 providing a highlight.
Luckily, his old mentor at Benetton, Peter Collins, was now busy reviving the fortunes of Lotus, and Herbert was very much the man he wanted for the job. Brought back into the team full-time early in 1991, Herbert repeatedly showed he had the talent to win but, unfortunately, not the car. Locked into a contract at Lotus, Herbert was left trapped and frustrated as the team struggled on against overwhelming odds during the 1994 season. Johnny lost heart and, despite a morale-boosting fourth place on the grid at Monza, his relationship with team boss and father figure Peter Collins soured to the point that a split was inevitable.
Both parties must have been relieved when Flavio Briatore bought out his contract in September that year, for not only did Collins have some much-needed finance to stagger on at Lotus, but Johnny had a contract which saw him through to the end of 1995. Initially, he was placed at Ligier but, after a fine performance at Jerez, he was whisked into the Benetton team in the hope that he might assist Michael Schumacher's title bid.
As mentioned before, 1995 was the year that Johnny found tangible success. Indeed, apart from his two wins, his consistency brought him within a whisker of taking third place in the World championship. Unfortunately, however, his status at Benetton was very much that of the number two to Michael Schumacher, and his gripes to the press after a disappointing showing in the Belgian GP could not have helped his cause.
Not retained at season's end, Herbert found a ride at Sauber and, after a somewhat frosty start when his experience was under utilised in testing, he gradually won the team's confidence, especially after team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen seemed to lose his motivation. Third place at Monaco was the best result in a year littered with retirements, but despite the loss of the Ford engine deal to Stewart, Herbert had done enough to earn a new two-year contract with the Swiss constructor. He was now the team's mainstay and was charged with the task of developing the new Sauber C16 with its Petronas (née Ferrari) engine largely on his own.
The car was a capable points scorer, but never a likely winner, and the ever-jovial Herbert made the best of his situation. Things changed for the worse in 1998, though, with the arrival of Jean Alesi. Simply, the two drivers failed to gel and Herbert appeared to be worn down as much by the Frenchman's histrionics as by his undeniable edge in speed on the track. He was considered a touch fortunate to secure a two-year deal with Stewart Grand Prix for 1999 but, after a quiet first half to the season, picked up the pace and duly supplied the team's aforementioned maiden Grand Prix win. Another superb drive in Malaysia gave Herbert a further boost to his confidence as he prepared to welcome Eddie Irvine on board as his new team-mate in the restructured Jaguar team for 2000.
With Irvine as a proven yardstick, Johnny knew that he had another year of convincing others that he should retain his place on the grid for 2001, but he was to become a victim of Jaguar's spectacularly unsuccessful entry to F1. A point-less year, littered with mechanical problems, forced the Briton's hand, and he had announced his intention to switch to CART well before the end of the season.
In the end, however, the Champ Car dream – initially with a new team being formed by former F1 entrant Peter Zakowski and then with the only slightly older Sigma Autosport squad – failed to materialise, primarily courtesy of lacklustre sponsors, and, despite being connected to various DTM, IRL and sportscar drives, Herbert decided to throw in his lot as development driver with the Arrows F1 team. He denied that he was looking for a back-door return to F1, however, and, after relatively few outings with Tom Walkinshaw's doomed team, moved on to look for pastures new.
Those pastures lay principally in sportscars, and he was fortunate enough to land a chance to race one of the all-conquering Audi R8s with US squad Champion Racing. Although the team retired at Le Mans, Herbert was retained for the rest of the 2001 ALMS campaign, scoring numerous podiums alongside fellow Briton Andy Wallace.
Various US series tests – with Dale Coyne at the British Rockingham oval and with Heritage Motorsports on American ovals including Indianapolis – convinced Herbert that there was still mileage in his single-seater career, and he duly signed a deal to do the Indy 500 with Duesenberg Racing. Sportscars remained his priority, however, and, after failing to make the field on Pole Day, a clash with the Sears Point ALMS event scuppered Herbert's IRL/Indianpolis dream once and for all.
Sportscars continued to prove fruitful, however, and a works Audi drive at both Sebring and Le Mans yielded a win and second place respectively. In between, he remained with the Champion team to contest the ALMS, taking one win alongside new co-driver Stefan Johansson.
His performance in the US series led to an offer to join the Bentley team for Sebring and Le Mans in 2003 where, co-driven by David Brabham and Mark Blundell, he finished third and second respectively. Champion Racing again provided the filling in the season before Herbert’s talents were snapped-up by the UK-based Veloqx Audi team to spearhead its Sebring, Le Mans and LMES assault.
Second place in the French classis was sandwiched between victories at Sebring and in the inaugural LMES, where he partnered another Briton, Jamie Davies to two wins. Herbert also teamed up with Veloqx stable-mate Pierre Kaffer for two end-of-season ALMS outings, interspersed with a handful of races with the 'works' Maserati MC12 in the FIA GT series.
However, with the Veloqx team closing its doors at the end of 2004, unable to find a works deal to continue in sportscars, and no other offers on the horizon, Herbert was again left in limbo. When late efforts to land an MG drive in the DTM failed, his season, for once, looked quiet until his surprise appointment as ‘Sporting Director’ at Jordan in the middle of 2005. The popular Englishman retained the role at Midland F1 as the renamed team began their challenge with an all-new contender for 2006, but he was deemed surplus to requirements once the Spkyer management assumed control.
