MY TOP 20 BRITISH F1 DRIVERS - Number 12

JOHNNY HERBERT
GRANDS PRIX - 165
WINS - 3
BEST GRID POSITION - 4th three times
POINTS SCORED - 98
--- F1 CAREER ---
1989 - Benetton Ford / Tyrrell Ford - 14th - 5pts
1990 - Lotus Lamborghini - 0pts
1991 - Lotus Judd - 0pts
1992 - Lotus Ford - 15th - 2pts
1993 - Lotus Ford - 9th - 11pts
1994 - Lotus Mugen Honda / Benetton Ford - 0pts
1995 - Benetton Renault - 4th - 45pts
1996 - Sauber Petronas - 14th - 4pts
1997 - Sauber Petronas - 10th - 15pts
1998 - Sauber Petronas - 15th - 1pts
1999 - Stewart Ford - 8th - 15pts
2000 - Jaguar - 0pts

Right from the off, it was clear that Johnny Herbert from Romford in East London was a driver with some great potential, a potential that might have been fully realsied had it not have been for a horrific Formula 3000 crash at Brands Hatch in wich he broke both his legs, but he recovered sufficiently to become a solid performer in F1 scoring 3 race wins and also has a Le Mans 24 Hours win to his name.

Herbert first came to light by winning the prestigious British Formula Ford festival in 1985, a real event for up and coming young drivers, his performances in the category caught the attention of future F1 team boss Eddie Jordan who at the time was running teams in lower formulae. Jordan (on the basis of Herbert's FFord success) decided to give him a seat in one of his British Formula 3 cars, and the young Herbert would not let him down, 2 solid years eventually delivered the championship in 1987.

Logically Formula 3000 was the next step up and Herbert stayed with Jordan as they progressed to the category. Herbert had a fantastic debut by winning in Jerez before following it up with strong showings in Vallelunga, Silverstone, Monza and Pergusa. Going into round 6 he lay 3rd in the championship (despite missing round 3 at Pau) albeit a good 17 points behind the leader, Brazil's Roberto Moreno but he was in with a shout for 2nd only 2 points behind the Swiss driver Gregor Foitek. Herbert helped his cause by qualifying on pole for the race at Brands Hatch but started poorly as he was overtaken by teammate Martin Donnelly and Pierluigi Martini, But disaster was to follow just halfway through the lap.

As the field exited Surtees bend and onto the Pilgrims Drop, Donnely and Martini were away and clear but Herbert was tapped into a spin by Foitek which sent him into the armco at high speed and then Herbert was t-boned by the blameless Olivier Grouillard who had no time to react, catastrophe followed eliminating no less than 8 cars. Herbert broke both his legs and was very close to having one of his feet amputated as it was that badly damaged.

But Herbert proved everybody wrong and soon got himself back to full fitness and with the help of his long time friend and mentor Peter Collins, he confirmed his recovery by bagging a Grand prix drive with Benetton for 1989 (Collins was also the team's manager at the time) alongside Alessandro Nannini. He shocked everyone by bagging a brilliant points finish on his debut in Brazil with a 4th place, Herbert impressed right the way through including picking up a 5th place in Phoenix, but now the team were coming under new management, Collins was replaced by the flamboyant Italian Flavio Briatore and he insisted on an all Italian driver lineup so when Herbert failed to qualify for the Canadian Grand Prix, he was fired and replaced by Emanuelle Pirro. Upset with his dismissal, Herbert went off to race in Formula Nippon in Japan to pass the time and see out the 1989 season. But Tyrrell offered him a part time contract to drive in 2 races while Jean Alesi was pre-occupied, lack of knowledge of the car was apparent as he produced sub-standard results in those 2 outings including a DNQ in Portugal.

Peter Collins then re-signed Herbert to drive for Lotus in 1990 after their original choice of driver Martin Donnelly suffered a horrific qualifying accident for round 14 in Spain which finished his career, Herbert was given the drive for the final 2 races but retired from both, but he had shown enough in those 2 races to earn a contract for 1991 as a test driver. a test driver because he had signed a deal to go sportscar racing and compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours that year with Mazda and he won the worlds mot famous endurance race in one of their famous Orange and Green 787B's alongside Bertrand Gachot and Volker Weidler. But his F1 career would be reborn again earlier than expected that year after the sacking of Lotus's 2nd driver Julian Bailey. Herbert filled in when not on Sportscar duty and performed well, scoring a best finish of 7th in Belgium.

Those displays earned him a race seat for 1992 alongside an unknown young Finn called Mika Hakkinen, it was the finnish driver who was the team's bright spark as he helped Lotus finish in the top 5 of the constructors championship for the first time in 4 years, Herbert was somewhat overshadowed by Hakkinen but he did score 2 points finishes of his own in France and South Africa. Herbert stayed on for 1993 and as Hakkinen signed for McLaren, Herbert was now the team's number 1 driver alongside Alex Zanardi. Herbert grabbed his big chance with both hands, the new car was competitive right from the off and Herbert notched up four top 5 finishes to grab 11 points and 9th in the championship, his 4th place at Silverstone being the most satisfying for him.

There was a lot of promise for 1994, another new car and a factory engine deal with Mugen Honda, alongside Pedro Lamy, Herbert believed he could really push on and start fighting for podiums. But the Lotus 109 was a joke right out of the factory, it was overweight and substantially underdeveloped as the team were now struggling to pay off a mounting debt, Herbert did manage five top 10 finishes but no points, and he was forced to quit when the team were nearly bankrupt and began hiring pay drivers, they eventually closed their doors at the end of 1994.

Herbert though had done enough to earn a contract with Benetton for 1995 alongside Michael Schumacher, finally a chance with a real front running team and car, and with Renault engines, their B195 was the best car on the grid. Herbert used it well, scoring his first points finish in 22 races in Argentina, he then went on to secure his first podium finish in Spain before an emotional first win at Silverstone albeit in fortuitous circumstances, he assumed the lead after Schumacher and Damon Hill's famous collision with 16 laps to go and he was struggling to hold off David Coulthard's Williams before he was given a 10 second pit speeding penalty, Herbert went on to claim his first victory in his 74th race. In similar circumstances, he went on to win in Italy after Hill and Schumacher again collided. It was a fantastic year for Herbert scoring 45 points, good enough for 4th place and good enough to help Benetton win the constructors championship.

But not good enough as it seemed for Flavio Briatore who after seeing Schumacher snared away by a £25million a year deal from Ferrari, he sacked Herbert in favour of the ageing duo of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi. Herbert was now out in the cold but he did sign a late deal with Sauber for 1996. It would be a poor year though, only one points finish (a podium in Monaco) 4 points and 14th place in the championship was not what he needed after the highs of the previous year, Herbert was brought back down to earth with a bump. But he kept faith with Sauber for 1997 and his loyalty was to be rewarded, Sauber's designer Leo Ress had produced a tidy little machine and with a better Petronas engine (a re-badged 1996 Ferrari), Herbert was able to mix it at the front of the pack on a regular basis, he was a regular in the top 10 and scored a deserved podium in Hungary, he ended up with 15 points, which was good eouhg for 10th, on the whole though, his performances that year deserves a hell of a lot better, especially after he was cynically punted off the track in Italy by Ralf Schumacher while running well.

1998 though seemed like de-ja-vu again, after feeling like 2nd fiddle alongside Hakkinen in 1992 and Schumacher in 1995, Herbert again felt he was being cast aside this time by Jean Alesi who had joined Sauber in place of Norberto Fontana, scoring a single points finish in the opening round in Melbourne, Alesi meanwhile scored multiple points finishes including a podium in Belgium as the team largely focused on him, Herbert became disillusioned and announced he would leave Sauber at the end of the 1998 season after finishing with a miserable 1 point.

1999 would bring a fresh start afte rsigning for Jackie Stewart's team who had produced a neat little car with a much improved engine from Ford, partnering Rubens Barrichello, the team improved as the season progressed and Herbert was to reap big benefits taking advantage of a chaotic European Grand Prix that year to take a memorable win from 14th on the grid, memorable as it was Stewart's first (and only) win in F1, he may have acted as a number 2 driver to Barrichello but now Herbert was enjoying his racing again, finishing with 15 points which was good enough for a top 8 place.

2000 though would be different, Stewart had been bought out by Ford and renamed Jaguar, Barrichello had left to join Ferrari and had been replaced by Ferrari refugee Eddie Irvine, a sale which was hoped to bring a bright future to the team, but it was more of a white elephant than a golden asset, 2000 especially, the chassis was a disaster, the engine was poor and unreliable and both drivers complained of aerodynamic defects with the car, Herbert became disillusioned again and announced his retirement from the sport, he would go out in some fashion though suffering a scary crash after a rear suspension collapse in Malaysia.

Today Herbert is still racing, he had attpemted to add to his Le Mans win in 1991 with 4 other attempts with Bentley, Audi and Aston Martin, all of which came to nothing, today he races in the Arab-based Speedcar Stock series in which he is the reigning champion