Johnny Herbert

John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a former British racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for 7 different teams, winning three races and placed 4th in the 1995 championship. He also raced sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B. He enjoyed much success in lower-level motor racing.

Johnny Herbert

Herbert at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Born	John Paul Herbert (1964-06-25) 25 June 1964 Brentwood, Essex, England
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1989–2000
Teams	Benetton, Tyrrell, Lotus, Ligier, Sauber, Stewart, Jaguar
Entries	165 (161 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	3
Podiums	7
Career points	98
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1989 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win	1995 British Grand Prix
Last win	1999 European Grand Prix
Last entry	2000 Malaysian Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career Years 1990–1992, 2002–2004, 2007 Teams Mazdaspeed/Oreca, Champion Racing, Audi Sport North America, Team Bentley, Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx, Aston Martin Racing Best finish 1st (1991) Class wins 1 (1991)

Career

Early career and entry to Formula One

Winning the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in 1985, Herbert caught Eddie Jordan's attention, and together they won the 1987 British Formula 3 title. Herbert suffered career-threatening injuries in 1988, as a then championship hopeful in International Formula 3000 when he was caught up in a major accident at Brands Hatch, when Gregor Foitek hit him from behind, causing Herbert to slam into the wall cockpit-first, sustaining severe ankle and foot injuries after multiple collisions with the barriers. The threat of amputation loomed but it eventually passed after multiple surgeries and months of physiotherapy, though the extent of Herbert's injuries would permanently hinder his mobility, leaving him unable to run and forcing him to change his driving style.[1]

Despite his immobility, Herbert returned to racing at the beginning of 1989 in Formula 1, scoring points on his debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro driving for the Benetton team, then managed by his long-time mentor and friend Peter Collins. Herbert finished 4th in Brazil, only 10.5 seconds behind the race winning Ferrari of Nigel Mansell and only 1.1 seconds behind the 3rd placed March-Judd of Maurício Gugelmin and only 2.6 seconds behind the 2nd placed McLaren-Honda of then double World Champion Alain Prost. Herbert's teammate, the highly rated Italian Alessandro Nannini, finished in 6th place, 7.7 seconds behind Herbert.[2]

Herbert driving for Lotus at the 1994 British Grand Prix. He finished eleventh.

However, Herbert's performances could not keep up to that standard (he reportedly found it hard to press the brake pedal which adversely affected his lap times), and with the Benetton team under new management he was dropped after failing to qualify for the Canadian Grand Prix (after having finished 5th in the previous round in Phoenix) and was replaced by McLaren's test driver Emanuele Pirro. Herbert returned to Formula 3000, this time in the highly regarded Japanese series. It wasn't long before he received another call from Formula One racing, this time with Tyrrell. From 1990 to 2000, Herbert was a fixture in Formula One, switching to the dwindling Lotus team, now managed by Peter Collins.

Herbert was among the drivers who drove this Mazda 787B to victory at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans.

During 1991, he also drove two rounds of the Fuji Long Distance Sports Car Series, co-driving a Mazda 787B, finishing fourth both times.[3] His decision, at the July round, to stop his car and aid a fellow competitor, who had suffered a puncture at high speed, would earn him the Sportsman Award at the 1991 Autosport Awards.

Ligier and return to Benetton (1994–1995)

Herbert moved to Benetton for 1995 and took his first Formula One victory at the 1995 British Grand Prix.

After 3 years of frustration, Herbert left Lotus in mid-1994, joining Ligier and then Benetton for the last few races of the season. Although he failed to score any points in 1994, he was retained as Michael Schumacher's teammate for 1995. At the British Grand Prix, he inherited a Grand Prix win after Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher collided. He followed this in similar circumstances at Monza, finishing 4th in the championship.

Sauber, Stewart and Jaguar (1996–2000)

Herbert driving for Stewart at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix. He brought the car home in fifth.

After being dropped by Benetton, Herbert drove for Swiss team Sauber in 1996–1998, scoring two podium places, the first of the two being in the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, which were his only points of that season, and the other being in the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix. That year would be the only of his three seasons at Sauber where Herbert would score several times because he also finished 4th twice (Argentina and Belgium), 5th on two further occasions (Spain and Canada) as well as 6th in Japan. Moving to Stewart Grand Prix in 1999, he was routinely outqualified by his younger teammate Rubens Barrichello but scored his third and final Grand Prix win in the rain-affected European Grand Prix. Staying at Stewart after the team was purchased by Ford and became Jaguar, Herbert endured another frustrating and pointless season, ending the year being stretchered off at Malaysia after a suspension failure caused him to crash heavily.

After Formula One

Herbert driving for Audi in the 2004 Petit Le Mans. He came second, partnered with Pierre Kaffer.

Herbert in his first BTCC race.

In 2001 he was employed by Arrows F1 team owner Tom Walkinshaw, to act as the team developmental/test driver.[4]

Since retiring from Formula One racing, Herbert has concentrated on Sports Cars, trying to repeat his Le Mans 24 Hours overall win of 1991. Recent years have seen him as one of the front runners in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), where he won several events and was a challenger for the 2003 crown.

In 2004, Herbert, along with Jamie Davies won the Le Mans Series championship at the wheel of an Audi R8 winning the races at Monza and Spa along the way.

In 2005, Herbert was appointed to the post of Sporting Relations Manager at Jordan Grand Prix, which was then renamed Midland F1 for the 2006 World Championship. However, in September of that year Spyker Cars bought the team, and renamed it Spyker MF1. Another of the new owners' decisions was to not renew Herbert's contract.

In 2007, Herbert entered the Le Mans 24 Hours driving for the factory Aston Martin team at the wheel of the Aston Martin DBR9 in the GT1 class. Herbert, along with Peter Kox and Tomáš Enge drove the 007 numbered car to a 9th placed overall finish and 4th in the GT1 class.

In 2008, Herbert won the first season of the Speedcar Series.

In 2009, Herbert made his debut in the British Touring Car Championship for Team Dynamics at the wheel of a Honda Civic at round eight of the championship, Silverstone. He qualified 17th for the first race, and after moving up the order, finished in 13th. In the second race, he finished inside the points in eighth place, scoring three points. In the final race of the day, a reverse starting grid is operated. The first six, seven, eight, nine or ten cars to finish race two, start race three in reverse order. This is decided by the winner of race two drawing a number between six and ten out of a hat. For the final race of the day, the top 9 finishers were reversed, meaning Herbert started from second. He was running well, and was holding 4th, but was forced to retire on lap 13, after contact with Jason Plato. Herbert went on to compete in the final two rounds of the season.

Herbert also runs a charity event called the Johnny Herbert Karting Challenge every year for charities like the halow project which is now held at Capital Karts in London. This event invites celebrities and professional racing drivers to compete in indoor go karting and is now in its 20th year.

Sky Sports F1

Johnny Herbert in the Silverstone pit lane for the 2014 British Grand Prix

Herbert is a regular contributor to the Sky Sports F1 channel. He is an occasional presence as one of the insiders in "Sky Race Control" during practices, qualifying sessions, and races alongside Anthony Davidson, Damon Hill, Nico Rosberg, and Paul Di Resta.

GT Academy

In 2013 and 2014, Herbert mentored 6 contestants in a primetime ITV4 reality series, with the aim of taking players of the Gran Turismo videogames to the Dubai 24 Hour race as real drivers.[5] Other countries in Europe had heats mentored by drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Sébastien Buemi.[6]

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1988	Jordan Racing	JER 1	VAL Ret	PAU	SIL 7	MON 3	PER Ret	BRH Ret	BIR	BUG	ZOL	DIJ	8th	13

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts.
1989	Benetton Formula	Benetton B188	Ford V8	BRA 4	SMR 11	MON 14	MEX 15	USA 5	CAN DNQ	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN								14th	5
	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell 018	Ford V8											BEL Ret	ITA	POR DNQ	ESP	JPN	AUS
1990	Camel Team Lotus	Lotus 102	Lamborghini V12	USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN Ret	AUS Ret		NC	0
1991	Team Lotus	Lotus 102B	Judd V8	USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN DNQ	MEX 10	FRA 10	GBR 14^†	GER	HUN	BEL 7	ITA	POR Ret	ESP	JPN Ret	AUS 11		NC	0
1992	Team Lotus	Lotus 102D	Ford V8	RSA 6	MEX 7	BRA Ret	ESP Ret														15th	2
		Lotus 107	Ford V8					SMR Ret	MON Ret	CAN Ret	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 13^†	ITA Ret	POR Ret	JPN Ret	AUS 13
1993	Team Lotus	Lotus 107B	Ford V8	RSA Ret	BRA 4	EUR 4	SMR 8^†	ESP Ret	MON Ret	CAN 10	FRA Ret	GBR 4	GER 10	HUN Ret	BEL 5	ITA Ret	POR Ret	JPN 11	AUS Ret		9th	11
1994	Team Lotus	Lotus 107C	Mugen-Honda V10	BRA 7	PAC 7	SMR 10	MON Ret														NC	0
		Lotus 109	Mugen-Honda V10					ESP Ret	CAN 8	FRA 7	GBR 11	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 12	ITA Ret	POR 11
	Ligier Gitanes Blondes	Ligier JS39B	Renault V10														EUR 8
	Mild Seven Benetton Ford	Benetton B194	Ford V8															JPN Ret	AUS Ret
1995	Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton B195	Renault RS7 3.0 V10	BRA Ret	ARG 4	SMR 7	ESP 2	MON 4	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 1	GER 4	HUN 4	BEL 7	ITA 1	POR 7	EUR 5	PAC 6	JPN 3	AUS Ret	4th	45
1996	Red Bull Sauber Ford	Sauber C15	Ford Zetec-R V10	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	ARG 9	EUR 7	SMR Ret	MON 3	ESP Ret	CAN 7	FRA DSQ	GBR 9	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 9^†	POR 8	JPN 10		14th	4
1997	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber C16	Petronas V10	AUS Ret	BRA 7	ARG 4	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP 5	CAN 5	FRA 8	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN 3	BEL 4	ITA Ret	AUT 8	LUX 7	JPN 6	EUR 8	10th	15
1998	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber C17	Petronas V10	AUS 6	BRA 11^†	ARG Ret	SMR Ret	ESP 7	MON 7	CAN Ret	FRA 8	GBR Ret	AUT 8	GER Ret	HUN 10	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	LUX Ret	JPN 10		15th	1
1999	Stewart Ford	Stewart SF3	Ford V10	AUS DNS	BRA Ret	SMR 10^†	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 5	FRA Ret	GBR 12	AUT 14	GER 11^†	HUN 11	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	EUR 1	MAL 4	JPN 7		8th	15
2000	Jaguar Racing	Jaguar R1	Cosworth V10	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR 10	GBR 12	ESP 13	EUR 11^†	MON 9	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	AUT 7	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 8	ITA Ret	USA 11	JPN 7	MAL Ret	17th	0

^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1990	Team LeMans	SUZ 19	FUJ 10	MIN Ret	SUZ Ret	SUG 7	FUJ Ret	FUJ 5	SUZ 6	FUJ Ret	SUZ Ret		16th	3
1991	Team LeMans	SUZ 5	AUT 7	FUJ Ret	MIN 2	SUZ Ret	SUG Ret	FUJ Ret	SUZ 7	FUJ C	SUZ Ret	FUJ 6	10th	9

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1990	Mazdaspeed	Volker Weidler Bertrand Gachot	Mazda 787	GTP	148	DNF	DNF
1991	Mazdaspeed	Volker Weidler Bertrand Gachot	Mazda 787B	C2	362	1st	1st
1992	Mazdaspeed Oreca	Volker Weidler Bertrand Gachot Maurizio Sandro Sala	Mazda MXR-01	C1	336	4th	4th
2001	Champion Racing	Didier Theys Ralf Kelleners	Audi R8	LMP900	81	DNF	DNF
2002	Audi Sport North America	Christian Pescatori Rinaldo Capello	Audi R8	LMP900	374	2nd	2nd
2003	Team Bentley	Mark Blundell David Brabham	Bentley Speed 8	LMGTP	375	2nd	2nd
2004	Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx	Jamie Davies Guy Smith	Audi R8	LMP1	379	2nd	2nd
2007	Aston Martin Racing	Peter Kox Tomáš Enge	Aston Martin DBR9	GT1	337	9th	4th

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points
2001	Champion Racing	LMP900	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M	TEX	SEB	DON	JAR	SON ovr:4 cls:4	POR ovr:3 cls:3	MOS ovr:Ret cls:Ret	MID ovr:5 cls:5	MON ovr:2 cls:2	PET ovr:3 cls:3	8th	113
2002	Audi Sport North America	LMP900	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M	SEB ovr:1 cls:1										4th	206
	Champion Racing						SON ovr:2 cls:2	MID ovr:10 cls:8	AME ovr:3 cls:3	WAS ovr:5 cls:5	TRO ovr:3 cls:3	MOS ovr:2 cls:2	MON ovr:2 cls:2	MIA ovr:5 cls:5	PET ovr:2 cls:2
2003	Team Bentley	LMGTP	Bentley Speed 8	Bentley 4.0L Turbo V8	M	SEB ovr:3 cls:3										4th	160
	ADT Champion Racing	LMP900	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8			ATL ovr:1 cls:1	SON ovr:3 cls:2	TRO ovr:2 cls:2	MOS ovr:20 cls:4	AME ovr:1 cls:1	MON ovr:4 cls:3	MIA ovr:1 cls:1	PET ovr:1 cls:1
2004	Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx	LMP1	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M	SEB ovr:3 cls:3	MID	LIM	SON	POR	MOS	AME				8th	64
	ADT Champion Racing												PET ovr:2 cls:2	MON ovr:1 cls:1

Complete IndyCar Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Rank	Points
2002	Duesenberg Brothers Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	HMS	PHX	FON	NAZ	INDY DNQ	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MCH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TXS	NC	0

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2002	Dallara	Chevrolet	DNQ		Duesenberg

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded just in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	Pos	Pts
2009	Team Dynamics	Honda Civic	BRH 1	BRH 2	BRH 3	THR 1	THR 2	THR 3	DON 1	DON 2	DON 3	OUL 1	OUL 2	OUL 3	CRO 1	CRO 2	CRO 3	SNE 1	SNE 2	SNE 3	KNO 1	KNO 2	KNO 3	SIL 1 13	SIL 2 8	SIL 3 Ret	ROC 1 Ret	ROC 2 10	ROC 3 7	BRH 1 Ret	BRH 2 Ret	BRH 3 14	19th	8

Complete International Superstars Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2010	Motorzone Race Car	Chevrolet Lumina CR8	MNZ R1 Ret	MNZ R2 6	IMO R1 2	IMO R2 DNS	ALG R1 DNS	ALG R2 Ret	HOC R1 14	HOC R2 3	CPR R1 3	CPR R2 15	VAL R1 Ret	VAL R2 Ret	KYA R1 1	KYA R2 Ret			7th	66
2011	Romeo Ferraris	Mercedes C63 AMG	MNZ R1 10	MNZ R2 Ret	VNC R1 6	VNC R2 18	ALG R1 15	ALG R2 18	DON R1 2	DON R2 6	MIS R1 4	MIS R2 2	SPA R1 3	SPA R2 9	MUG R1 5	MUG R2 3	VAL R1 Ret	VAL R2 5	6th	96
2012	Swiss Team	Maserati Quattroporte	MNZ R1	MNZ R2	IMO R1	IMO R2	DON R1 3	DON R2 7	MUG R1 2	MUG R2 Ret	HUN R1	HUN R2	SPA R1	SPA R2	VAL R1	VAL R2	PER R1	PER R2	12th	36

Helmet

Herbert's helmet design was red with white line going from the rear going through the sides and on the mouthplate, black stripes on the lower sides a black stripe on the rear (in a similar fashion to Depailler's helmet), in 1999, when he drove for Stewart, the stripes on the lower sides were changed to green and on the top of the helmet was added a drop with the union jack. in 2000, when he drove for Jaguar, the green areas became blue.

References

1. Sniffer (2 September 2013). "Race That Shook The World: Brands F3000 – 1988". Retrieved 20 May 2017.
2. 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix
3. "Fuji Long Distance Series 1991". wspr-racing.com. 20 October 2009. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011.
4. "Herbert joins Arrows". Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2001.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading

• Herbert, Johnny (2016). What Doesn't Kill You: My Life in Motor Racing. Transworld Publishers. ISBN 978-0-593-07838-9.

External links

Media related to Johnny Herbert at Wikimedia Commons

• Herbert's website
• Johnny Herbert statistics

Sporting positions
Preceded by Gerrit van Kouwen	Formula Ford Festival Winner 1985	Succeeded by Roland Ratzenberger
Preceded by Andy Wallace	British Formula Three Champion 1987	Succeeded by JJ Lehto
Preceded by John Nielsen Price Cobb Martin Brundle	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1991 with: Volker Weidler Bertrand Gachot	Succeeded by Derek Warwick Yannick Dalmas Mark Blundell
Preceded by Gabriele Tarquini	Formula One Indoor Trophy Winner 1992	Succeeded by Rubens Barrichello
Preceded by Inaugural	Le Mans Series Champion 2004 with: Jamie Davies	Succeeded by Jean-Christophe Boullion Emmanuel Collard
Preceded by Inaugural	Speedcar Series Champion 2008	Succeeded by Gianni Morbidelli
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Andy Wallace	Autosport National Racing Driver of the Year 1987	Succeeded by JJ Lehto