(born
June 25 ,
1964 ,
Romford ,
England ) is a
British ex-
Formula One motor racing driver, who enjoyed much success in lower-level motor racing but never managed to achieve the same level of performance at the top level of motorsport.
During the mid-1980s, Johnny Herbert was widely regarded as a coming man of
Motor Racing , likened by some to the
Scot Jim Clark . Winning the
Formula Ford Festival at
Brands Hatch in
1985 , Herbert caught
Eddie Jordan 's attention, and together they won the
1987 British
Formula Three title. Disaster struck in
1988 , though, as Herbert, then a championship hopeful in International
Formula 3000 was caught up in a major accident at
Brands Hatch , badly breaking his legs in a fearsome impact with the barriers. It was an act of huge bravery that saw him back in a racing car at the beginning of
1989 , despite the fact he could barely walk. Even more remarkably, he was now in Formula 1, scoring points on his debut in
Brazil driving for the
Benetton team, then managed by his long time mentor and friend Peter Collins.
However, Herbert's performances could not keep up that standard, and with the Benetton team under new management, he was dropped after failing to qualify for the
Canadian Grand Prix . Herbert returned to Formula 3000, this time in the highly regarded Japanese series. It wasn't long before he received another call from Grand Prix racing, this time
Tyrrell . From
1990 to
2000 , Herbert was a fixture in Formula One, switching to the dwindling
Lotus team, now managed by Peter Collins. 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 team-mate for
1995 . At the
British Grand Prix , he inherited a hugely popular Grand Prix win after
Michael Schumacher collided with
Damon Hill . He followed this in similar circumstances at
Monza , finishing 4th in the championship.
After being dropped by Benetton, Herbert drove for Swiss outfit
Sauber in
1996 -
1998 , scoring two podium places. Moving to
Stewart Grand Prix in
1999 , he scored his third and final Grand Prix win in a remarkable wet/dry
European Grand Prix . Staying at Stewart as they 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.
Since retiring from Grand Prix racing, Herbert has concentrated on
Sports Cars , trying to repeat his
Le Mans 24 Hours win of
1991 in a
Mazda . The last two years have seen him as one of the front runners in the
American Le Mans Series (ALMS), where he has won several events and was a challenger for the
2003 crown.
In 2005, Herbert was appointed to the post of Sporting Relations Manager at
Jordan Grand Prix , which has now been renamed
Midland F1 for the 2006 World Championship.
Johnny's website
