Three Years at Sauber
 Following a period of uncertainty at the end of the
1995 season, Johnny was signed on a one year contract by the Red Bull Sauber-Ford team to
partner Heinz-Harald Frentzen. After the year at Benetton, Johnny took a risk by pitting
himself against another German driver who was very highly rated at the time - in February
he commented: "Many people think that Heinz is better than Michael. It will be a
challenge but that can only be a positive thing."
As the 1996 season began, Sauber seemed to be as much Frentzen's team as Benetton was
Schumacher's in 1995. But Johnny was assured that he would receive equal treatment and,
after initial hiccoughs over early testing, Peter Sauber was as good as his word.
 Once Johnny had accustomed himself to the new
surroundings, he rose to the challenge and put Frentzen under pressure for much of the
season, out-qualifying him three times (Barcelona, Hungary and Monza). Johnny's 8th place
on the grid at the Hongaroring was Sauber's highest qualifying position of the year. His
average qualifying time over the whole season was only 0.4s slower than Heinz-Harald
Frentzen's (much closer than other recent team-mates). In May, from 13th on the grid,
Johnny claimed Sauber's first ever podium position with a magnificent 3rd place at Monaco.
Fastest race lap times in 1996 also make interesting reading - apart from in the first
three races whilst Johnny was still settling in at Sauber, and excluding Spa where neither
completed a lap, Johnny put in the fastest race lap in a Sauber 7 times to Frentzen's 5
times. Frank Williams was so impressed with Frentzen's speed that he signed the German for
1997 in preference to Damon Hill...
During 1996, as he began to re-build his career and reputation, Johnny showed that he
still has the speed and determination to succeed in Formula 1. Sauber were so impressed
with him that, as early as 22nd September, the team announced that Johnny had signed to
drive again for a further two years. Team Principal Peter Sauber commented:
"I'm absolutely delighted that we have been able to resign Johnny Herbert for the
next two years. Despite some difficult circumstances this season, Johnny has convinced
everybody with his performance, and his professional attitude quickly earned him the
appreciation and support for us to reach the ambitious goals we have for the future."
Unfortunately, neither the Sauber C15 nor the new Ford V10 engine were competitive
during Johnny's first year at Sauber, so the 1996
results were limited. But, during his first year with the Swiss team, Johnny again
showed everyone that, with equal equipment and the full support of the team, he ranks
amongst the best racing drivers in the world. Sauber went into 1997 buoyed up by the
prospect of a new engine, funded and badged by Petronas using Ferrari technology, run by a
team headed up by Osamu Goto, ex-Ferrari and Honda.
 Although the 1997 car was late, initial tests of the Sauber-Petronas C16 were
promising and it was competitive right from the start of the 1997 season, when Johnny had
several fourth row grid positions, a fourth place in Argentina and fifth in Spain. For the
first time in F1, Johnny headed the timesheets in a practice session when he went quickest
overall at Monaco in May 1997 in Thursday free practice. Best result of the season was the
third place at Hungary, Johnny second podium position for Sauber. Johnny celebrated his 100th GP at Imola in April.
Johnny had three team-mates throughout the year: Nicola Larini, who departed in high
dudgeon after Monaco because he felt he was being treated as second best; Gianni
Morbidelli, who broke his arm in testing and was sidelined for a few races; and Norberto
Fontana , who was thrown in at the deep end and almost drowned. Johnny out-qualified them
all and was the only driver to be quicker than his team-mates in qualifying at every one
of the 17 races in 1997.
Unfortunately, the early competitiveness could not be sustained throughout
the whole season. After three 7ths and an 8th on the grid during the first five race
weekends, Johnny was never in the top 10 again, until he claimed 8th at Suzuka. Sauber had
another season of unfulfilled promise.
At the end of 1997, Johnny was hopeful that things would improve in 1998,
as he commented in an exclusive interview with the
website's David Cunliffe:
"This year we had a competitive car at the beginning
of the season but when the others were developing in the season, we probably didn't
develop enough. For next year, we've got to have a good car from the beginning and enough
development through the year to make it work at the end of the year. We've got to fight
very hard to achieve that."
At the beginning of 1998, the team hoped that having two
top line drivers in 1998 would help to improve its position (6th in 1997) in the
Championship. Jean Alesi, signed on a two year contract, joined Johnny for the 1998
campaign. Unfortunately, it was another season of unfulfilled promise. It started well for
Johnny when he qualified a superb fifth, nearly 2 seconds faster than Jean Alesi, on the
Melbourne grid. He was effusive:
"I came here hoping to qualify in the top six, so I am delighted with fifth place
on the grid. The team has done a fantastic job today. The C17 is a very responsive car,
and every change we made to the set-up this afternoon improved it. It still feels a little
nervous and twitchy under certain conditions, but it's quick and that is the main point.
Tomorrow I shall be aiming for the strong finish that the team deserves."
Johnny finished 6th in the Australian race and scored one point. And that was that for
1998 - never again did he finish in the points, and he ended up equal 15th in the
Championship, his worst year in F1 since 1994, when he failed to score a point during the
death throes of Team Lotus. Alesi had a better year, scoring one third place podium finish
at Spa and a total of 9 points, which earned him 11th place in the Championship. In the
early part of 1998, Johnny was more than a match for Alesi in qualifying but it began to
swing the other way as the team decided to focus more on their latest signing.
Johnny's relationship with Alesi got off to a rocky start when they came together in
practice in South America:
"Argentina started terribly when my team mate Jean Alesi drove into me on our
installation lap in the first session on the Friday. I can only guess that he was asleep.
I was in front coming into the Senna 'S's and he missed his braking and drove straight
into the side of me. The whole of the side of my car was smashed; the floor was broken and
some of the electrics were knocked about. It was so annoying because we'd done no laps. If
you're bit by someone it's a pain, but to he hit by your team mate is even worse. I've
accepted his apology, but what else can I do? It happened, it pissed me off but you've
just got to get on with the next session."
The next major problem arose at the British GP, when the team asked Johnny to let Alesi
overtake mid-race whilst they were chasing Irvine's Ferrari. The two Saubers were on
different strategies and Alesi, on less fuel, was quicker. Johnny was unhappy though,
because the command to move over on the radio distracted him, resulting in him spinning
out of his home GP. Johnny told Thomas Gmür in a website exclusive interview:
"The whole thing was about strategies. My strategy was one stop, his was two
stops. It was no gaining position. We were fighting for fifth and sixth. He wasn't as
quick as Irvine, I wasn't as quick as Irvine. So, as for it being a benefit for the team,
it didn't make any difference. It would have been either fifth or sixth or sixth and
fifth, makes no difference."
At the next race meeting, the Austrian GP, there was another demoralising event. Alesi
was, amazingly, in with a shot a pole position during drying track conditions in the last
few minutes of qualifying, and Johnny was again asked to move out of his team-mate's way.
Johnny, who was on his best run at the time, had to abort his fastest lap and ended up in
a lowly 18th spot, 16 places and nearly 3 seconds behind Alesi. A later incident, during
testing at Monza, showed that Johnny's relationship with Alesi had deteriorated beyond
repair:
"He was running behind me. I saw him get the pit board to come in
but he stayed on my tail for another two laps. When I got back to the pits, he'd already
stormed off to see Peter Sauber to complain. There were other times when he was just like
a little baby spitting out his dummy:"
The problems with Alesi, who had obviously become the
team's No1 driver in Peter Sauber's eyes, helped precipitate Johnny's departure from
Sauber after three ultimately disappointing years. But in November 1998, Johnny was
still positive when summing up his time at Sauber:
"I’ve enjoyed my three years at Sauber, especially after the
hoo-ha at Benetton. There have been some highs and lows but 95% has been highs. The team
has grown a lot over the years. It was never hugely competitive before I came on board,
and the first year after that wasn’t too hot either. We got things going much better
for the second year, and the results came quite well. We should probably have achieved
more, but at least we moved up a level.
"We had some success [in 1997], and we all thought it would be
better in 1998. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. There hasn’t really been a
big highlight for me this season. It started out with one point in Australia, and
outqualifying Jean [Alesi] at Suzuka in my last race was nice. It’s good to leave the
with a much better performance. It started off well and ended well.
Johnny signed a two year deal with the Stewart-Ford
team in September 1998 and teams up with Rubens Barrichello for the 1999 campaign.
Race results at Sauber
1998 Circuit Grid Race Out (laps)
----------------------------------------------------------
1 Nov Suzuka (JPN) 11th 10th
27 Sep Nürburgring (LUX) 13th DNF Engine (37)
13 Sep Monza (I) 15th DNF Spin (12)
30 Aug Spa-Francorchamps (B) 12th DNF Accident (0)
16 Aug Hungaroring (H) 15th 10th
2 Aug Hockenheim (D) 12th DNF (37)
26 Jul A1-Ring (A) 18th 8th
12 Jul Silverstone (GB) 9th DNF Spin (27)
28 Jun Magny Cours (F) 13th 8th
7 Jun Montreal (CAN) 12th DNF
24 May Monaco (MCO) 9th 7th Spin (18)
10 May Catalunya (SP) 7th 7th
26 Apl Imola (SM) 11th DNF Puncture
12 Apl Buenos Aries (AR) 12th DNF Rammed by Hill (46)
29 Mar Interlagos (BR) 14th 12th
8 Mar Melbourne (AUS) 5th 6th
Red Bull Sauber-Petronas. Team-mate: Jean Alesi.
Finished 15th= in the Championship with 1 point.
Team-mate Alesi finished 11th with 9 points.
1997 Circuit Grid Race Out (laps)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
26 Oct Estoril (P) 14th 8th
12 Oct Suzuka (JPN) 8th 6th (Villeneuve DQed)
28 Sep Nürburgring (LUX) 16th 7th
21 Sep A1-Ring (A) 12th 8th
7 Sep Monza (I) 12th DNF Accident (38)
24 Aug Spa-Francorchamps (B) 11th 4th (Häkkinen DQed)
10 Aug Hongaroring (H) 10th 3rd
27 Jul Hockenheim (D) 14th DNF Hit by Diniz (8)
13 Jul Silverstone (GB) 9th DNF
29 Jun Magny-Cours (F) 14th 8th
15 Jun Montreal (CAN) 13th 5th
25 May Catalunya (SP) 10th 5th
11 May Monaco (MCO) 7th DNF Accident (9)
27 Apl Imola (SM)(100th GP) 7th DNF Electrics (18)
13 Apl Buenos Aries (AR) 8th 4th
30 Mar Interlagos (BR) 13th 7th
9 Mar Melbourne (AUS) 7th DNF Accident (0)
Red Bull Sauber-Petronas.
Team-mates: Nicola Larini (to Monaco), Gianni Morbidelli (from
Spain), Norberto Fontana (France, GB & Germany).
Finished 10th in the Championship with 15 points (after Schumacher's
2nd place annulled). Larini scored 1 point, Morbidelli & Fontana 0.
1996 Circuit Grid Race Out (laps)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
13 Oct Suzuka (JPN) 13th 10th
22 Sept Estoril (P) 12th 8th
8 Sept Monza (I) 13th 9th (engine failed last lap)
25 Aug Spa-Francorchamps (B) 12th DNF Accident (0)
11 Aug Hungaroring (H) 8th DNF Engine (35)
28 Jul Hockenheim (D) 14th DNF Gearbox (25)
14 Jul Silverstone (GB) 13th 9th
30 Jun Magny-Cours (F) 17th DQ Illegal turning vanes
16 Jun Montreal (CAN) 15th 7th
2 Jun Catalunya (SP) 9th DNF Spin (22)
19 May Monaco (MC) 13th 3rd
5 May Imola (SM) 15th DNF Engine misfire (25)
28 Apl Nürburgring (EUR) 12th 7th
7 Apl Buenos Aries (AR) 17th 9th
31 Mar Interlagos (BR) 12th DNF Electrics (28)
10 Mar Melbourne (AUS) 14th DNF Accident (0)
Red Bull Sauber-Ford. Team-mate: Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
Finished 14th in the Championship with 4 points.
Frentzen 12th, 7 points.
Every effort is made to ensure factual accuracy but
no responsibility is accepted for this information.
Last updated 30th January 1999.
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