You can learn at lot from top sportsmen and women outside of Formula 1. So who are Johnny's heroes?

Sporting icons are an important part of the growing-up process. When I was a kid in karting, my two heroes were Nikki Lauda and Gilles Villeneuve. I remember that Heuer made driver helmets, and I Lauda's. I asked for it, but for some reason my dad, Bob, bought me Mario Andretti's instead! I suppose I was the typical ungrateful kid! I also asked for a trumpet, and got a guitar, but that's another story.

What I loved about Gilles' style was that he would always be pushing hard, getting the most out of the car regardless of its condition. That's what I always liked. In karting that was what I always tried to do - if I had a puncture or a bent track rod or a dodgy axle or whatever. It was important to keep pushing in such circumstances, and I expected myself to be as quick in a kart that didn't handle as in one that did. It was inspiring, that desire to overcome things no matter what. That drive of Gilles' at Zandvoort in 1979 was the classic representation of that desire. There he was, going at some ridiculous speed, just to get back to the pits. It started out as a puncture, and by the time he got back to the pits the wheel was hanging on by one suspension link. But it was that never-say-die attitude that appealed. I didn't necessarily try to model myself on him, but to try to do similar things in adversity.

Later on, the other guy I quite liked was the decathlete Daley Thompson - I guess because he enjoyed himself but always had a serious side to his sport. Then there was tennis player Bjorn Borg, when I was hitting the teenage years. He had all that long hair and looked more roguish than the rest. He represented the new generation, and the flair of his game was exciting.

The older you get, the fewer heroes you have. I think that's all part of growing up, too. Instead, there are other people that you respect. And you can still learn things from what other sports guys are doing, whether it's in a physical or a mental way. I keep an eye on things, because of that. Tim Henman, for instance, probably entered a few too many tennis tournaments last year, and was working way too much instead of preparing himself properly.

For younger fans, I think it's really good to see fresh blood coming along and doing well. People such as golfer Tiger Woods. You have all the old established guys like Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus or Nick Faldo - and good luck to them. Or Mark O'Meara, who's won a couple of the last big tournaments. They tend to play a steady game, though Faldo is the sort who is always changing his swing. But they tend to become wanted percentage players.

Then you get a young hotshot coming in, like Tiger Woods, who really starts to take it to them. And he is someone who absolutely smacks the ball like anything. He is one of the guys who hits the ball furthest, and he plays an edgy game. He really goes for it - whereas Faldo, say, will play a more conservative game. That's the big difference. Probably the other guy like Woods, who never quite made it, is John Daly, but he used to just whack it. He was a bit self-destructive, too. Woods' mentality is always: "I'm going to win." He's like that the whole damn time. I think Woods typifies the way that succeeding generations of sportsmen and women are more confident at an ever younger age. It's another whole step forward, another whole evolution in sport. And the good thing about that is that it can inspire even younger people, and in turn give them the confidence to try things and to compete.

A friend of mine had a real go at me recently about pulling a snarling face for the cover image of Fl Racing's brand-new sister magazine, GPX. My pal told me that I had spent so much time perfecting my Mr Nice Guy image that I should stick with it. But GPX is just a bit of fun - it's for youngsters. It's important, though, as a sportsman, to project an image with which younger fans can relate. So that's why I pulled do the things they want to do, I hope I still do present the right image, but that's not really for me to say!

These GP Columns appeared exclusively in F1 Racing magazine every month.
The columns are reproduced by kind permission of the Editor, Matt Bishop.
With thanks to F1 Racing ©. All rights reserved.
This page prepared 24th August 1998.