"A Warrior's Weekend"
Johnny Herbert's GP Diary

The following article appeared in the 16th July 1998 issue of the UK's premier weekly motorsport  magazine, Autosport, and is reproduced by kind permission of the editor, Mark Skewis.

The British Grand Prix itself is just like any other race, but it's always very nice coming back to all the British fans that always support their drivers very well. One funny thing is that, over the years, they seem to get more and more aggressive when they ask for your autograph. It's still good though, because they're all enthusiasts.

I got here at about 11.30. Normally, if you're in continental Europe you'll fly in and get there at lunchtime. Mainly, all you talk about is what you're going to do on Friday. You just talk about settings, but we've already done the test so we know where we are. There's some public relations things for the team, and the press always come up to you on a Thursday, just because it's an easier day for them.

Of course, coming back to Silverstone is returning to where I scored my first Grand Prix win. It always feels very special coming back. It brings you a nice feeling to think of the accident [when Herbert badly injured his legs during the Brands Hatch Formula 3000 race in 1988] and the fact that I came back to win at Silverstone. Any British driver who wins here is giving something back to the people, a lot of whom saw me win Formula Ford races right back in 1984.

I used to he a fan too, but not at the Silverstone Grands Prix. I used to clamber up the side of the grandstand scaffolding at Brands Hatch!

Normally at Sauber we're hoping for the top eight, and it's always nice to get both cars inside the top 10. But we do have the odd opportunity to break into the top six, which has happened a couple of times this year. With our engine situation, though. it's probably going to be much harder for us at Silverstone. We are down on power compared to some of the others, and this is an engine circuit.

One problem is that we don't test on the latest Goodyear tyres that we'll be given at the race meeting. I can understand it from a certain point of view, but it does make it harder for us - the tyres we had in testing were so hard they might as well have been made of concrete. The tyres we have now are different, so it changes the balance of the car, and makes a job which is hard anyway even harder.

After one lap this afternoon the hydraulic pump failed, but I made it back to the pits and the team did a great job to change it in half an hour. I had time to do one more run and improve a little on my morning time, but really I lost almost a third of my running. That's quite a big chunk of road time.

It's been a normal day really. I've got up in the morning, gone to my briefing, had breakfast, got changed, done my warm-up before getting in the car, got in the car, done my bit, got out, had a chat, back in car. Then a meeting with the team, a chat with the press and back in to work out what I'm going to do tomorrow.

Tonight there was a charity dinner at Stowe School. I just showed my face there. David was there, and Eddie and Damon as well, but I think I stayed there longer.

Of course, at this time of the year it's the silly season, but it's out of your mind completely when you're driving. It could worry you and be on your mind, but for me it's not a problem because I'm driving well at the moment. Although I'm talking to other teams, I haven’t visited them here. I think Sauber are happy, but they want to sort their engines out for next year before we speak. And if that's the case I can't wait and I'll look elsewhere. I'll just shop around and see what's out there.

A move to Williams, as the tabloids were speculating, would interest me because it's a bigger team, and there's nothing wrong with having a talk. But I'm just keeping my options open - it's not as if I want to leave Sauber, because I've enjoyed my time here. The other thing I need to consider is whether the deal's for one year or more - I want some continuity, not hassle.

We had a different set-up for free practice from what we had yesterday. To be honest, it was horrible yesterday - the rear end was snappy in the slow to medium corners and there was too much oversteer for my liking in the quick ones. We made a good change this morning. It gave us an indication that it wasn't the right way, but when we changed it for the next run it actually got a lot better. We changed a lot of things.

You don't normally like to change a lot of things in one go, but it was what we had to do because of our problem with the hydraulics in the second part of practice yesterday. Normally, on Saturday morning you're just trying to dial away a bit of understeer, but this time we were having to change rollbars and springs.

To get a good qualifying time, you have to slow everything down. That gives you more time to think and get yourself up to speed mentally. The most important part of the lap at Silverstone is in the last section, when the tyres are getting old and hanging on for dear life and you're on the slowest part of the circuit. Earlier on in the lap, for the fast corners at Copse and Becketts, it's not so important. It doesn't lose you much time to be braking in top for Becketts against taking it in flat, because it's essential to carry speed all the way through the bends there and be quick on to the Hangar Straight.

I was four-tenths up going up to Abbey, but I had a fishtaily moment coming out of there and lost more time at Priory. My team mate, Jean Alesi, pipped me by three-thousandths. It's a bit of a shame but that's the way it goes. The first two splits were good and I just lost it in the last.

It’s always a bit of a nightmare arriving at this circuit, what with the traffic jams, so I came in on a motorbike. But a few other people from the team went on a different route and came into the circuit only two minutes behind me, so they obviously know a better route than I do! The way I chose was absolutely chocka this year.

The warm-up in the wet was a bit disappointing for us because we didn't have much tyre choice, but it wasn't too bad because the splits we had done were not that bad.

The race started well, even though it was a bit of a shame I only made up one place to eighth. The start was , but because of Eddie Irvine's problems and his wheelspin I had to ease off a little, then I got Damon Hill on the inside. But he had a better line round the outside so I didn't quite do it. Then, as the race developed, the pace I was doing was quite good.

I was on a one-stop strategy and the Benettons, which were chasing were on two, and I was actually quicker than them. I closed right up to Damon and Jacques Villeneuve before the pit stops and I was thinking, "This is quite good, the pace is on". I’d started on intermediate tyres, and they got a bit worn in the beginning because it was dry in places, but then the rain came again. It was looking perfect for me to come in at half-distance and put wets on.

The big problem was still to come. Jean, after his first stop, had come out a little bit behind me. He started to catch me up, and the team were on the radio, but I couldn't understand a dicky bird what was going on. It went on for about three laps and he was still behind me, but as far as I was concerned I was racing against him.

Eventually I thought the only thing they could he telling me is to move over and let him past. My concentration was going, and I went to let him pass out of the Brooklands left-hander. I put my arm across to signal to him to go past, and then as I put the power on coming out of the corner the back end got away. I lost the car and spun. When the marshals pushed me to get going I knew I'd be excluded, so I brought it back to the pits.

I'd spun the bloody car because I wasn't looking where I was going and I lost some points. That really annoyed me because me and Jean were on our way to what would have been fourth and fifth, whichever way around we were. When you make a mistake on your own, then you're hard on yourself and can't be with anyone else. But this race annoyed me because we were going very well, the strategy was good, the tyres were good considering how long they'd been going and it all got thrown away.

It was a major disappointment, but I'm looking forward to the World Cup final later tonight. I really hope Brazil beat France...

The above article extracts is reproduced by kind permission of Autosport.
This article may not reproduced, in whole or in part, without permission.
© Autosport magazine. All rights reserved.
Photos by kind permission of Sauber.
This page prepared 26th July 1998.