Johnny Cashes In

The following article, by Adam Cooper, appeared in the 30th September 1999 issue of Autosport, and is reproduced here by kind permission of the magazine's editor, Mark Skewis. It celebrates Johnny's third F1 victory, the historic first (and only) for Stewart-Ford.

Come on, let's be honest. Did any of us really expect that Johnny Herbert would ever be in a position to win a third Grand Prix?

When he scored his two Benetton successes at Silverstone and Monza in 1995, he was in the right car at the right time, but that seems like an age ago. And yet at the Nürburgring last weekend he pulled off probably the most popular win of the season.

On Monday, en route from his home in Monaco to a special reception for the staff at the Stewart factory, he admitted that the win hadn't yet sunk in.

"It's still hard to believe to be honest," he smiled. " It was a surprise, but it was a nice one. People have asked what was the best, this win or the first one, but I must say this one was much better. Lots of things are happening around it that have been very, very positive. It's much more emotional. At Benetton, because of the way the year had been, it was just very different. Because this was Stewart's first win, that adds something to it ."

The victory had its roots in the team's decision to run the harder of Bridgestone's compounds, and go for one rather than two pit stops. With a heavier fuel load, the team could run longer and have more flexibility should the weather be mixed. It was also felt that the SF-3 was more comfortable on the tyres, which were also chosen by Ferrari.

The ploy seemed to backfire in qualifying, when Herbert could only manage 14th. Significantly, though, he was ahead of team mate Rubens Barrichello for the first time. His luck seemed to be changing, and perhaps there was good reason for it.

"I've had such a good year this year," he laughed. "So I've been trying different things, like wearing different clothing from what I'm normally successful with. We've been blaming Darryl, one of our mechanics, who was with me at Lotus in '92 - when I didn't finish races. We decided it was either him or me!

"Then one of my mechanics gave me two lucky stones from Jamaica. We thought we'd give them a try, and I had them in my pocket all weekend to see if that worked for us. And someone gave me a coin on the grid. I thought it was a dollar, so I thought I'd have it for a bit of luck. But it turned out to be just a Deutschmark. So I said, 'I don't want that', but he said, 'No, it's a lucky one', so I stuck that in my pocket as well."

Someone was certainly smiling on Herbert at the first corner. He was immediately behind the unfortunate Pedro Diniz on the grid. 

"I saw a car roll, and I went to the left, thinking I would get trapped in what was happening. But I got caught behind Damon [Hill], who was stopping, and lost all my momentum," he said.

Three cars instantly retired, but the Stewart driver only gained one place, because Jean Alesi and Rubens Barrichello had both passed him. He finished the first lap in 13th place, which proved to be yet another lucky omen. His next big break came when it began to rain, and many of his rivals made the unwise decision to rush in for wet tyres.

"I tried to read the clouds, not just the weather as it came. I remembered Donington Park in '93. They all seemed to dive straight in the pits, and I was quite surprised. The track was damp, but that's all it was. It dried up quickly."

Herbert edged up the order. His single stop, due around the halfway mark, came at just the right time.

"Looking back, it was just absolutely perfect. I came past the pits, and I knew I was due to stop. Then I got to the left and right before you go down to the hairpin, and it was absolutely tipping it down there. I looked to the clouds, and it was like a big teardrop. It had a big head on it and then a little tail!

"The tail of it was dead in the middle of that scoreboard they've got inside the hairpin, and it was just going to come dead straight, and it was not going to move because the wind had been blowing up the straight all day. And beyond that I could see more rain coming down. It was still dry at the other end of the track, but I thought I'd risk it and go for wets. They had a fresh set of dries, but I said no, I want wets. And that's when I just gained everything."

For a while he was lapping up to eight or nine seconds faster than those braving it out on dry tyres.

"I didn't push too hard at the beginning, because I didn't know how slippery it would be. I just had to be as consistent as I could.

"There seemed to be a wave of cars spinning off everywhere. Every time I came up to a car, even flit was a backmarker, it just seemed to spin. They were all over the place. I remember lapping Mika Hakkinen coming out of the hairpin! I must admit it was nice."

Among those to go missing was David Coulthard, whose demise put Herbert into third. As the track started to dry, the Stewart driver made a perfectly-timed decision to pit again. He resumed still in third, but a lap after he came out, Giancarlo Fisichella spun off. Then he passed Ralf Schumacher as the German limped back to the pits for a new rear tyre.

"I knew I was in the lead when I saw Ralf, and when I saw on the board that Jarno Trulli was about 15s behind, with about 16 laps to go, I realised it was up to me to try and look after the car. But despite easing off, I was still pulling away at a second a lap. I was actually quite surprised, so I started to ease off even more.

"I had in the back of my mind some of the problems I've had this year, getting very close to the finish and then having the thing stop. So it was good to have that advantage and be able to look after it.

"Everybody was dead quiet on the radio, and they just left it down to me. On the board, they were giving me the signals, and all I was doing was looking at the big TV screens. I could see Rubens getting close to Trulli, so I was hoping that he'd pass him. It was nice to be able to watch the race as well!

"About three laps from the end, I had a bit of a smirk on my face, just a little smile, because I was feeling pretty good about it. With the other two wins, I don't remember doing that. This was just more satisfying, because it was Stewart, and I was pleased with what I did with the strategy side of it. Yes, it was a surprise, but I worked hard for it."

When he crossed the line, he knew exactly how to break the radio silence. 

"I've got this thing of saying 'I'm the man'. I don't know where it came from, but testing's been going better, and I've been getting a bit cocky and saying it. As I came out of the last corner, I flicked on the radio and shouted, 'I'm the man!' My engineer said he was going to say 'You're the man', but I actually beat him to it! When I got back everyone was so, so happy, all the mechanics, the engineers, Jackie and Paul [Stewart]. It was special because it doesn't happen that often."

He admits that even he didn't dare dream about a third win, especially after the sort of season he's had.

"In the middle of the season, it was looking a bit grim, with all the problems and unreliability. The way it was going rumour-wise, I could very easily have said, 'I've had enough, I haven't got the strength to do it.' But I've always had the strength. I think from my accident [in '88] I learned a lot about getting back and not giving up. I'm not someone who says, 'I've tried, and that's it.' Although I keep having setbacks, I'm always fighting. I can do a good job, and I just need to get in the right frame of mind in the right environment in the right team."

This article appeared in the 30th September 1999  issue of Autosport.
Photo courtesy of Ford by Steve Etherington/LAT
With thanks to Autosport ©. All rights reserved.
This page prepared 30th September 1999.