"Herbert goes with the flow"

The following extracts are from an excellent article by David Tremayne which appeared in the 21st November 1996 issue of the UK's premier weekly motorsport magazine, Autosport, and are reproduced by kind permission of the editor, Laurence Foster. The photos are by David Cunliffe.

A hand the size of a baseball catcher's mitt clamps on to your shoulder as Sauber's sporting director Max Welti goes into his deep laugh. 'I suppose you are looking for Little British Bastard, yes?'

Laughter is something you automatically associate with Johnny Herbert, and something he took to Sauber in 1996, where team members fondly coined that sobriquet. Laughter, and the ability to communicate on a completely natural level with anyone who comes within his orbit.

Damon Hill proved that nice guys can win the big prize, but for every Hill there are 10 other 'good blokes' who don't make it. And, for whatever reason, Herbert's face doesn't seem to fit in some Formula 1 circles.

Throughout his years with Lotus as he rebuilt the career shattered initially by Gregor Foitek and then freshly dismantled in 1989 by Flavio Briatore, Herbert still clung to the coming-man tag, but his season with Benetton in 1995 as Michael Schumacher's team-mate all but crushed that image. Herbert won two races and only engine failure in Adelaide prevented him from finishing third in the World Championship, but he risks slipping into a pigeon hole as a man who had his chance and blew it by coming up short. The truth is rather less fanciful, as Eddie Irvine will no doubt testify.

During negotiations with Peter Sauber, Herbert and manager Andrew Hampel were desperate to ensure that this year he got a fair crack of the whip, all too aware that with 'Frentzen's team' he might find himself vaulting from frying pan to fire. That was when the psychological wounds were really apparent, but as the two parties gelled, so that initial uncertainty evaporated and was replaced by mutual trust.

'The second half of the year I felt I was much more competitive with Heinz-Harald, and it would have been a very strong year for me I think if it had been like that all the way through,' Herbert says, assessing the season. 'But you need time to work into a new environment, so I'm not complaining.'

It says much for Herbert that he was brave enough to grab the chance of joining Schumacher in 1995, rather than shying away from the comparison. But once he had shown his mettle by qualifying only half a second away in Brazil, and then run the German to within a 1000th on the Friday in Argentina, he had sounded sufficient alarm bells. Only idiots really believed that the subsequent gaps between them - a gaping three seconds just the following day - were the natural order of things.

The relationship with Briatore was almost non-existent, and insiders suggested that Flav was less than wholly pleased when Herbert's second place in Spain saved his bacon, and even less so when victory at Silverstone fulfilled a performance clause in his contract which prevented him being replaced.

'The whole problem in 1995 wasn't just Flavio, to be fair,' said Johnny. 'It was the car. The B195 was just horrible. Ask Gerhard Berger!'

Berger hated everything about the B195 on the occasions upon which he tested it before the B196 was ready. 'I just couldn't drive the B195,' he admitted. 'I hated everything about it, it was just so tricky.' Because it was Gerhard saying it this time, people took notice.

'The only meaningful test that I had with Benetton was at Silverstone just before the British GP,' Herbert mused. 'And that was on the South Circuit! That wasn't really a lot of use. Michael tested on the GP circuit, and I had to do my running on the small track…'

Herbert is still the most competitive team mate Schumacher has had, and the only partner who has won races. And if you examine how his lap times stack up with other recognised 'quick' drivers, such as Mika Häkkinen in their happy-go-lucky Lotus days or Frentzen at Sauber, there are underlying indications of a driver who can turn it on to a very high level.

His victory at Silverstone in '95 was precisely what he had to do for Benetton in a difficult car, once Schumacher was out. At Monza that same year he was catching Alesi before the Ferrari broke, after driving a deliberately conservative race initially to preserve his equipment. And, in case it escaped notice, he passed Alesi for the lead on the opening lap at Spa. Not, one might comfortably conclude, an easy task at the best of times…

HERBERT IS UP THERE WITH THE BEST, SAYS SAUBER BOSS

Sauber sporting director Max Welti paints the portrait of Johnny as the ultimate professional:

"He's a very serious person, very disciplined as long as he's in the car, working with the technicians. He's a funny bastard again as soon as the work is over.

"Schumacher is quicker than him, maybe Frentzen too, but in the end he outqualified Frentzen three times, which is not too bad taking into consideration that a lot of people are sure that Frentzen is quicker than anybody else.

"I think that Johnny is a better racer than qualifier. That doesn't mean he is a bad qualifier - not at all - but he had some outstanding race starts over the season and some very good races. He's definitely a very good racer and his times are consistent."

The above article extracts are reproduced by kind permission of Autosport.
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This page prepared 26th November1996.